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Kulongoski Unveils Green Transportation Ideas Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has announced a still-in-progress package of green transportation ideas he hopes to pursue in 2009 that includes tax incentives for plug-in electric vehicles and strategies to reduce overall miles driven within the state.
The rising environmental and financial costs of fossil fuels are forcing Oregonians to find new ways of moving people and freight, he explained, remarking that the state was “in the midst of a once-in-a-century shift in our transportation system.”
He would like to phase in a tax credit for plug-in hybrid and purely electric vehicles in place of the current credit for gas-electric hybrids, pending the availability of such vehicles.
Toyota hopes to introduce plug-in electric cars to the U.S. market as soon as 2010, but the vehicles’ 100 to 150-mile range will require an infrastructure of plug-in stations to support their implementation.
Portland General Electric has announced that this summer it will install a dozen plug-in stations in the Portland area. Kulongoski also hopes transportation planners can increase infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users, thereby offsetting the need for highway expansions. The idea is modeled after utilities’ “least cost planning” concept, which aims to reduce use instead of building new capacity. Return to September 2008 Western Energy News To sponsor Western Energy News , please contact WEI at 503 231-1994.
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