Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition representatives will be in Washington D.C. next week alongside other clean transportation leaders to educate federal policymakers on the benefits of expanding alternative fuels.
“Despite the recent drop in gasoline prices, gas prices remain extremely volatile and we continue to send more than $200 billion per year to OPEC and other nations for oil,” said Mark Bentley, Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition’s executive director. “We are going to Washington to help our representatives understand that Alabama and the United States must aggressively expand our use of alternatives to petroleum-based fuel if we are to stabilize gas prices, decrease our reliance on foreign oil and maintain and create domestic jobs in the transportation energy industry.”
The popularity of alternative fuel has grown in recent years. According the U.S. Department of Energy, there are about 1.8 million alternative fuel vehicles currently on the road in the United States and nearly 70,000 alternative fueling stations.
This movement has made its way to Alabama. Among many other alternative power developments, Montgomery’s United Parcel Service is currently adding electric and compressed natural gas powered delivery vans to its fleet, and the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is building a public access compressed natural gas station on Airport Highway.
The group will also be attending the 2019 Energy Independence Summit from Feb. 11 to 13 to spread their message.