Earlier this week, we mentioned that Toyota would be making a solar-powered Prius starting next year. In other exciting and related news, Toyota has also announced that the first Prius plant in the United States will be operational in 2010. At the same time, the automaker has announced that production on trucks and SUVs will be suspended for three months in order to clear out a backlog of unsold vehicles. From the Reuters article:

The unusual and costly moves by Toyota, now the global auto sales leader, underscored the pressure across the industry as major automakers scuttle truck production and take steps to ramp up output of passenger cars to keep up with a dramatic shift in US buying patterns.

These two news items point to the increased value consumers are placing on greener cars as the price of gas climbs ever higher. Toyota dealers are thrilled, as the Prius has been sold out for months. Environmental-type folks are thrilled, as more and more people are jumping onboard to this whole fewer-emissions thing. I’m thrilled because I get a blog topic out of it. Everybody wins!

takepart here to visit Green Car Congress and learn all about what some are calling “sustainable mobility.” Which is different, I suppose, than “perpetual motion.” Because I learned that that’s impossible when I was in high school. I think. I almost failed physics, so I could have my info a little wrong.