After more than a century of causing horrendous pollution, the auto industry is undergoing a green revolution, writes Jim Motavalli in Grist. Spurred by air pollution laws, the specter of global warming, and animated competition, automakers are starting to design and produce a whole new generation of clean cars, including fuel-cell and hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Enviros and others lament that even eco-friendly cars exacerbate sprawl and congestion, and yet cars aren’t likely to disappear anytime soon, so the least we can do is clean them up, Motavalli argues. Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) hopes to give clean cars a boost with a bill he introduced yesterday that would give tax breaks to individuals and companies that buy alternative-fuel vehicles and to companies that build refueling stations for such vehicles.
