How Does the Government Support ‘Green’ Cars?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Ron Coogan with greencar.com and we're going to talk today about how the government supports green cars. Over the years green cars have been developed in many forms from battery electric vehicles, to ethanol fueled vehicles, to hydrogen fueled vehicles, and so on. Private Industry has taken on this task and spent hundreds of millions of dollars, probably, billions of dollars on the task but governments are involved as well. It's in our Countries best interest, and in the best interest of other Countries as well, to support the Countries that are developing the technologies that will give you energy independence and run your transportation sector much more efficiently and at lower cost. Over the years in the United States, the department of energy and the environmental protection agency and even the department of defense, have been very actively involved in funding green technologies because in the end, green technologies aren't just about emissions, they're also about energy security and efficiency, which is why the department of energy would be involved. We've seen the support come in the way of grants, cost sharing and it's been really in the billions of dollars, over many many decades. Starting in the nineteen nineties when we started seeing methanol, ethanol vehicles, battery electric vehicles starting out, but it's continued and it's picked up pace. This is not just a phenomenon in the United States, European Countries, Japan, even Australia, are involved in helping develop green technologies. These technologies are important to a Countries well being because transportation is such a huge part of the overall economic picture, for any Country. Here, it's important because the United States is built on mobility. It's mobility that has made this Country great, that continues to support a very dynamic economy. We've seen in recent years how high fuel prices can be a drag on an economy, where it can slow economic growth. This is not lost on government entities so you will see economic incentives and funding continue. Going beyond the Federal Government here and in other Countries, State Governments, even the local governments, are supporting green technologies through incentives, through tax decreases, you even get other incentives in the form of free parking, lower cost fuels and just many social incentives that will encourage people to drive alternative fuel and green technologies, which will in turn, encourage them to buy them, which means a greater market for the companies making them. Mass production means costs come way down. This is a cycles, the government understands that, private industry understands that. The efforts in working together to bring this to fruition will continue."