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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release March 31, 1997

VICE PRESIDENT AWARDS FIRST PNGV MEDAL TO RESEARCH TEAM

     Scientists, Engineers Join Forces To Develop Technologies For
                         Fuel-Efficient Engines

Presenting the first ever Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) award, Vice President Al Gore today (3/31) recognized a government-industry team for its ground breaking work toward developing the technologies and processes that will triple the fuel efficiency of today's cars without sacrificing affordability, performance, or safety.

"We are putting the 'pedal to the metal', on the creation of technologies for new vehicles that will reduce air pollution, increase fuel efficiency and decrease American reliance on imported oil," Vice President Gore said. "The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles will produce new cars for a new century. This collaboration is a shining example of the public good that comes from cooperative ventures among industry, government, and communities. It provides even more evidence that what is good for the environment also is good for the economy."

The PNGV medal awarded by the Vice President today recognizes significant scientific progress toward creating technologies and processes that ultimately will lead to more fuel-efficient vehicles. Today's winners were honored for their work to decrease vehicle NOx emissions. Experimenting with different materials at low and high temperatures, the team was able to demonstrate potential new approaches for NOx reduction. Success on a NOx catalyst will enable widespread use of highly fuel-efficient internal combustion engines.

Industry medal recipients are scientists and engineers from Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Corp. Government medal recipients are scientists and engineers from Department of Energy laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory (Illinois), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (California), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Tennessee), Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories (New Mexico).

President Clinton began the PNGV in his first term. It is an historic partnership between the federal government and USCAR, the research venture among Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. The government side of PNGV, which is led by the Department of Commerce, includes seven federal agencies and 20 government laboratories. In addition, there are more than 300 automotive suppliers and universities participating in PNGV. The goal of the PNGV is to develop technologies and processes that will triple the fuel efficiency -- up to 80 miles per gallon -- in today"s cars without sacrificing affordability, performance, or safety.

"The PNGV partnership between government and industry leverages the unique technology resources and assets of the federal government and the commercial ingenuity of the U.S. auto industry to achieve common objectives," said Department of Commerce Secretary William M. Daley. "By fostering cooperation and synergy, such as this team has demonstrated, PNGV will improve the competitive position of the U.S. auto industry, while simultaneously meeting vital national economic, environmental and social goals."

The award winning team was selected by an independent panel of the Society of Automotive Engineers based on nominations from the PNGV technical and management teams. The award will be given annually to a government-industry team that best exemplifies the ability to work together as partners in achieving major technical progress toward the PNGV goals.