Plug-In Cars: Powering America Toward a Cleaner Future 1/20/2010

For more than 50 years, the automobile has played a central and seemingly ever-growing role in American life. Now, at the turn of the 21st century, the future of the automobile is uncertain. The looming threat of peak oil – the impacts of which were clearly illustrated in the run-up of gasoline prices in 2007 and 2008 – coupled with increasing concern about global warming, make gas-guzzling behemoths such as large SUVs look increasingly like dinosaurs. At the same time, the major American automakers, whose business model is built around the sale of large vehicles and trucks, are barely clinging to life amid the current economic downturn. Since 2002, California and 13 other states have adopted strong policies to reduce global warming pollution from vehicles, policies that are finding a more receptive audience federally in the new Obama administration.

Too Much Pollution: State and National Trends in Global Warming Emissions from 1990 to 2007 11/12/2009

Montana’s CO2 pollution, which we know contributes to climate change, increased by 36% percent from 1990 to 2007. We had the second highest percentage increase in pollution output in the country from 2004 to 2007, at 9.9%. More pollution than ever before, and at a greater rate than ever before, isn’t a record we want to set. It’s time to take back control of our energy future. By harnessing the power of the wind and the sun, we can cut pollution and transition to clean energy sources that don’t harm the environment, never run out, and create new, local jobs.