Clean Cities Celebrating 30 Years Advancing Clean Transportation |
Happy 30th birthday to the Clean Cities Coalition Network! Join us in celebrating 30 years of boosting the country’s energy security, economic vitality, and quality of life by advancing affordable, efficient, and clean transportation fuels and technologies. Over 30 years, the network has built bipartisan support, deep connections within the transportation industry, and active partnerships with 20,000 public and private stakeholders. Thriving on a culture of collaborative change, coalitions harness decades of deployment expertise to continue moving our transportation systems into the future.
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Annual Earth Day Celebration |
Drive Clean Indiana made an appearance at the Earth Day event hosted by Porter County Recycling and Waste Reduction at the Porter County Expo Center. Annually Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd across the nation. This date marks the birth of the modern environmental movement in the United States. Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular environmental observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes.
Locally the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the effects of climate change become more and more apparent every day. The district remains fully committed in celebrating and recognizing Mother Earth in all her infinite glory on this National Day.
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Indiana Clean School Bus Consortium Webinar Series
May 9, 2023 - 10am CST
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Drive Clean Indiana, Indiana’s only U.S. Department of Energy designated coalition, is hosting the Third Indiana Clean School Bus Consortium (ICSBC) Webinar in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program.
The goal of this consortium is to educate Indiana schools on the benefits of cleaner fuels, reduce emissions and operation cost savings. The ICSBC will also provide schools with information on the various upcoming funding opportunities and safe transportation options for school children.
DCI has developed a series of working group meetings that will offer insights on training, best management practices, provide updates on funding opportunities, and much more. School districts can utilize this statewide working group to reduce barriers towards the implementation of cleaner school bus technologies.
EPA is announcing the 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Grant Program! This is the first grant funding opportunity through the multi-year funding program and follows the 2022 CSB Rebate Program, which was the first round of funding. Under the 2023 Grant Program, EPA anticipates awarding approximately $400 million in competitive grant funding to eligible applicants for the purchase of zero-emission (ZE) school buses, clean school buses, and ZE charging infrastructure.
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Private and Public Sector Investments for Affordable Electric Vehicles |
As part of President Biden’s goal of having 50 percent of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, the White House is announcing public and private commitments to support America’s historic transition to electric vehicles (EV) under the EV Acceleration Challenge. These commitments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to spur domestic manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, boost U.S. competitiveness and create good-paying jobs.
Because of President Biden’s leadership and historic investments, electric vehicle sales have tripled and the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by over 40 percent since he took office. There are now more than three million EVs on the road and over 135,000 public EV chargers across the country.
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EV BOOT CAMP
JUNE 1, 2023
9a.m. - 11a.m. CST
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Do you have questions about Electric Vehicles? We have answers! Join us on June 1, 2023 from 9-11 a.m. at NIRPC (Lake Michigan Room, 6100 Southport Road, Portage, IN) to learn the basics of electricity used as an alternative fuel, electric-drive vehicles, and charging infrastructure. We will also go through some of the items to consider before implementing electric-drive vehicles in your fleet, as well as resources and tools for additional information.
The event is free, but space is limited and registration is required.
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2023 NWI Partners for Clean Air Annual Luncheon &
Awards Ceremony
May 5, 2023 - 11:30am CST
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You are Invited to Join Us on Friday, May 5, 2023
Established in 1998 as part of the Voluntary Clean Air Act, Partners for Clean Air is a coalition of businesses, industries, local governments, community groups, and individuals that are committed to improving air quality and public health through voluntary actions.
Our vision is to enhance the quality of life in Northwest Indiana by making the air cleaner to breathe for everyone and increase public awareness about the importance of clean air.
Partners for Clean Air will announce one or more $2,500 post-secondary education scholarship award winners to Northwest Indiana seniors, whose goals align with clean air and public health, at our annual luncheon. In addition to announcing the scholarship winners, we will recognize entities that have gone above and beyond their regulatory requirements to improve air quality in Indiana.
During the event, we will have the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s, (IDEM’s) Commissioner, Brian Rockensuess, provide an overall update on the agency; IDEM’s Environmental Stakeholder Inclusion Coordinator, Rahim Evans, provide an overview on environmental justice; and Drive Clean Indiana’s Executive Director, Carl Lisek, give a special presentation on electric school buses that we can promise you won’t want to miss!
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MACOG hosted its Partner’s for Clean Air Awards Luncheon on April 19. Congrats to the award winners: City of Elkhart, Viewrail, Clubhouse of St. Joseph County, and South Bend Community School Corporation
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First Round of Funding Announced for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI)
The multi-billion-dollar program will fund electric vehicle (EV) charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure in communities across the country and along designated highways, interstates, and major roadways.
This program, established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will provide $2.5 billion over five years to a wide range of applicants, including cities, counties, local governments, and tribes. The CFI Discretionary Grant Program builds on the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, for which the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published finalized minimum standards earlier this month.
This first round of funding makes up to $700 million from Fiscal Years (FY) 2022 and 2023 funding available to strategically deploy EV charging and other alternative vehicle-fueling infrastructure projects in publicly accessible locations in urban and rural communities, as well as along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs).
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EERE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office announced the availability of $750 million for research, development, and demonstration efforts to dramatically reduce the cost of clean hydrogen. This funding represents a crucial step in accelerating the widespread use of clean hydrogen and plays a vital role in achieving commercial-scale hydrogen deployment this decade.
EPA is announcing the 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Grant Program! This is the first grant funding opportunity through the multi-year funding program and follows the 2022 CSB Rebate Program, which was the first round of funding. Under the 2023 Grant Program, EPA anticipates awarding approximately $400 million in competitive grant funding to eligible applicants for the purchase of zero-emission (ZE) school buses, clean school buses, and ZE charging infrastructure.
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MEMBERSHIP PRICING
UPDATED FOR 2023
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Effective immediately, membership rates will be increasing for new members. Current members will not be impacted by the rate increase until January 1, 2024.
Advanced levels of membership yield greater benefits, including increased marketing for your organization on our digital platforms and in our publications and the addition of grant development hours. Grant development provides one of the greatest opportunities for return on investment in your Drive Clean Indiana membership. We hope that you see the value in the services we offer and will continue to support our mission by maintaining your current membership level.
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Member Spotlight:
Ozinga Energy
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Whether you are looking for a natural gas solution for your large company fleet or to service your personal CNG vehicle, Ozinga can help.
From custom-built CNG stations to fleet conversions, we offer a variety of CNG products and services that suit your specific needs and help prepare you for future growth.
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Board Member Spotlight:
DCI Board Member
Ron Goodwin
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This month Ron Goodwin is the board member spotlight. Below are some professional questions/answers and fun facts.
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PROFESSIONAL QUESTIONS
How long have you been a board member of Drive Clean Indiana?
4 to 5 months
Why did you join the Drive Clean Indiana Board?
To try to stay on top of the new technologies that help keep our air and waters cleaner.
What’s your favorite part of being a DCI board member?
I am new to DCI but I feel it is a really great bunch of people with a lot knowledge to learn from.
Do you volunteer for any organization? What do you enjoy most about volunteering?
I do not do a much volunteering as I use to, but I really enjoyed being the youth chairman for Pheasants Forever. Introducing inner city kids to the outdoors.
Fun Facts & Questions
What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
I am a certified rescue scuba diver.
What’s the last book you read?
Selling In Tough Times by Tom Hopkins
What is your favorite hobby?
Golf, Fishing and Hunting
What’s the first concert you ever attended?
Guns N Roses
What’s the next place on your travel bucket list?
Cruise with the family
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Featured Fuel: PROPANE
Propane, also known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP-gas) or autogas, has been used worldwide as a vehicle fuel for decades. Stored under pressure inside a tank, propane turns into a colorless, odorless liquid. As pressure is released, the liquid propane vaporizes and turns into gas that is used for combustion. An odorant, ethyl mercaptan, is added for leak detection.
Propane has a high octane rating and excellent properties for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. Propane is produced as a by-product of natural gas processing and crude oil refining. It accounts for about 2 percent of the energy used in the U.S. Uses include home and water heating, cooking and refrigerating food, clothes drying, powering farm and industrial equipment and drying corn. Rural areas that do not have natural gas service commonly rely on propane. The chemical industry uses propane as a raw material for making plastics and other compounds. Less than 2 percent of U.S. propane consumption is used for transportation fuel.
Propane is considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. According to the Propane Education and Research Council, there are more than 270,000 on-road propane vehicles in the U.S. Many are used in fleet applications, such as police cars, shuttles and school buses.
The development of new, light- and medium-duty propane vehicles has surged in recent years for fleet use. Propane vehicles can either be conversions from gasoline vehicles or purchased from original equipment manufacturers
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Indiana Clean School Bus Consortium Webinar Series
May 9, 2023 - 10am CST
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EV BOOT CAMP Session 2: Ordinances
June 1, 2023
9 a.m. - 11 a.m. CST
Portage, IN
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Drive Clean Indiana's
Annual Conference & Expo
August 23, 2023
Blue Chip Casino
Michigan City, IN
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Drive Clean Indiana's 11th Annual Clean Air Golf Outing
September 19, 2023
White Hawk Country Club
Crown Point, IN
Click HERE for more info.
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