Join South Shore Clean Cities & Wisconsin Clean Cities for the 2022 Winter Webinar Series! The series kicks off Jan. 25 with the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Webinar on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Learn how hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are adding to the sustainable transportation mix. Hear from companies and organizations working to advance the adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and what trends to expect in 2022. Scheduled speakers include Ted Barnes, Director – Transportation Group, Gas Technology Institute; Rob Harvey, Director – Energy Infrastructure for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies, Cummins, Inc. & Frank Wolak, President & CEO, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. The Webinar is free, but registration is required. Register here

The Biden administration released an ambitious federal strategy on Dec. 13 to build 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles across the country and bring down the cost of electric cars with the goal of transforming the U.S. auto industry. “The future of transportation in our nation and around the world is electric,″ Vice President Kamala Harris said at an EV charging facility in suburban Maryland. The $1 trillion infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed last month authorizes a nationwide network of charging stations and sets aside $5 billion for states to build them. The law also provides an additional $2.5 billion for local grants to support charging stations in rural areas and in disadvantaged communities. Read the full Associated Press story and the White House Fact Sheet.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office recently announced the winners of the FY’21 “Low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Vehicle Technologies Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment” funding opportunity. Included in this year’s round was a Topic Area of “Electric Vehicle Workplace Charging.” One of the announced winners was the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities Coalition (CWCC) and their EMPOWER proposal – “Equitable Mobility Powering Opportunities for Workplace Electrification Readiness.” This proposal included 30 DOE Clean Cities Coalitions - including South Shore Clean Cities - as a large workforce that would lead the boots-on-the-ground implementation of a new national workplace charging alliance. Learn more

A Lake County judge has rejected the state's effort to preemptively dispose of a lawsuit challenging the basis for continued vehicle emissions testing in Lake and Porter counties. In a five-page ruling, Lake Superior Judge John Sedia said there remain questions of fact pertaining to the constitutionality of the emissions testing requirement that made it impossible for him to grant the state's motion to dismiss the case. Sedia's decision has no immediate impact on the requirement that motorists with vehicles registered in Lake and Porter counties that are at least four years old submit to biannual emissions testing as a way to help reduce ozone pollution in Northwest Indiana. Read the full story in The Times of Northwest Indiana

2021 is a year that will not soon be forgotten. While many are eager to rip that final page off the calendar, those of us at South Shore Clean Cities are expressing gratitude for all of our members and partners who made this the most successful year in our 22-year history. We learned this year that our members and partners in 2020 reduced more than 18.7 million gasoline gallon equivalents, a record for our coalition. That’s the greenhouse gas emission reduction equivalent of removing more than 36,000 passenger vehicles from the road for one year. Their efforts are truly making a difference and are helping to improve air quality, increase support for domestic fuels and technologies, reduce dependence on imported oil, support economic development and enhance the overall quality of life for those who live, work and play in Indiana. Read Carl Lisek's column monthly in The Times of Northwest Indiana

It looks, drives and is just as roomy as other mid-sized cars that burn gasoline. That’s what La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody and other city officials learned about an electric car borrowed for an extended test drive in early December. The car even went on police patrols. The electric 2020 Nissan LEAF was on loan from Nissan through a partnership with South Shore Clean Cities. Nissan is a member of South Shore Clean Cities. Read the full story in The Times of Northwest Indiana

Join SSCC March 8-11, 2022 in Indianapolis for Work Truck Week! Produced annually by NTEA – The Association for the Work Truck Industry, Work Truck Week is your once-a-year chance to see all of the newest industry products, choose from dozens of industry-focused training courses & gain access to technical engineering representatives from hundreds of exhibiting companies. South Shore Clean Cities is proud to be a supporting sponsor of Work Truck Week! SSCC members can log in to the Member Center for an exclusive registration code that provides a free trade show badge for admittance to the Exhibit Floor and Ride & Drive access! Questions? Call (219) 644-3690 for details!

SSCC 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. This month, Carl welcomed Sarah Beth Aubrey of IN-CLIMATE, Congressman Frank Mrvan of the 1st District of Indiana, Ken Brown of Transportation Energy Partners and Randy Reeder of the City of Portage to the studio. Listeners can tune in to Lakeshore Public Radio at 89.1 FM or stream online. Catch up on past shows on our Website. 

Waste-Away Group -- headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana – has been a South Shore Clean Cities member since January 2019 and is a participant in the South Shore Clean Cities/Michiana Area Council of Governments Indiana Green Fleet program. The company has served Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan for more than 80 years. Ownership of Waste-Away Group had originally been second generation brothers, Charles Himes II and Stephen Himes. Charles Himes, Sr. formed the company in 1940 when it began as a one-truck operation. Today, ownership is represented by three members of the third generation, Charles Himes III, Christopher Himes and Kenneth Himes. The owners work together to manage and maintain the multi-functional company as the market leader. Learn more

Hydrogen (H2) is a potentially emission-free alternative fuel that can be produced using domestic resources. Although not widely used as a transportation fuel, government and industry researchers are working on the advancement of clean economical and safe hydrogen production and fuel-cell electric vehicles. Hydrogen is locked up in enormous quantities in water (H2O), hydrocarbons (such as methane, CH4) and other organic matter. Efficiently producing hydrogen from these compounds is one of the challenges of using hydrogen as a fuel. Learn more on our Website