2 Key Areas for Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (WPRT) Investors to Watch: Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (RDS.A), Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE)

Government Policy
Politicians on both sides of the aisle like natural gas. Liberals like natural gas because it’s better for the environment than oil, releasing fewer greenhouse gases and fewer particulate matter emissions known to be hazardous to human health. American carbon emissions have declined 14% since 2007, largely due to natural gas replacing coal as an electricity source.

North America also has vast reserves of the stuff, so a shift toward natural gas consumption over oil use decreases American dependence on foreign oil and fits into a “North American energy independence” scenario favored by national security conscious conservatives.

Put together, there’s enormous potential for governments to use policy to incentivize the adoption of natural gas vehicles, whether through tax credits, infrastructure subsidies, or even direct purchasing requirements. Just recently, the governors of a coalition of 22 states declared their willingness to jointly purchase as many as 10,000 CNG vehicles every year. While the case for natural gas vehicles doesn’t depend on government largesse, any move to encourage mass adoption would be a boon to Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) and its investors.

The article 2 Key Areas for Westport Investors to Watch originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Daniel Ferry.

Fool contributor Daniel Ferry owns shares of Westport Innovations. The Motley Fool recommends Clean Energy Fuels and Westport Innovations. The Motley Fool owns shares of Westport Innovations.

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