My brother suffered from asthma when I was younger. I still remember running around the neighborhood with the other kids and seeing him slow down or taking a time-out to take medication. A lot of homes in the neighborhood still used wood-burning fireplaces back then, and I always was wondering why don’t we just add on something to clean up the air? (I was seven then and hadn’t heard about a wonderful invention spurred on by the Clean Air Act called a scrubber). About 25 years later, I’m working on cleaning up the air as a scientist with NRDC’s Air & Energy Program. My work focuses on advocacy and research on clean vehicles and fuels, with the goal of reducing the impacts of our transportation system on global warming, air pollution, and the environment.
Before I came to NRDC, I worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., where I analyzed and authored studies on plug-in electric vehicles and on climate mitigation strategies for the transportation sector. I have also served as a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, as an engineer developing lithium-ion batteries at a start-up company, and as a research consultant. I hold a doctorate in materials engineering from MIT, with a focus on electrochemistry and lithium ion batteries, as well as a master’s in technology policy. Although I love the East Coast, my real roots are in the West with a B.S. and B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley (where I first met my future wife).
Posted January 27, 2012 by Simon Mui in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Just moments ago, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) voted unanimously (9-0) to move forward with its landmark clean car standards. When the rule is fully implemented by 2025, new cars will emit 75% less smog pollution, 50% less carbon...continued→
Posted January 20, 2012 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
At a time when consumers and businesses are being held hostage to oil rising to over $100 a barrel, our oil dependency is once again threatening our economic recovery. It would seem like we have little control in all of...continued→
Posted December 16, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Just moments ago, the California Air Resources Board voted unanimously to move forward with a Low Carbon Fuel Standard in California. The ARB decision is a victory for California and its residents, but the benefits of the LCFS will be...continued→
Posted December 15, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
In the latest salvo by the oil industry to weaken California’s low carbon fuel standard, (LCFS) the Western States Petroleum Association released a draft report, authored by an industry consultant, Sierra Research. The report’s exorbitant claims don’t hold up to...continued→
Posted December 13, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Trend would be shifted with California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard NRDC has long supported efforts by companies to invest in cleaner technologies. We have started tracking oil industry investments in renewable fuels such as advanced biofuels, down to the company...continued→
Posted December 7, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Today, California released its formal regulatory proposal that demonstrates state leadership in driving clean car technologies into the state and across the nation. The package of standards, as described earlier in a blog here, will have large benefits in terms of...continued→
Posted December 7, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
California’s top air quality regulator corrects industry misinformation provided to European government officials. Oil industry lobbyists have been working to convince European governments to drop environmental standards that would result in proper accounting and cleaning up of dirtier fuel sources, such as...continued→
Posted November 28, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Top Things You Should Know About California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard This year, California began quietly implementing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that will result in production of clean, safe and renewable forms of energy to fuel our cars...continued→
Posted November 17, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Remember Back to the Future, when Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) jumps into the Lotus DeLorean and unintentionally travels back in time by 30 years, only to find a very different world? Now at the 2011 LA Auto...continued→
Posted November 16, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
How California could send a powerful message that oil companies must phase in cleaner fuels and phase out dirty fuels like tar sands in the nation’s largest market. Make no mistake. President Obama’s decision to delay the Keystone XL tar...continued→
Posted November 15, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
With the LA Auto Show starting in three days, car afficianatos and Joe-public alike will have the opportunity to drool over the latest concept cars and next-generation crossovers (we used to call them station wagons, remember)? One of the biggest media highlights will be the array...continued→
Posted July 29, 2011 by Simon Mui in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Today the President announced a historic agreement to increase fuel economy and carbon pollution standards for new cars and trucks, achieving the equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) and 163 grams per mile of CO2 by 2025. In the...continued→
Posted July 13, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
As former President Reagan once put, we need to be able to “Trust, but verify.” This was wise advice. Results from five, independent studies appear to verify that the cost-estimates developed by government agencies on fuel economy are reasonable and conservative. How many studies line-up with...continued→
Posted June 28, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
On Saturday, the Detroit News reported leaks that the Administration will propose a 5% average annual improvement in fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for new cars and new trucks – equivalent to 56.2 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2025....continued→
Posted June 15, 2011 by Simon Mui in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that automakers and their trade associations are now fighting California’s next revision to its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program, a long-standing air quality program and technology-forcing standard to bring plug-in electric and fuel cell...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.
