When I was 9 years old, my parents loaded me and my siblings into the family station wagon headed west from Massachusetts. We spent the whole summer visiting the beautiful parks around the country and visiting far-flung extended family. I remember hiking the Grand Canyon and crossing the Mohave Desert sitting on black vinyl seats without air conditioning. Ouch.
After college, I kept traveling. As an engineering officer on a Navy cruiser, I got hands-on experience with large propulsion plants and energy systems. On bridge watches, I was awed by vastness, power and tranquil beauty of the ocean. After the navy, I joined a software company for a while but grew restless for a focus on environmental stewardship and I returned to school to study environmental policy-making.
Since joining NRDC in 2004, I’ve been focused on the environmental impact of our mobility. I am working on ways to promote cleaner and more efficient car and truck technologies so that as we and future generations travel to visit the earth’s beautiful places in the future, they are still there to see.
Posted May 1, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Consumers shopping for a new car have more fuel-efficient options and auto dealers are seeing a “renaissance” at their stores. The model year 2012 cars in showrooms today are the first to meet fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards first...continued→
Posted April 19, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil
Thanks to stronger fuel efficiency standards, new cars and light trucks are going further on a gallon of gasoline. Automakers have made significant advancements in many popular models over the last three years that save drivers money. Consumers wishing to...continued→
Posted March 21, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil
The ‘drill, baby, drill’ approach to energy won’t ease your pain at the pump according to an analysis by the Associated Press. In an article running in papers across the country, AP puts it simply: “…more U.S. drilling has not...continued→
Posted March 20, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil
While we face the daily challenge of volatile and currently high gasoline prices, we can be thankful that U.S. consumption of gasoline and oil more generally is flattening. Now we have an opportunity to make our oil demand drop dramatically...continued→
Posted March 8, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil
New cars and trucks are getting better fuel economy and saving consumers money at the pump. Recent reports are showing an on-going upward trend, one which is expected to accelerate as new standards ramp up. According to researcher Michael Sivak...continued→
Posted March 7, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil
Unless you dug deep into President Obama’s FY2013 budget proposal you may have missed his plan to increase investments in cars and trucks that don’t need oil for fuel. The increased investments in alternative vehicles is part of a broad...continued→
Posted March 5, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Curbing Pollution
Senator Inhofe recently attacked new proposed standards that would nearly double new automobile fuel economy and cut dangerous emissions of carbon pollution from those vehicles in half by 2025. The Senator claims to be concerned about increased particulate matter pollution,...continued→
Posted January 17, 2012 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Greetings from the Motor City! Obama Administration officials are in Detroit to gather public input on the EPA and Department of Transportation proposal to raise new automobile efficiency standards to the equivalent of 54.5 mpg by 2025, nearly double that...continued→
Posted November 16, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
The Obama Administration formally proposed new car and light truck fuel economy and carbon pollution standards today. This blog will give you a ‘first read’ on what they mean for consumers, the environment and our energy security. Overall, the standards...continued→
Posted October 18, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Once again the oil industry is saying ‘no’ to change. They want Americans to stay addicted to their product. Moving to cleaner, alternative fuels is a threat to their bottom line, and they won’t stand for it. Their latest attack...continued→
Posted August 19, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Yesterday, it became official: 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states officially published an economic analysis of a Clean Fuels Standard (CFS) for the region, following a leak of the report earlier in the week. The CFS would promote investment in transportation...continued→
Posted August 17, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
The state of Maine recently released an economic analysis of a regional clean fuels standard for 11 states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The verdict: The region can cut air pollution, slash our dangerous dependence on oil, bring in billions...continued→
Posted August 9, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Green Enterprise, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
UPDATE, Aug 10: NRDC, UAW and NWF, identified a mistake in the supplier report issued yesterday. The jobs in North Carolina were overestimated. The actual number is 5,928. The corrected figure brings to 151,168 the total number of U.S. workers at...continued→
Posted August 8, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Tomorrow, President Obama will announce new fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for heavy-duty trucks. This is a historic step forward because these are first-ever standards of this type and they start the of process of what are expected to be...continued→
Posted July 28, 2011 by Luke Tonachel in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
UPDATE, July 29, 2011: I snapped the picture below this morning as President Obama described new clean, efficient vehicle standards. NRDC Executive Director Peter Lehner and I had the great pleasure of attending today’s exciting and important event. Very cool!...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
