Tag Archives: taxpayer subsidies

Amerigon Gets Taxpayer Funds for Thermo Energy Recovery

Posted on 19 August 2011 by Ken Zino

Amerigon will share the $8 million grant with project partners including Ford, BMW of North America, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/California Institute of Technology, and Faurecia Emissions Controls Technologies. Continue reading →

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DOT Announces $417.3 Million in Grants for Highway Projects

Posted on 17 August 2011 by Ken Zino

In previous years, a pork loving Congress designated some of this grant money for specific highway projects and FHWA awarded the remainder through a competitive process. Because the FY11 budget passed by Congress last April directed that all such funds be discretionary, FHWA awarded these funds through what it said was a “competitive process.” Continue reading →

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$10,000 Solar Panel Option Coming for Focus Electric Vehicle. Ford is using the new “Green Math” to Calculate Benefits

Posted on 10 August 2011 by Ken Zino

So if you have enough sunshine to generate the 3,000 kWh, that means you save $330 annually for a pay back period of, um, 30 years and four months (using basic arithmetic, not green math). The panels are guaranteed for 25 years by the way. Continue reading →

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Ron Bloom Resigns as Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy. Was Key Player in Auto Bailouts

Posted on 9 August 2011 by Ken Zino

Bloom was part of a team headed by Stephen Rattner at the U.S. Treasury Department that was responsible for forcing drastic bankruptcy restructurings and CEO firings at General Motors and Chrysler as they were on the verge of being liquidated in 2009. Continue reading →

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Toyota and Tesla to Build RAV4 EV at Toyota’s Woodstock, Ontario Production Facility, Not California

Posted on 5 August 2011 by Ken Zino

It was a blow to former NUMMI members in Fremont, California whose UAW plant was shut down by Toyota last year. It was hoped that production of the RAV4 EV would go into the plant when Tesla bought it in 2010. Toyota owns a stake in Tesla, and Tesla previously said that a Model S electric sedan will go into production at NUMMI sometime during 2012. Tesla’s latest financial results showed a $59 million loss for Q2. Continue reading →

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EPA Finalizes E15 Gasohol Pump Labels as Automakers Again Protest Adding More Ethanol to Gasoline. Lawsuits Pending

Posted on 29 June 2011 by Ken Zino

The ethanol tariff is comprised of a 54 cent Most Favored Nation duty and a 2.5% ad valorem tax. Critics say the ethanol tariff makes our nation more dependent on foreign oil by increasing the price of imported ethanol. Iowa State University estimates that a one-year extension of the ethanol subsidy and tariff would lead to only 427 additional direct domestic jobs at a cost of almost $6 billion, or roughly $14 million of taxpayer money per job.
Continue reading →

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Chevrolet Volt Price Cut? Fully Loaded 2012 Now $46,265

Posted on 13 June 2011 by Ken Zino

Chevrolet has announced that the base price for the 2012 Volt will be $1,000 lower when it goes on sale later this year. Suggested retail asking price is $39,995. The price includes an $850 freight charge but excludes tax, title and license fees. A loaded Volt, with leather appointments, backup camera, navigation system and premium paint and wheels is now priced at $46,265 including delivery. Continue reading →

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Big Oil has Big Day in U.S. Senate as Tax Breaks are Intact

Posted on 18 May 2011 by Ken Zino

Energy industry tax breaks will not however go away as a contentious political issue anytime soon with a soaring U.S. budget deficit that now requires borrowing 41 cents of every dollar spent, and gasoline prices at $4-$5 a gallon making voters angry. Continue reading →

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President Obama Announces New Oil Drilling Plans

Posted on 16 May 2011 by Ken Zino

U.S. President Barack Obama in his weekly radio address to the nation on Saturday called expansion of domestic oil production and the elimination of $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies that oil companies are granted each year by the U.S. Congress. Continue reading →

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Pork Update – USDA and DOE Award $47 Million in Taxpayer Dollars for Biomass Research to Special Interests

Posted on 6 May 2011 by Ken Zino

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu have announced that $47 million in taxpayer dollars will be diverted to fund eight research and development projects to support the production of biofuels, bioenergy and biobased products from … Continue reading →

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Why “Green” Alternative Vehicle Sales Will Remain Limited

Posted on 27 April 2011 by Ken Zino

To veterans of the automotive ecological wars, the conclusions of the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Green Automotive Study released today are, numbingly, familiar. For most consumers cost is the not so invisible hand that drives a free market – even a semi-free one with lavish taxpayer subsidies in place in an attempt by the government to mandate technologies. Continue reading →

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Department of Energy, Qatar Sign Agreement on Clean Energy

Posted on 8 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Qatar, an ally of the United States in the ongoing Libya war, has enormous reserves of both oil and natural gas, and as a result is an extremely wealthy nation. Qatar has agreed to market Libyan oil from sites controlled by the Libyan rebels and has sent troops to fight. Qatar also sponsors the Al-Jazeera television news network, the most influential media outlet in the Arab world. Continue reading →

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New U.S. Segment – Compressed Natural Gas Taxis?

Posted on 29 March 2011 by Ken Zino

Taxis running on compressed natural gas have been in use for decades in Japan’s cities. They are clean, quiet and to the surprise of visiting New Yorkers – meticulously maintained. Now there is a mini-movement of sorts underway in the U.S. as taxpayer subsidies and rising gasoline prices are increasing the demand for conversions of conventional gasoline engines to run on compressed natural gas. CNG is a fuel that has been in use in the U.S. for decades as well, but mostly in industrial applications. Continue reading →

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CAR Says Electric Vehicles Will Follow the Incentives at the Federal, State and Local Levels. Budget Battles Loom?

Posted on 12 February 2011 by Ken Zino

Executive summary – taxpayer money on the hood moves the sheet metal, but auto company press release predictions are dubious. Continue reading →

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Chevy Volt has MPGe Rating of 93, 37 MPG Combined

Posted on 24 November 2010 by Ken Zino

The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of the Volt starts at $41,000, including a destination freight charge of $720, or $33,500 if the buyer qualifies for the full federal income tax credit that ranges from $0 to $7,500.

This is roughly $8,000 more than the Nissan Leaf EV, which has a similar rollout plan for the U.S. starting in December, and also qualifies for lavish taxpayer subsidies. How long these remaining place in deficit ridden Washington is an open question. Both cars can be leased for $350/month.

So here the arguments will begin. The four-passenger Volt is a fully developed car without any range anxiety. The Leaf is a full electric with green bragging rights.

How many customers there are for both, remains to be seen? Continue reading →

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