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The Gas Electric Hybrid Car Next Door February 2005When Gerald Duffy test drove a Toyota Prius earlier this month, he didnt take the salesman seriously when he advised Duffy to buy the car on the spot rather than risk losing it to another customer.But in the case of this increasingly popular gas-electric hybrid vehicle, the salesman was right. "I called him that afternoon and it had sold," Duffy said. "Clearly, this wasnt a sales pitch; these things were moving." The car was the last hybrid on the lot, but luckily for Duffy and his wife, Effie Malley, another Prius arrived a day later, and the couple said they hurried to the dealer and bought without thinking twice. Duffy and Malley, of Portsmouth, are part of the growing population that is trading in their regular "gas guzzlers" for more fuel-efficient hybrids. The couple were influenced by their neighbor, Elizabeth Cavanagh, who bought a Honda Civic hybrid a year ago. Considering the couple and Cavanagh are the only homeowners on the small road near South Street called Lookout Lane, friends now call the neighborhood "the greenest street in Portsmouth." All three said they decided to buy hybrids to do their part to lower fuel emissions, which cause air pollution. "Every gallon of gas thats burned creates 20 pounds of carbon," Duffy noted. The hybrid reduces emissions by relying on an electric motor for driving at lower speeds. At highway speeds, the gasoline engine kicks in. This allows hybrids to get better gas mileage, therefore burning less gasoline and, as Cavanagh said, "reducing our dependence on oil." According to Marc Smith, general sales manager at Toyota of Portsmouth, the gas mileage for a Toyota Prius, which costs $21,900, is around 50 miles per gallon. A comparably priced Toyota Camry, one of the countrys best-selling vehicles, gets gas mileage of around 25 miles per gallon. While the options for reducing emissions are out there, some say New Hampshire, and the country as a whole, have not done enough to get citizens to use these "greener" alternatives. New Hampshire is the only state in the Northeast that has not adopted the California-based Cleaner Cars program, which requires all vehicles sold in those states to meet certain low emission standards. According to Michael Fitzgerald, supervisor for mobile source planning at the state Department of Environmental Services, it is up to the Legislature to vote on whether to join the program. But just because the state does not have a Cleaner Cars program does not mean it isnt taking steps to reduce auto emissions, Fitzgerald said. The state participates in the national lower emissions vehicle program. It sets emissions standards for vehicles sold in the state, but the standards are not as strict as the Cleaner Cars program, Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald added that most of the cars sold in New Hampshire come from states that participate in the Cleaner Cars program. "We believe certainly that more than 98 percent of vehicles are certified at this time," he said. "Were obtaining the benefits without actually having to adopt it." Despite such measures, southern New Hampshire was classified by the Environmental Protection Agency in April 2004 as not meeting ground-level ozone air quality standards. While part of the poor air quality can be blamed on air pollution that travels from other states, Fitzgerald said the state must address its pollution sources before trying to curb out-of-state pollution. "Its very hard for us to point our finger at other states to ask them to reduce emissions when we havent implemented the programs ourselves," he said. Earlier this week, the N.H. House Transportation Committee held a public hearing on delaying a state emission testing program until July 1, 2006. The On Board Diagnostic program would require inspection stations to see if a cars check engine light has come on in the past year. Some lawmakers said the check engine light, which is supposed to indicate a possible malfunction in a vehicles emission system, could end up coming on for faulty reasons such as a vehicles gas cap being open. Considering the differences in emissions laws from state to state, Duffy said buying a hybrid car is the perfect way people can reduce pollution on their own. "In this country, its got to be individuals that decide we can do something," Duffy said. His words had an added significance given they were spoken on the same day the Kyoto pact went into effect without the United States participation. The pact was ratified by 140 countries and imposes limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, hoping to ultimately reduce global warming. "I dont think people have to be environmentalists. Were kind of just an ordinary family," Duffy said. | ||
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