Could Obama fire up CNG cars?

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has already tipped his hand on what cleantech sectors could fare well under his administration.

The New York Times reports that the choice of Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois as chief of staff could be good news for the natural gas industry, which has experienced recent setbacks as voters in several states defeated measures to give incentives to natural-gas fueled vehicles.

The report calls Emanual "one of Congress’s biggest proponents of compressed natural gas cars."

The article continues:

Last summer Mr. Emanuel introduced legislation that would mandate automakers to build 10 percent of their fleet with natural gas fueled vehicles by 2018. His bill also included tax credits and other incentives and mandates to spread natural gas pumps to filling stations across the country. The bill has gone nowhere, but natural gas stalwarts have expressed optimism upon Mr. Emanuel’s selection.

Natural gas vehicles have had a couple false starts in recent years. In March, California announced $394 million in funding for transit projects around the state, including fuel cell, hybrid and compressed natural gas buses, as the result of a voter referendum (see California hands out cash for clean transit projects).

But the industry didn't fare as well during last week's election. Despite heavy ad spending by BP Capital head T. Boone Pickens, voters in California and other states rejected proposals that would have poured more money into the industry.

Last year, fears arose that natural-gas powered vehicles were too dangerous for widespread use (see Natural gas vehicle tank ruptures, killing driver).

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