'Green' rental cars not easy to find

It's not easy being green, according to Kermit the Frog. It's a good bet he'd also find it difficult to rent a green, or environmentally friendly, car.

Environment-conscious auto renters need to think ahead. The clerk behind the counter might not know a green machine from a gas guzzler. So do your homework.

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Start with the Environmental Protection Agency's list of likely candidates. If you're renting in California or the Phoenix, Pittsburgh or Washington, D.C., areas, you'll probably find some of the listed vehicles at EV Rental Cars, which specializes in natural gas, electric and hybrid rentals.

But elsewhere, hybrid cars are more difficult to find and likely to be smaller and more expensive than conventional cars. Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Avis don't offer them at all, according to representatives of both companies.

Hertz offers a few hybrid cars at some California locations, but renters can't specifically reserve a hybrid car, says spokeswoman Paula Stifter. Where they are available, the prices are comparable to other compacts, she says.

Budget, sister company of Avis, rents hybrids through a marketing arrangement with EV Rental. Locations are limited, however, and renters will pay full-size prices for the smaller Toyota Prius or hybrid Honda Civic, according to Budget spokeswoman Alice Pereira.

"It's definitely more expensive," says Erica Bollacasa, director of marketing and operations for the Better World Club, an environmentally focused travel club.

But don't despair. In the next few years, the selection will improve, says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, a quarterly report on autos and the environment.

The industry plans to put five more green vehicles on the market next year and twice that many the following year, says Cogan, meaning green rental choices should expand, too.

Dana Dratch is a freelance writer based in Georgia.