Green Driving America Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization1,2 that advocates for and educates on clean transportation and transportation efficiency. The organization is based in Sacramento County, California, with a branch location in Lamoille County, Vermont. Wayne Michaud is the founder and Executive Director of the organization. Green Driving America is served by six Board of Directors members (listed below).

 

1IRS original determination letter (2013) and IRS affirmation letter (2024)

2California Secretary of State certificate of amendment to articles of incorporation: name change to Green Driving America

 

CONTACT

 

Green Driving America Inc.

Wayne Michaud, Executive Director

Main location: California

6900 Navarro Ct., Citrus Heights, CA 95621  •  916-209-0224

Branch location: Vermont

PO Box 130, Hyde Park, VT 05655  •  802-267-4442

info@greendrivingamerica.org

 

ORGANIZATION MISSION

 

Through its advocacy and education, Green Driving America is committed to implementing projects on clean transportation and transportation efficiency with a focus on the school community.

 

One project informs student drivers and new drivers about making transportation choices in their lives that will benefit themselves and the planet. This includes what they drive by moving toward low- to zero-emission vehicles, and how they drive by employing smart driving practices in gas-powered vehicles. A second project focuses on the impact of the harm and waste of largely unnecessary vehicle idling on school grounds, with measured idle-free schools campaigns.

 

The resulting technological and behavioral benefits of these projects will be:

• reductions in CO2 emitted into the atmosphere that impacts our climate

• reductions in fossil fuel energy consumption

• improvements in air quality and health

• reductions in money spent for fuel, maintenance, and repairs

• to become safer drivers

 

HOW THE ORGANIZATION ACHIEVES ITS MISSION

 

While Green Driving America strives to make all drivers aware of these significant benefits, its main focus has been seeking funding for projects in the school community.

 

The organization specializes in clean and efficient transportation education:

• The Clean Transportation Path project: working with driver educators and with high school environmental science, science, math, and STEM educators to offer a funded1 supplement to their classroom instruction/curriculum in the form of guest-speaking presentations. These are given by recruited volunteer college level interns (paid a stipend), or by the executive director, showing student drivers and new drivers the benefits in what we drive (promotion of low- to zero-emission vehicles) and how we drive (smart driving practices), as well as alternatives to driving. This project has been funded for the State of Vermont for 2024.

• Schools Are Not Drive-Thrus project: implementation of funded2 idle-free schools campaigns that address the issue of prolonged, largely unnecessary vehicle idling often occurring during the school dismissal period. Engage elementary, middle, and high school staff and students to participate in six to 10 week campaigns. For 2023, these campaigns have operated at two schools in Northern California and one school in Vermont, with plans for more campaigns in CA, Vermont, and elsewhere for 2024.

 

1 Climate Catalysts Innovation Fund of the Vermont Council on Rural Development

2 Northern California: Individual donations; Vermont: anonymous Upper Valley (VT & NH) foundation in 2023

NOTE: For both states and other states, additional project funding being sought

 

THE EVOLUTION OF GREEN DRIVING AMERICA

 

Green Driving America Inc. was originally known as Idle-Free VT Inc., founded in 2006, incorporated in the State of Vermont in 2009, and achieving 501c3 nonprofit status in 2013. Wayne had significant success with achieving idle reduction in Vermont. He partnered with others in the legislative enactment of a Vermont school bus idling rule in 2008 and then Vermont’s prohibited idling of motor vehicles law in 2014. As an individual, Wayne was presented with the American Lung Association in Vermont’s Air Quality Champion award in 2009 and then coordinated ALA’s programs that educated about fleet idling before business and municipal fleet managers and drivers. Following achievement of 501c3 nonprofit status, Idle-Free VT was awarded grants to implement idle-free and green driving educational projects for Vermont businesses, municipalities, and schools. In the school community, he built relationships with Vermont driver educators, along with some STEM educators, to implement these projects. This led to giving more than 120 green driving guest-speaking presentations and implementing 11 idle-free schools campaigns, from 2013 to 2016. And Wayne's work resulted in an accolade from the Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation*

 

The organization was renamed Idle-Free California Inc. when relocating to California in 2016. Two idle-free schools campaigns were implemented in Sacramento County in the 2017-18 school year, and Wayne was recognized with the prestigious East Bay Clean Cities Clean Air Champion award in 2019. However, Idle-Free California did not achieve the level of success that Idle-Free VT did. Overall, California health and environmental organizations, regional and state agencies and the state legislature took little interest in unnecessary idling despite the low-hanging fruit opportunity to reduce its impact in the state: estimated to be 300 million gallons of fuel consumed resulting in three million tons of CO2 emitted annually by vehicles idling just when parked.

 

As California was and is focused exclusively on the imperative of zero-emissions transportation (while largely overlooking behavioral solutions), Wayne decided to broaden the organization’s transportation efficiency advocacy to include clean transportation and in 2020, Green Driving America was born.

 

To 2024, the organization has continued its clean transportation and transportation efficiency education with funded projects in the school community: three idle-free campaigns at schools in California and Vermont, and nearly 50 clean transportation and transportation efficiency presentations in driver education and high school STEM education classes in Vermont.

 

*2016: "In all my years at DEC, I'm hard-pressed to think of any Vermont citizen who has done more to help address an important environmental and public health issue like this one. Unnecessary vehicle idling is one of those problems that simply cannot be solved by Government alone. Citizen action and involvement are absolutely critical, and no one provides a better example of that than you."

Tom Moye, (ret.) Mobile Sources Section Chief

Air Quality and Climate Division, Vermont DEC

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AUGUST 27, 2021

 

Green Driving America Inc. does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, the appointment of and dismissal of its Board of Directors, hiring and dismissing of staff, selection of volunteers, and the constituency it serves.

 

Green Driving America is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, Board membership, notices seeking employment, dismissals, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the basis set forth in the first paragraph, or for any other discriminatory reason.

Wayne Michaud, Executive Director/President/Treasurer, Green Driving America Inc.

Wayne is founder of Idle-Free VT in 2006 which became Idle-Free California in 2017 and then Green Driving America in 2020. Wayne has also been a contributing writer for the Green Energy Times with articles on Transportation Solutions, ranging from vehicle idling to electrification.

 

 

David Polow, Director/Vice President

David is an attorney at Polow Polow, PLLC with nearly four decades in personal injury law and handling auto accident claims. The firm represents clients who are injured in car, motorcycle, truck, bike, and pedestrian accidents. He is a long-time transportation efficiency advocate, not only for green driving, but alternatives to driving, period. David resides in Morrisville, VT.

 

Ellen Michaud, Director/Secretary

Ellen is an award-winning author and editor who creates original content for magazines, books, and digital media. She is a former editor-at-large for Prevention magazine and Live Happy magazine. As Wayne's wife, she has been a long-time supporter of idle reduction and green driving advocacy and loves driving the family's Chevy Bolt EV.

 

 

Richard Battersby, Director

Richard is an Assistant Director of Public Works for the City of Oakland, California and has been the Executive Director of the East Bay Clean Cities Coalition since 2003. He has over 25 years in the fleet industry implementing sustainable fleet practices while managing private sector, federal, state, county, and city fleets. Most recently Richard has been inducted into the Department of Energy Clean Cities and Government Fleet Manager Halls of Fame and has been designated as a World Class Technician while holding over 40 ASE certifications. Richard has a BS degree from the California State University, Sacramento, currently sits on the Boards of the NAFA Fleet Management Association, Transportation Energy Partners, the Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council, and Green Driving America. He is the chairman of NAFA’s California Air Resources Board Advisory Council and makes his home in Fairfield, CA.

 

Susan Schneider, Director

Susan holds degrees in environmental and mechanical engineering, and a PhD in psychology. She co-founded the San Joaquin County Climate Action Coalition and helped bring the Idle-Free California program to Venture Academy in Stockton. While working for Root Solutions, a sustainability nonprofit, she coauthored two chapters in its new book, Making Shift Happen: Designing for Successful Environmental Behavior Change. She also has other publications on climate change, and has given numerous climate change talks and workshops. Author of the award-winning book, The Science of Consequences, Susan relocated to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2021 and is an adjunct faculty member with the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University.

 

Richard Kearney, Director

Rich is the owner of Upper Valley Driving Academy, teaching driver education to Vermont and New Hampshire students. He is a past president of the VDTSEA (Vermont Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association), which represents approximately one hundred driver educators. Rich is an ADTSEA (American Driver Training Safety Education Assoc.) / NRSF (National Road Safety Foundation) Teacher of Excellence. He is an ADTSEA member and a frequent presenter at driver education conferences. He is environmentally-minded, instructing his students on the benefits of practicing efficient transportation measures. Rich resides in Newbury, VT.

Wayne lives with his wife in the Sacramento County city of Citrus Heights, CA. Wayne is an environmental educator and fine artist.  RESUME   LINKEDIN PROFILE

 

PERSONAL STATEMENT

 

A big reason why I chose to be an environmental advocate is, I care about our Earth and human health. Now, as a young man in Pennsylvania, this caring was not yet on my mind. In fact, I was a muscle car aficionado. So I get why some motorists today like speed and aggressiveness. But the world is a much different place now. In the 1970s I began taking an interest in recycling and litter pick-ups. And following the oil crises of that decade, I would also turn off and restart the car engine in drive-thrus.

 

Not too long after our family moved to Vermont in 1998, climate change became a mainstream issue. I would repeatedly observe parked vehicles idling - a mostly unnecessary practice. So I chose anti-idling as an emissions reduction advocacy. I take pride that leading this effort made a difference in the State of Vermont. But after a decade, it was time to hand our work over to others, and to tackle a much bigger anti-idling challenge in the Golden State (along with the desire to be nearer to our son, who was already in California).

 

With the organization name change to Green Driving America in 2020, our focus has been on a broader clean transportation effort, in California, Vermont, the rest of New England, New York, and beyond. Until clean and autonomous vehicle technologies in America take hold in the middle of this century, it is imperative that we get the message to drivers about the technological solutions of low- to zero-emission vehicles, as well as continuation of the time honored, behavioral solutions of smart driving practices and idle reduction in gas-powered vehicles. Green Driving America is driven (no pun intended!) to reach these drivers—especially young drivers who are the future motorists of our nation—to make a difference!!