12 Greenest Cars of 2010

Looks like even though we’re out of the 2000’s, we’re not going to be able to get away from the word “green.”

The American Council for Energy Efficient Economy has released their list of the 12 Greenest Cars of 2010. You can view pictures of each of the models listed below by clicking here.

For the sake of brevity, here’s the list of cars, as well as a breakdown of each model’s gas mileage:

1. Honda Civic GX – The cool thing about the Civic GX is that it runs on Natural gas, and gets an equivalent of 36 MPG highway
2. Toyota Prius – Most well known Hybrid on the road, gets 48 MPG highway, 51 MPG city
3. Honda Civic Hybrid – The hybrid version of one of the best selling cars in the U.S. gets 45 MPG highway, 40 MPG city
4. Smart ForTwo – Has tiny 1.0 liter, 3-cylinder engine which allows it to get 41 MPG highway (I’d be afraid to take this out on an interstate), 33 MPG city
5. Honda Insight – Honda’s equivalent of the Prius gets 43 MPG highway, 40 MPG city
6. Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan Hybrids – first American car on the list, and the Detroit Auto Show 2010 Car of the Year, gets 36 MPG highway, 41 MPG city
7. Toyota Yaris – Tiny and cheap, and gets 36 MPG highway, 29 MPG city
8. Nissan Altima Hybrid – Just another hybrid on the list. 33 MPG highway, 35 MPG city
9. Mini Cooper – Fun, zippy car gets 37 MPG highway, 28 MPG city
10. Chevy Cobalt XFE – Small, 2.2 liter, 4-cylinder engine gets 37 MPG highway, 25 MPG city
11. Hyundai Accent Blue – A new car under $10 grand that gets 36 MPG highway, 27 MPG city?
12. Honda Fit – 33 MPG highway, 27 MPG city. Really nothing much else to say.

So, if you’re in the market for a new car, be sure to check out all of the cars listed above!

Mother Nature Would Like to Have a Word

While I certainly can’t speak for everyone, it certainly seems to me that the call to go green, especially with regards to oil, gasoline, driving less, and more fuel efficient vehicles, has sort of been muted as of late.  I also think the explanation why is obvious.

I have long subscribed to the theory that if you want people to pay attention, take action, and make changes, you’ve got to hit them where it counts: in their wallet.  This is why I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the cries for becoming more environmentally friendly grew louder as gasoline prices climbed higher.

On the flip side, I think this is also why many of us seem to not be as concerned about the environment — or at least trying to make immediate changes — as we once were.  After all, the price of gas has fallen about 50% from it’s peak.

But, one opinion does not a fact make, so I thought I’d pose the following question to my Daily Fuel Economy Tip readers: Are you less concerned about environmental issues now that gas prices have fallen over 50 percent?

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Will President Obama Get Alternative Energy on Track?

As part of Barack Obama’s message during his Presidential campaign, he promised to help modernize and green America’s energy and transportation systems.  (Click here and here to see what Obama promised on the trail.)

Now, after the election, President-elect Obama is pushing alternative energy as part of his expected to be many hundreds of billions of dollars stimulus package.  According to the Obama camp, not only will the push towards alternative energy and more fuel efficient vehicles help protect America from unstable oil producing countries, but it will also help to create and save millions of non-exportable jobs within our borders.

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Give Me Alternative Energy, Just Don’t Make Me Pay For It!

It’s becoming more and more apparent that we need to find viable alternative energy sources.  Whether it’s for economic reasons – not having to send hundreds of billions of dollars to unstable countries – or environmental reasons – not dumping billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – the time has come to kick our oil addiction and move towards clean, renewable alternative energies.

But, how are we going to pay for this research and transition, and who’s going to foot the bill?

One of the most commonly kicked around ideas is to raise the federal fuel tax from 18.4 cents to something a little more substantial.  After all, this would be an easy way to help wean people off gasoline and at the same time help fund billions of dollars for alternative fuel research.

(Click here to read about my plan to raise the fuel tax to 50 cents.)

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t count on this rational idea coming to fruition any time soon, because whenever the phrase “tax increase” is uttered, people tend to lose their minds and politicians tend to lose their jobs.

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Just So You Know, We Are Running Out of Time

Here we go again.

Thanks to uncertainty regarding the proposed U.S. Government bailout of the financial sector (which, by the way, is looking more like a band-aid on a bullet wound), the dollar having its single worst day against the euro and other currencies, and commodity traders covering their short sales, the price of crude oil climbed over $16 per barrel today – the single largest daily price increase on record.

And it could have been worse.  At today’s peak, the price of oil was up over $25 from Friday’s closing price.

While this may end up being a one day phenomenon, the fact remains oil is still very much in a bull market, and what we thought was the commodity bubble popping might have been nothing more than slight correction during an extended upward trend.

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Which Presidential Candidate Has the Best Alternative Energy Plan?

Some of the most important issues of the 2008 Presidential campaign revolve around alternative energy and breaking our dependence on foreign oil.  Thanks to our current energy crunch, Americans have had to deal with much higher prices for gasoline and energy, and are likely to face record high heating bills this winter.

On top of the economic pain, it’s hard to deny that the green movement is in full effect.  Since it’s pretty hard to deny the link between our use of fossil fuels and our current environmental problems – most notably, global warming – an alternative energy plan predicated on carbon neutral resources is extremely important to a lot of voters.

So, which candidate won over the most Americans with his energy plan?  Right now, it’s kind of hard to tell.

According to a recent poll on Daily Fuel Economy Tip, most Americans are torn over whether either, neither, or both Presidential candidates will be able to implement a solid alternative energy plan.

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The Car That Will Save the Planet

About a year or so ago, I was being interviewed by a radio program out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the host asked me about what I thought would be the best “energy and transportation” solution to that would get us off oil and gasoline and save the environment.

At the time, I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I gave a very broad response like, “There are many promising technologies out there that are being explored, but until one becomes the indisputable front runner, we should just focus on driving less and buying more fuel efficient cars.”

Clearly, a very PC answer – maybe I’ll run for office some day.

Regardless, I’ve now come up with what I think is the answer to our oil/gas/environmental problems. It’s not exactly revolutionary, and will probably be expensive to implement, but I have yet to come across a better solution.

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