Today, with gasoline prices relatively low, some of the steam has gone out of the movement to compressed natural gas vehicles or the hybrids that also use gasoline. Interest was sky high in 2011 when the Legislature authorized two state agencies — the Department of Administration and Information and the Department of Transportation — to retrofit existing vehicles or to buy new ones capable of running on natural gas or a combination of natural gas and gasoline. The Legislature authorized $200,000 for the pilot program, enough to retrofit 10 vehicles for each of the two departments. A report from the state’s Economic Analysis Division issued at that time said the natural gas vehicles reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 90 to 97 percent. But the driving range of the vehicles is limited, the report warned. At the […]