Diesel

May 12, 2008 -- MACON, Ga – Today Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed an executive order suspending the collection of the state gas tax on diesel sold for off-road uses. Governor Perdue also signed several agricultural-related pieces of legislation during his visit to Farm Bureau headquarters in Macon: Senate Bill 515, House Bill 649, and House Bill 1178 and House Bill 1088.

Georgia tractor at work in cornfield: Photo by Judy Baxter (CC)    » read more »

Where Have All the Drivers Gone?

Does it seem like there are fewer cars on the highway this year? The recent trend in motor gasoline consumption would appear to indicate so. Gasoline consumption has been declining for at least six months. Households may be thinking twice about jumping in the family car as a slowing economy and rising prices are stressing pocketbooks from Maine to Hawaii.    » read more »

Bait and Switch

Many drivers in the U.S. who chose diesel-fueled vehicles over gasoline-fueled ones may have done so for the expected savings from higher fuel economy and historically lower prices per gallon, especially during the summer driving season. However, diesel is currently selling at about a 70-cent premium to gasoline at the retail pump, and that has consumers scratching their heads.    » read more »

March 14, 2008 -- Washington, DC– The American Lung Association salutes the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule to require substantial cuts in the air pollution produced by locomotive and marine diesel engines. Communities across the nation urgently need this federal help to help clean up dangerous ozone and particle pollution. Cleaning up diesel locomotives and marine engines will save thousands of lives.    » read more »

Will Reduce 90 percent of Soot Emissions by 2030

WASHINGTON (March 14, 2008) -- Thousands of emergency room visits and more than 1,000 premature deaths will be avoided every year, once a long-awaited federal plan to clean up dangerous, lung-clogging emissions from railroad locomotives and large marine diesel engines is fully implemented, according to scientists and clean-air advocates at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has been advocating for a clean-up plan for more than five years.    » read more »

Jan 27, 2008 -- SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Coast Guard is responding to a diesel fuel spill from a fishing vessel that ran aground in Floyds Creek south of Brunswick, Ga., Saturday.

The fishing vessel Little David contacted the Coast Guard after running aground, and a Marine Safety Unit Savannah pollution response team was immediately dispatched to the scene.

Coast Guard personnel found a diesel sheen in the water next to the vessel taking on water. All of Little David's crew had been safely removed and were not on-scene when the pollution response team arrived.    » read more »

November 30, 2007 -- AUGUSTA -- Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today signed a Declaration of Civil Emergency regarding the high price of diesel fuel and its impact on the State’s forest products industry.

“Diesel prices in Maine are at all-time highs, and it is having a devastating impact on our economy, and particularly on the forest products industry,” Governor Baldacci said. “This emergency order will allow us to take further steps to help truckers and loggers in the State, and place more pressure upon Washington to take action.”    » read more »

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 9, 2007 -- Average costs of diesel fuel in Missouri and across the nation rose to record highs in the last week, as crude oil costs also set new records, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Energy Center's biweekly Missouri Energy Bulletin.

On Nov. 5, the U.S. and Missouri average retail prices for diesel fuel set new records of $3.30 and $3.21 per gallon respectively, representing increases of 32 percent from a year ago. The previous record average of $3.11 for Missouri diesel fuel was set in an Energy Bulletin survey for Oct. 17, 2005.    » read more »

November 8, 2007 -- Cars and light trucks powered by advanced diesel technology or hybrid technology can provide larger societal benefits than traditional gasoline-powered automobiles, according to a RAND Corporation working paper presented today.

The research by RAND, a non-profit research organization, also found that light trucks and cars continuously fueled by a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline – known as E85 – compare unfavorably with the other two alternatives.    » read more »

11/06/2007 -- Increased roadway pollution produced by diesel fuel in vehicles is leading to a cascade of conditions that could result in heart attack or stroke, researchers suggested in the report of a small study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007.

United Kingdom and Swedish researchers found that diesel exhaust increased clot formation and blood platelet activity in healthy volunteers — which could lead to heart attack and stroke.    » read more »