Start your engines for a greener tomorrow

Ottawa’s new green transport initiative could mean a lot more nifty little energy-efficient cars on the roads and a whopping passel of Hummers and the like clogging up the lots of new car dealers. In his 2007 budget this week, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced several new measures designed to encourage consumers to purchase or lease fuel-efficient vehicles and to get their old clunkers off the road. These initiatives include adding an additional $2,000 to $4,000 to the price tag of fuel- inefficient models and offering rebates of up to $2,000 for buying green. Some type of incentive will also be offered to get people to scrap their old heaps, but Flaherty said the details on that are still being worked out. The 2007 models eligible for rebates so far include, at the $2,000 level, the Honda Civic Hybrid, Ford Escape HEV and the Toyota Prius. A $1,500 rebate will apply to the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid and the Ford Escape HEV 4x4. Buyers will get $1,000 back on the purchase of a Mini Cooper, Toyota Yaris, Toyota Corolla, Saturn VUE Hybrid, Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot, Lexus RX400H, Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4x4, Chevy Impala FFV, Chevy Monte Carlo FFV and the Chrysler Sebring FFV. David Daughton of Charlottetown can talk about just how cool it is to cruise around in one of these environmentally-conscious cars. For the last two years he’s been driving the Mercedes SmartCar. This car has the highest fuel economy rating so far, yet oddly enough has been left off the minister’s eligibility list. But officials from Transport Canada say that’s because there is not yet a 2007 model. Tags: smartcar