Sometimes a good idea takes a while to catch on. Sometimes people and companies suffer for taking to long to pick up a good idea and run with it. Take hybrids as an example. Toyota lost money on every hybrid it sold for the first couple years. Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors suggested that hybrids made more sense in Tokyo than they do in the United States. Selling hybrids was one way to raise a company’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard. Yet the large American car companies fought increases in the CAFE standard.
The CAFE Standard was passed back in the early 70s in response to the Arab Oil embargo. In 1987, the total fleet fuel economy peaked at 26.2 miles per gallon. Light trucks, which adhere to a lower standard, only made up 28% of the market. By 2001 light trucks had become 47% of the market and the total fleet fuel economy had dropped back to 24.4 miles per gallon.
Last week, we saw both GM and Ford get downgraded, in part because the reason increases in fuel prices have made hybrids the hot car to have as more and more people shun SUVs. See this Bloomberg article for more information.
Not only do we need to use less fuel, but we also need to use cleaner fuel. In 2002, the Connecticut General Assembly passed House Bill 5663 which limited idling of school buses in an effort to provide cleaner air for our students. Part of the bill required using cleaner fuel, but that was taken out during the legislative process.
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As Mayor DeStefano noted in his Op-Ed in the Hartford Courant on Sunday, “Each year for the past decade, the number of school-age children in New Haven with asthma has increased 2 percent. Now at 18 percent, the city has the highest diagnosed rate in Connecticut. Sadly the rest of the state isn't far behind; more than 10 percent of children in Connecticut have asthma.” He goes on to call for the passing of statewide Diesel Reduction Plan, which would “develop a Connecticut clean diesel plan to reduce the health risks from diesel pollution and to help the state meet federal air quality standards for fine particulate matter.” This is another good idea that is taking a while to catch on.Personally, I would like to see us push further on this. The St. Johns Public School district in Michigan converted its school bus fleet to biodiesel in 2002. They found unexpected savings in increased mileage and reduced maintenance costs. I suspect if they looked closer they may also have found decreased health care costs for their children. We should all be working on getting our school districts to move to biodiesel and if we drive a diesel vehicle, we should start using biodiesel. If you drive through New Haven you can get BioDiesel at a gas station on Ella T. Grasso Blvd.
Mayor DeStefano has often spoken about the importance of innovation for dealing with the problems that face our state. Sometimes, it isn't innovation that is necessary, but simply the determination to apply great ideas that are taking a little too long to catch on.
