Members of Congress continue to add support to the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2009 (NAT GAS Act; HR 1835/S 1408). Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-NJ) introduced the bill in the Senate last week, with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) joining as co-sponsors. Both the House and Senate bills seek to accelerate the production and use of natural gas-fueled vehicles. Currently there are more than 70 co-sponsors of the bill in the House of Representatives.
The House and Senate bills seek to:
- Extend the tax credits for natural gas used as a vehicle fuel, the purchase of natural gas-fueled vehicle, and the installation of natural gas vehicle refueling property
- Allow the natural gas vehicle and natural gas fueling infrastructure credits to count against the AMT provisions
- Require that federal fleets purchase alternative fuel vehicles unless the agency can show that the fuel in unavailable or the vehicle is impractical
Natural gas is the cleanest commercially available fuel for transportation and costs less for transportation than gasoline or diesel. Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) produce between 93-95 percent less overall toxics compared to gasoline and diesel vehicles, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20–30 percent compared with diesel and gasoline fueled vehicles.
