Half a century ago, the General Motors assembly plant was the largest employer in Fremont, California, and the town was known for its dragstrip. Today, that plant makes Tesla electric cars and Fremont is a part of the San Francisco Bay Area's Silicon Valley, creating advanced technology for the world. The city has now taken another step into the... Solar panels, EV chargers required in new homes in Fremont, CA
Half a century ago, the General Motors assembly plant was the largest employer in Fremont, California, and the town was known for its dragstrip. Today, that plant makes Tesla electric cars and Fremont is a part of the San Francisco Bay Area's Silicon Valley, creating advanced technology for the world. The city has now taken another step into the... 
The sales growth of electric cars has made strides in recent years, and California's Zero-Emission Vehicle mandate has more than a little to do with that. The program adopted by the state of California more than 20 years ago, and much modified since then, requires that carmakers sell a certain number of zero-emission models in California and 10... 
It's now clear that the zero-emission vehicles of the future will be powered by electric motors. The electricity to power those motors, however, will come from one of two competing technologies: high-capacity batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. The debate over which technology is superior, which has the lowest wells-to-wheels carbon footprint, and... 
Barbie never said "Math is hard!" The talking doll did, notoriously, say "Math class is tough!" in 1989, sparking a media firestorm over gender roles in childrens' toys and then a voluntary recall by Mattel for offended parents. Reworded, however, the point remains accurate: many people don't understand math. DON'T MISS: Costs to meet fuel-economy... 
It has become increasingly more evident that carmakers must take aggressive steps to ensure that diesel cars and light trucks meet current environmental regulations. Tests done by Emissions Analytics found that the majority of new diesel-powered cars sold in Europe do not meet the Euro 6 emission standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx) in real-world... 
The prospect of ongoing operations as usual continues to darken for the Environmental Protection Agency. According to a detailed internal budget document published in the The Washington Post, the Trump administration wants to eliminate virtually all federal funding for the agency’s vehicle emissions and fuel-economy testing budgets. If the... ![The White House, Washington, D.C. [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/white-house_100170583_t.gif)
These do not appear to be the best of times for President Donald J. Trump, but his agenda of eliminating regulations and promoting fossil fuels continues to roll out. This week, Trump appeared at the EPA to sign an executive order that directed the agency to reopen and reassess its Clean Power Plan for reducing carbon emissions from generating... 
While political control in Washington has changed, the debate over a mandate to blend specific volumes of ethanol into the U.S. fuel supply has not. Since its passage in 2007 as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act, the ethanol-mandating Renewable Fuel Standard has attracted controversy. Its requirement of specific volumes of ethanol... 
Tomorrow is expected to be the day when President Donald Trump announces the EPA will reopen the comment period for the vehicle emissions standards it finalized in the waning days of the Obama Administration. The event will likely be accompanied by predictable language: Trump will be “highlighting the need to eliminate burdensome regulations... ![Smog obscures George Washington Bridge, 1973 [From EPA Documerica series]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/smog-obscures-george-washington-bridge-1973-from-epa-documerica-series_100594067_t.gif)
Imagine putting a pacifist in charge of the U.S. Defense Department. Or appointing a committed racist to enforce civil rights in the country. The appointment of Scott Pruitt as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could perhaps be viewed in a similar light. In his former position as Oklahoma attorney general, he sued the... 
It looks like lobbying pays off, at least in the case of EPA emission rules. According to numerous recent reports, the EPA is expected to reopen the commenting period for vehicle-emission rules it finalized in January, more than a year ahead of schedule. Automaker CEOs and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers had asked President Donald Trump... 
Lobbyists for the world's automakers continue to ask the new presidential administration to revisit an EPA decision to finalize emissions standards through 2025. Just days after the November election, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers wrote President-Elect Trump to ask that he reverse the decision on emissions standards made by the... 
Among his actions during a whirlwind first week in office, U.S. President Donald Trump met last week with the CEOs of U.S. automakers Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. He met on two consecutive days with Mark Fields, CEO of Ford, in fact. Fields was part of a group of manufacturing executives who met with the president separately the day... 
For 50 years now, California has been at the very forefront of reducing vehicle emissions. It was doing so before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was even formed, and its powerful Air Resources Board has been a vital force in getting plug-in electric vehicles onto the state's roads. Despite the national political currents, the state will... 
It's been a busy week for U.S. agencies as they release information on their final actions before a new administration takes office. Yesterday the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly opened a criminal probe into the actions of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles over the emission certification of its diesel engines. The investigation follows an...