While it would be nice to think that everything that makes for a more eco-friendly auto industry is golden, that isn’t always the case. Anytime an infrastructure is drastically changed people will suffer. And that sucks.

And nobody understands that more right now than some of the gas station owners in California. As of this April the Enhanced Vapor Recovery Program will take effect. The program forces gas stations to adopt clean nozzles that help reduce emissions.

Unfortunately the cost of those new clean gas nozzles is such that many stations, possibly hundreds, will have to shut down since they can’t afford to make the upgrade.

The California Air Resources Board, who is behind the mandate, have responded to the problem by saying that gas prices will be raised by approximately $0.68 per gallon to go towards covering upgrade costs.

It was recently reported in The Australian that the importing of biofuels by Australia is contributing to the destruction of rainforests in Malaysia Indonesia. The rainforests are being bulldozed in favor of palm oil plantations.

Palm oil imports for the purpose of creating biofuel is on the rise due to its low cost and the demand for the cheap biofuel is only expected to rise. New South Wales is expected to legislate its first biodiesel mandate at two percent for this year and five percent as soon as the demand can be supplied.

The import of the palm oil is essentially subsidized by the government since it is not subject to the same taxation as ethanol.

The irony is that the Australian government assisted deforestation is in stark contrast to its $200 million plan to reduce deforestation in the region.

Among the animals effected by the loss of the rainforest are orangutans and the rare clouded leopard.

President Obama looks to be making good another of his election pledges by signing a presidential memorandum that asks the Environmental Protection Agency to grant 14 states the power to impose stricter standards for automobile emissions and fuel efficiency.

It’s a promise that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had asked President Obama to make good on in a letter he sent the president the day after his inauguration.

The move hopes to overrule the decision of the EPA in 2007 which denied 14 states, including California, the right set their own, stricter automobile standards.

President Barack Obama wasn’t done there though. He also signed a memorandum that directs the Department of Transportation to come up with fuel-efficiency standards for the automotive industry for 2011 model vehicles.

In 2007 U.S. Congress approved the Energy Independence Act which was supposed reduce American dependence on foreign oil and make a push to develop more of an infrastructure for clean energy like electric vehicles and wind power. But as you probably know the Bush Administration wasn’t big on following through with the act and preferred the philosophy of “Drill, baby, drill.”

In reference to that President Obama stated today, “For the sake of our security, our economy and our planet, we must have the courage and commitment to change. We need more than the same old empty promises.”

Considering the recent study showing clean air provides longer life, these memorandums might have just extended the lives of millions of people.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently introduced legislation that would see drivers of older vehicles paid to get rid of them in favor of newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The amount received would depend on the year of the car being traded in but could be as high as $4,500. The cash comes in the form of a voucher can be used to purchase a vehicle build later than 2004 and has an superior EPA fuel mileage rating of 25% or more than industry average for its class. There will also be an option to get a voucher usable towards mass transit.

The idea behind the legislation is that it would accelerate the rate of turnover from less efficient to more efficient cars while simultaneously giving the auto industry a boost with all the government discounts for purchasing environmentally friendly vehicles.

The plan would reportedly cost up to $2 billion each year and would result in a turnover rate of about a million cars each year.