REFORMULATED GASOLINE - CLEANER AIR ON THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

U.S. legislation taking effect in 1995 and requiring the sale of cleaner reformulated gasoline in heavily polluted areas provides limited environmental benefits, but it fails to take into account the world's dwindling reserves of oil, the eroding economics of using oil, and the political and military costs of maintaining access to non-domestic supplies. In contrast, natural gas offers greater emissions reductions than reformulated gasoline, at lower fuel costs and with greater domestic supply and energy security. In the long term, the expansion of the infrastructure that would support natural gas vehicles could facilitate the transition to hydrogen which, when produced from renewable resources, could become the optimum fuel for a sustainable transportation energy economy.