Electric Cost Monitoring

(Chicago, IL – October 19, 2009) As the GreenFleet Conference 2009 kicks off this morning in Chicago, fleet managers have access to comprehensive online tools and materials to help them cut costs and emissions. Available at http://edf.org/greenfleet, the tools unveiled today by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) assist companies in reaching out to their fleet drivers to help identify practical, effective ways to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Corporate fleets account for more than three million vehicles in the United States. Fuel-smart driving behaviors offer an opportunity to reduce fuel consumption and emissions from all of these vehicles – starting today,” noted Jason Mathers, Green Fleet project manager at EDF, who is moderating a session at the conference this afternoon entitled Real-World Driver Behavior Modifications to Meet Green Fleet Goals. “Fleets have seen improvements in fuel efficiency by up to 4 percent after adopting fuel-smart driving practices. If all corporate fleets in the country did the same, they could reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by nearly two million metric tons – and save money.”

The EDF online tools include:

·         A comprehensive handbook for fleet managers outlining everything from tips on driving best practices to concrete ways to incentivize changes in driving behavior

·         Template materials for communicating with fleet drivers

·         An online driver-training module, complete with a users guide

EDF worked with leading fleet management company PHH Arval to develop a comprehensive fleet management service – PHH GreenFleet® – that achieves measurable greenhouse gas emissions reductions and simultaneously produces business benefits.  

“In today’s economic environment, fleet managers are looking for cost-effective ways to improve fuel economy and reduce fuel costs,” said Karen Healey, director of environmental programs at PHH Arval. “We believe the tools developed by PHH and EDF will provide great business and environmental benefits, and we encourage all fleet managers to consider including them as part of a comprehensive fleet greenhouse gas management strategy.”

For more on EDF’s work with fleets, including tips on maximizing vehicle efficiency and minimizing vehicle miles traveled, visit http://edf.org/greenfleet.

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“Bioenergy and biofuels can be a key part of the solution to climate change if we get the right policies and incentives in place,” said Environmental Defense Fund Chief Scientist Steven Hamburg, co-author of the Science paper. “We’re reaching out to a broad group to craft policies that maximize the benefits while minimizing environmental downsides.”Environmental Defense Fund is in the early stages of reaching out to agriculture groups, forest landowner groups, biofuel and bioenergy producers, and other environmental groups to convene a facilitated stakeholder process that can produce a consensus-based mechanism for bioenergy carbon accounting.In the United States and several other countries, existing and proposed climate change regulations treat bioenergy as carbon neutral. The Science paper says that approach is based on incorrect assumptions that if not corrected, will in the long-term create incentives for increasing types of bioenergy production that actually increase greenhouse gas emissions.”Environmental Defense Fund recognizes that fossil fuels are responsible for the largest share of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, so tackling those is our first priority,” said Hamburg. “But over time, we also need to fix this accounting error so that the benefits of biofuels can be harvested and negative impacts on the climate and ecosystem health can be avoided. We may not reach consensus before the Senate completes its work on climate legislation, but we hope to provide a long-term path forward for addressing the issue as the U.S. and other nations pursue their climate change mitigation goals.”Environmental Defense Fund is committed to developing solutions and policies that promote innovation through market incentives - including a robust market for agriculture offsets in cap and trade legislation and incentives for land-use practices that reduce carbon emissions - rather than the direct regulation of agriculture under carbon caps.###Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 700,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.