Fighting Oil Addiction: North Carolina 18th Most Vulnerable State

Natural Resources Defense Council, August 11, 2009

America's addiction to oil continues to threaten not only our national security and global environmental health, but also our economic viability. NRDC analyzed how heavily drivers in each state are affected by increases in oil prices and ranked states on their adoption of solutions to reduce their oil dependence -- measures they are taking to lessen their vulnerability and to bolster America's security. NRDC found that rising gas prices, combined with economic downturn, are making people more vulnerable to changes in oil prices. But many states are taking significant steps to reduce oil dependence through smart clean-transportation policies.

Our analysis shows that:

• Oil dependence affects all states, but some drivers are hit harder economically than others.
• The trends in states' vulnerability to oil price increases over the past couple of years are not encouraging -- drivers in every state were more vulnerable in 2008 than they were in 2006.
• While some states are pioneering solutions and many are taking some action, a fair number of states re still taking few (if any) of the steps needed to reduce their oil dependence.
  

By promoting clean vehicle and fuel technologies as well as transportation alternatives, states can reduce oil dependence. These measures can, in turn, create clean energy jobs, reduce vulnerability to fuel price hikes, and lessen air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

North Carolina drivers spend 5.93% of their income on gasoline, or approximately $2041.98, making it the 18th most vulnerable state.

You can read the entire study here: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/states/files/states.pdf

NC company to make 500 hybrid buses for Seattle

Seattle pi, Associated Press, August 7, 2009

A North Carolina manufacturer is building 500 hybrid transit buses for Seattle - an order that will make the company the largest hybrid bus maker in the world.
Greensboro-based Daimler Buses North America said Friday that King County Metro in Seattle ordered 500 of the diesel-electric buses, with options to buy 200 more. The first batch of 93 buses to be delivered in 2010 will cos tnearly $46 million.
When the new order is filled, there will be nearly 3,000 hybrid Daimler buses in use in North America.
Daimler Buses manufactures transit buses, motorcoaches and shuttle buses.

North Carolina State Senate Moves Ahead on Local Sales Taxes

Transport Politic, August 6, 2009

Following an April vote in the House, the Senate appears to be close to allowing the Triangle and Triad to fund new transit systems.
After years of controversy revolving around the regressive nature of sales tax increases, the North Carolina State Senate yesterday tentatively approved a measure that would allow citizens in the Triangle and Triad metropolitan areas the right to vote to increase their local sales taxes by $0.005 on every dollar to pay for transit improvements. Mecklenburg County, which includes the state's largest city (Charlotte), has been taxing itself a similar amount since 1998 after the legislature allowed it and it alone to expand its tax base. The bill, if approved later this week as expected, will also allow less urban areas in the state to push sales taxes by $0.0025 to fund transportation.
The measure passed the state house in April and will let the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill in the Triangle and Greensboro and Winston-Salem in the Triad construct ambitious transit networks, but only if the citizenry of their surrounding counties can be cajoled into voting for tax increases. The state will require all counties wishing to fund transit to conduct local referenda before the sales taxes can be implemented. Votes are expected in 2010 if the economy improves sufficiently.
A DMU regional rail system connecting Raleigh and Durham came close to receiving federal funds in the early 2000s, but it was shot down because of Washington's strenuous cost-efficiency regulations. A new regional advisory commission released a report in 2008 proposing an even more ambitious project, with lines reaching 50 miles through the Triangle region. New streetcars could serve the downtowns of the two inner cities, and many more buses would extend through what is one of America's fastest growing regions. A $0.005 sales tax would be an efficient way of funding the new network.
Meanwhile, Greensboro and Winston-Salem have been planning a new light rail connector between each downtown, though their project is not as far advanced. The new tax, if approved, would allow planning and construction to go ahead.
Each region, however, is sprawling and will have a hard time meeting the cost-effectiveness guidelines required by the Feds because of likely low ridership compared to proposed lines in other cities. This barrier could be insurmountable unless they significantly reform their land use policy to encourage dense, station-oriented growth. Without money from Washington, both the Triangle and the Triad will be doomed to smaller and less effective transit lines.

Congress scrambles to fund "cash for clunkers" program

Citizen Times, August 1, 2009
Jon Ostendorff

Car dealers in Western North Carolina waited Friday for word on whether the government would pour an additional $2 billion into the popular "cash for clunkers" car purchase program.
Called the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, the program offers owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle, in exchange for scrapping their old vehicle.
The program was rescheduled to last through Nov. 1 or until the money ran out, but few predicted the fund would run out so quickly. The original $1 billion in funding was expected to generate up to 250,000 new car sales.
The U.S. House passed a bill Friday that shifted $2 billion from an energy loan program that was part of the economic stimulus plan passed earlier this year. The bill was approved on a vote of 316-109.
Getting Senate approval could be a bigger challenge.
Manger dealers didn't start selling under the program until Monday because of a lag in getting the rules from the federal government.
Within a week, the money was gone.
"We had a good time with it," said Tommy Waigand, manager of Hunter Nissan Lincoln Mercury in Hendersonville. "It has gotten a lot of people in off the street that wouldn't have come in to buy a car."
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Car dealers hope Cash for Clunkers drives up sales

News 14 Carolina, July 24th 2009
By Miracle King

The government's new Cash for Clunkers incentive program has buyers driving off car lots in droves. The program - formally called the Car Allowance Rebate System - encourages car buyers to trade in older, gas-guzzling vehicles for brand new fuel-efficient ones.
The program started Friday and is not only meant to help the environment, but also car dealers, buyers and North Carolina's economy.
"We have about 600 dealerships in North Caorlina, every one of which is ready to sell a new car and get that old clunker off the road," Bob Glaser, president of the North Carolina Auto Dealers Association, said.
The program helps shoppers buy or lease a more environmentally-friendly vehicle when they trade in a less fuel-efficient car or truck. But not all trade-ins will qualify.
"If it's [an improvement of] at least four miles to the gallon, they get $3,500. If they pick a car ou that gets [an improvement of] 10 milers to the gallon or more, they get $4,500," Todd Holmes, general manager at Leith Honda in Raleigh, said.
And there are more stipulations. The car has to be drivable with at least a years worth of insurance history. It can't be more than 25 years old. You have to purchase a new car when you trade, and the retail price of your new car can't exceed $45,000.
Though the ride may be a little bumpy for buyers, dealerships have finally gotten their safety belt to help them from flying off this crashing economy.
"Our average sales in North Carolina were about 33,000 to 35,000 a month, and with the economic downturn in the fourth quarter of 2008, our vehicle sales have dropped at about 20,000 units per month," Bob Glaser, with the North Carolina Auto Dealers Association, said. "That's about a 40 percent decrease in the state of North Carolina, so we are very pleased to have the Cash for Clunkers program in effect."

U.S. Auto Sales May Reach 10 Million Pace This Month

Bloomberg, July 24, 2009
Alex Ortolani

U.S. sales of cars and light trucks may reach a 10 million annual pace in July for the first time this year, helped by a $1 billion government program to get less fuel-efficient vehicles off the road.
The so-called "cash-for-clunkers" program "is being viewed by automakers as having the potential to drive a meaningful uptick in sales over the final week of he month," Rod Lache, a New York-based analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a report yesterday. He estimated a 10.2 million sales rate.
The pace has been no higher than 9.9 million in any other month this year, as the recession damped consumer confidence and credit tightened. The federal program, implemented today under a law that took effect July 1, provides a credit of as much as $4,500 for buyers who trade in older vehicles to be scrapped for new models with higher fuel economy.
Edmunds.com, an auto-information provider, and market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates also estimated that the July pace will top 10 million, which would be a sign that sales are coming off a bottom. Automakers sold 13.2 million vehicles last year, and averaged 16.8 million from 2000 through 2007.
General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers will report July sales on August 3. The June seasonally adjusted rate was 9.7 million.
The July pace may be almost 10.5 million, Edmunds.com estimated in a statement yesterday. The Santa Monica, California-based firm cited "glimmers of hope in the economy" and the cash-for-clunkers effort.
"The program will boost automotive sales and remove some of these vehicles that need to come off the road," said Rachel Richards, vice president of retail strategy for dealership owner Sonic Automotive, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Sonic, the third-largest U.S. auto retailer, will soon introduce a Web site to explain the federal program to consumers and will work with the company's dealerships on how to administer it, Richards said in an interview today.
"There are a lot of steps that automotive retailers need to handle to make sure they get their money from the government," she said.
J.D. Power estimated a 10 million rate and credited an increase in sales to fleet customers such as rental-car companies and government agencies. The firm, based in Westlake Village, California, based its projection on sales data through July 15 from more htan 10,000 dealerships.
The federal program has "potential for increased sales in the short term" as some automakers boost incentives to match the government credit, J.D. Power said today in a statement. Chrysler Group LLC announced such offers on July 22.
"Many consumers don't understand the specifics of the program," and sales to individuals this year may be "only incrementally affected," said Gary Dilts, J.D. Power's senior vice president of global automotive operations.
J.D. Power and Edmunds.com both had predicted that the rate for June would exceed 10 million.