Federal agencies get sued over not buying alternative energy vehicles

The Departments of Labor, Commerce, Transportation and Veterans Affairs settled a lawsuit in San Francisco on Wednesday, where they were possibly on the losing end of a court battle regarding the purchase (or lack thereof) of vehicles that use alternative energy. Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1992, the Energy Policy Act mandates that 75 percent of all new vehicle purchases by federal government agencies be powered by alternative fuels, including natural gas, ethanol, diesel, electricity, propane and others. The Tuscon Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity and the San Francisco-based Bluewater Network brought a lawsuit against 14 government agencies. The four mentioned above settled, the CIA has yet to disclose its vehicle purchases, and the other nine agencies have met the requirements of the law or have taken action to meet them. The law was enacted originally to support alternative energy that would ultimately reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil.