We celebrated with our member the Muncie Sanitary District on Earth Day at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new CNG-compliant garage. The site includes a vehicle maintenance garage that can be used by all of the city's fleets, including the 24 vehicles that operate on CNG. The garage includes multiple features such as natural gas censors that will open the garage doors in case of a leak. DCI wrote multiple successful grant applications for the district & was thrilled to have Program Director Ryan Lisek speak at the ribbon cutting ceremony. Learn more

President Joe Biden last month announced new steps his administration is taking to address rising gasoline prices across the country, including emergency measures to expand biofuel sales, countering rising energy prices amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The President announced that the Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver permitting year-round sales of E15 gasoline, which contains a 15% ethanol blend. Learn more

NWI Partners for Clean Air presented awards at its annual luncheon on Earth Day to our members Homewood Disposal, Feralloy Corporation & the Town of Highland Redevelopment Commission for their voluntary efforts to support clean air. Drive Clean Indiana was pleased to nominate them for our collaborative efforts and congratulates them on their awards! Learn more

DCI member The City of Hobart on April 12 unveiled its four new CNG refuse vehicles. Drive Clean Indiana was proud to assist in the acquisition of the vehicles in partnership with the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission and our member Best Equipment Company. Learn more

DCI is seeking paid data analysis internship candidates for the summer of 2022 through the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities University Workforce Development Program. The student will be involved in a variety of technical discussions and projects, including gathering and analyzing fleet and equipment data (including fuel usage, vehicle/equipment types, annual mileage), educational/outreach activities, discussions and meetings with high-level professionals and elected officials, etc. Students studying engineering, environmental science and/or urban planning are strongly preferred, with an emphasis placed on graduate students. Cover letters & resumes may be sent to DCI Executive Director Carl Lisek at [email protected]. Learn more

There are certain annual observances we really need to work harder to acknowledge more than once a year. One of them is Earth Day. Each year, individuals and organizations plan events on April 22 focused on taking proactive environmental action. Drive Clean Indiana, our members and our partners live Earth Day every day with our focus on promoting sustainable transportation and clean energy options across Indiana. Earth Day also serves as the unofficial kickoff to the Air Quality Action season. Air Quality Action Days are days during which ground level ozone and particulate matter (PM 2.5) are predicted to reach unhealthy levels.

DCI Executive Director Carl Lisek's weekly radio show "Green Fleet Radio" airs three times each Wednesday on Lakeshore Public Radio with generous support from NIRPC. Guests last month were Cedar Lake Fire Chief Todd Wilkening and Cedar Lake Police Chief Bill Fisher, Erik Versen of Ingevity and Kathy Luther of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. Listeners can tune in to Lakeshore Public Radio at 89.1 FM or stream online. Catch up on past shows on our Website. 

Oscar W. Larson -- headquartered in Clarkston, Michigan -- has been a Drive Clean Indiana member since 2020. For more than 75 years, Oscar W. Larson Company has served the Midwest as a leader in full service petroleum and fluid handling equipment contracting. The Oscar W. Larson Company was founded in 1946 when Oscar Larson, a former employee of Shell, started a fuel pump installation and repair shop in his Detroit garage. Oscar’s sons, Bob and Jim Larson, bought the company from their father in 1952. In 1963, Oscar W. Larson Company bought a small Wayne distributor in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which became the first branch of the company. Today, the company has 10 locations across the Midwest and six along the East Coast.

Electricity can be used to power all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles directly from the power grid. Vehicles running on electricity produce no tailpipe emissions. The only emissions that can be attributed to electric vehicles are those generated in the production process at the power plant. The electric grid is an easily accessible driving energy. Electricity used to power vehicles is generally provided by the electricity grid and stored in the vehicle’s batteries. Fuel cells are being explored as a way to use electricity generated on board the vehicle to power electric motors. Learn more on our Website