Try to list all of the stories we've had recently about Nissan's work to bring electric cars to the masses. It's hard, because there have been a lot of them, covering the company's efforts in Japan, Israel and the U.S., to name just a few. We're not the only ones who've noticed what Nissan (and Renault) are up to; the non-profit group Plug In America (PIA) has issued a statement praising the company for the EV push. PIA president Linda Nicholes said in a statement that, "It's past time that people had the chance and the choice to get behind the wheel of an electric car. Nissan, through innovative leadership, will make that choice possible to people all over the world." PIA's laudatory release continues:

Nissan is the first manufacturer to say it will market all-electric vehicles worldwide. Its commitment to plug-in vehicles is sure to fan competition among rivals, ultimately reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

The full statement is available after the jump. Now Nissan just has to deliver on these promises and we'll all have sometime to praise.

Plug in America is calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to "live up to his vow to turn back the clock on pollution" by reviving the historic ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) program. How did they do it? The got people from 45 states and 13 countries, as well as few celebrities, to fax a letter to him asking to remove a million cars from roads, or replacing them by EVs.

On March 27, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is voting to revise its ZEV program. The program once proudly called for 10 percent of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emission and resulted in thousands of electric vehicles on the road. The revision, however, "will profoundly weaken the program again instead of propelling our country toward a pollution-free future," Plug In America's letter states. Instead of the 10 percent mandate, the proposal would merely require each of America's major automakers to produce about 150 ZEVs per year through 2015. This is fewer than the number required under the mandate when the electric car was killed the first time in 2003, according to Plug In America Executive Director Chelsea Sexton.

Plug In America's letter also is signed by "Who Killed the Electric Car?" director Chris Paine. He will be filming the air board's March 27 vote for his sequel, "Who Saved the Electric Car."

[Source: Plug-in America]

When we spoke with Chelsea Sexton at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo over the weekend (the above video), she said her organization, Plug In America, and others (Rainforest Action Network and the Global Exchange) were going to be protesting Toyota on Monday. I've been watching the news reports since then, but only now have been able to find a report on what went down at the event.

The Santa Monica Daily Press' Kevin Herrera reports that the rally, held in front of the Santa Monica Toyota dealership, was full of picket signs and calls through a megaphone. The issue is AB 1439, a now-contentious state bill that required (it was passed in 2002) the California Air Resources Board to "devise standards to reduce motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions." I'll suggest you read Herrera's article for more details, but the upshot is that the automakers said the feds, not the states, should set fuel economy standards. An EPA waiver was applied for, and things have been held up ever since, with Toyota one of the forces working to stop implementation of AB 1439.

Plug In America's Paul Scott tole Herrera, "We're out in front of the dealership because we know that this is where the money comes in. If you attack the money supply, they listen."

Toyota defended itself by saying that, among other things, the company spends about $25 million a day to research and develop greener vehicles. Holy moly, that's a lot of scratch. I sure would like to see the breakdown of how much goes where.

[Source: Santa Monica Daily Press]