A voluntary program geared toward the removal of mercury-containing switches from vehicles for disposal has been helping to reduce the harmful Mercury air emissions. For the first year of the said program it has been able to eliminate 635,000 switches from end-of-life vehicles. Those switches represent 1,400 pounds of mercury which is more than the average coal-fired power plants emit in a year.

There were also recent efforts implemented that are geared toward the protection of public health and the environment against the toxic effects of mercury and that includes EPA’s first-ever regulation to control mercury emissions from power plants which was first executed in March of 2005.

Then on August of 2006, EPA together with eight other organizations has joined forces to launch a program that would recover mercury containing light witches from end-of-life vehicles especially those that are manufactured before 2002. And with the existing state switch recovery efforts, the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Removal Program has the potential to recover 80 to 90 percent of the available mercury switches resulting to a significant reduction in air emissions.

The main objective of the program is to enlist all states to join and so far this has been achieved. Another goal of the program is to develop a way to measure the overall progress in future years and this was also achieved. And speaking of progress, it is measured by determining the percentage of switches recovered each year in reference to the number of available end-of-life autos from which switches may be recovered.

There were around 5,900 automobile recyclers that have agreed to remove and recover the switches before sending vehicles to scrap recyclers prior to proceeding to steel mills. This way, cars can be recycled to steel without the harmful toxic mercury emissions. The results are documented in the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program Annual Report: 2006-2007 found at http://www.epa.gov/mercury/switch.htm.

The departure of the only American and highest ranking executive of Toyota in North America, Jim Press was a shock to industry insiders. Mr. Press first worked for Ford in 1960s and then transferred to Toyota in 1970 and from then on became one of the strongest forces in the North American operation of the Japanese automaker.

Mr. Press will become Mr. Pres-ident of Chrysler next Friday as announced by the company.

It can be remembered that it was only last June that Mr. Press was appointed as Senior Managing Director at Toyota becoming the first ever foreign national to join its Japanese board of directors. The appointment of Mr. Press in the Japanese management lineup was to help prevent a possible resurgence of Japan-US trade friction.

Although pirating of executives from rivals is common among US and European automakers, Mr. Press is the first Toyota Executive to be tempted by a competitor. Other Toyota executives have tried to stop Press from leaving after he announced his intention to quit a week ago.

According to a disappointed Toyota executive interviewed last Thursday night: "It probably reflects the way things are done in the U.S. auto industry. It is all the more regrettable because we had high expectations for his future performance."

A Japanese executive by the name of Shigeru Hayakawa, age 53 who is the Executive Vice President and at the same time the Managing Officer of Toyota will succeed Press.

Chrysler is expecting for Press to rebuild its operations and unlike Robert Nardelli whom Cerberus appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Press has a lot of experience in the auto industry of which a great part consist of his stay with Toyota.

With Mr. Press now with Chrysler we will see if the automaker can really recover.

The concept of green cars is not new anymore and to prove it Autoblog Green has listed the Top Ten Articles that showcase Green Cars that were introduced in the past:

1.    The Low-Cost Homemade Car that Runs 40 Miles per Gallon- built by former college professor using the frame and wheels of a 1934 Ford and scrap lumber. This car gets 40 mpg.
2.    Water Succeeds Gasoline As New Invention Is Perfected (Dec, 1935)- the concept use by BMW for its Hydrogen 7 was perfected an introduced by G.H. Garrett when he succeeded in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
3.    Three-Wheeled Auto Makes Speed with Low Fuel Cost (Oct, 1924)- The Flivver which is a three-wheeled automobile designed in Germany with a close top and doors like those found on bigger cars. The said car does not consume much fuel but has a speed of ten miles an hour on good roads. And the best about this car? The government has not imposed any tax on it and is permitted for use even by those without driver’s license.
4.    Flier Designs Streamline "Push Button" Car (Nov, 1938)- designed by a California airman, this car lowers down fuel consumption by employing smart designs that include a covered front wheel.
5.    Japanese Minicar (Dec, 1958)- who would have though that SUBARU has built a minicar in the past. It’s called the 360. This 1958 Subaru is equipped with a two-cylinder, two-cycel air-cooled engine which enables it to reach a top speed of 50 mph. Gas consumption was around 62 mpg.
6.    A New Switch for Electrics (Jul, 1973)-this is an article about the electric vehicles of the early seventies.
7.    Motorcyclette Has Speed, Comfort (Feb, 1932)-the Motorcyclette make use of the rider’s feet as brakes thank goodness its not made anymore or else just think of the number of shoes that you will ruin in the process.
8.    Motor Scooter Burns LPG (Dec, 1955)- the use of LPG on vehicles are also employed at present in fact in the Philippines there are jeepneys and taxis using LPG as their fuel source. It’s more economical, practical and above all not that harmful to the environment. It was Ralph Carlton of Wauchula, Fla., that started the use of LPG when he converted his standard scooter into an LPG-burner with a few minor engine changes.
9.    Postman Goes Around on Motor Scooter (Jul, 1939)-as the title of the article suggest these are motorized scooters used by mailmen and was proposed by Henry R. Smith, letter carries of Columbia, S. C. who has constructed one of his own.
10.    Auto Fuel From Cow Manure (Sep, 1949)- A German inventor by the name of Harnisch has developed a simple device which converts manure into fuel that will in turn be used to drive autos and tractors as well as provide household power.