Of course billions of dollars of the stimulus package are aimed at green-related efforts—tax credits for using wind and solar, building a smarter grid, and Jones is expected to help shepherd in new green jobs. On Wednesday AT&T showed how costly it can be to be a green leader, committing $575 million over 10 years to convert its maintenance fleet to green-friendly vehicles. Their pledge is a boon to Ford, from which AT&T will order 8,000 trucks that run on natural gas.
Natural gas?
Apparently the United States has plenty of natural gas reserves, meaning it doesn't have to be imported. It's less expensive and burns cleaner than oil. Natural gas is largely methane, and is found in gas and oil wells predominantly in a slice of the United States that stretches from Wyoming down to Texas, and also in Alaska. (See map of reserves.) About a quarter of U.S. power is generated by natural gas already but only a fraction is used to fuel cars. Honda's natural gas car is called GX and sells for about $25,000.
Some cities are already using natural gas to power buses (i.e., San Francisco and Oakland, California). Problem is, it's expensive to convert vehicles to run on natural gas and you need a place to fill up. We have over 100 here in California and there might be 1,000 across the country. (See locator map of natural gas filling stations in the United States.)
The Pickens Plan
The AT&T announcement was good news for T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oil tycoon who has turned his focus to pushing the U.S. toward natural gas and wind power, often simply called The Plan . He founded BP Capital and is on the board of Clean Energy Fuels, where you might fill a car with natural gas some day. He's spent tens of millions of dollars touting his plan. You'll probably being hearing more about the Pickens Plan in the near future.
The big picture
The main criticism against natural gas is that it just shifts our reliance from one fuel to another—a fuel that may be abundant but is limited in supply. Sun and wind on the other hand come with infinite, free supply. And while shifting to a non-carbon based economy will take a lot of policy and permitting and money, there are of course some everyday efforts individuals can make that don't cost a ton, i.e., buying carbon offsets and converting to CFL lights. So, tell us what you’re doing. We've started a list of some ideas we're hearing about—maybe you can add to it as a resource for the rest of us.
