Greening from the ground up

Aggressive local and state level environmental policy is one of the more interesting phenomena in government recently. California (Arnold in particular) has been at the forefront of this issue while Utah, Connecticut, and 500 US mayors have gotten into the act as well. Now New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed converting the entire NYC Yellow cab fleet to hybrid vehicles (thanks to my lovely and brilliant wife for the heads up). From the AP:

NEW YORK - The city's yellow taxi fleet will go entirely hybrid within five years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday.

"There's an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City," Bloomberg said. "These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes.

"This does a lot less. It's a lot better for all of us," he said of the hybrid plan.

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The standard yellow cab vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, gets 14 miles per gallon. In contrast, the Ford Escape taxis get 36 miles per gallon.

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Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, an advocacy trade group, applauded the city's effort to go green.

"In the short term, they're going to have to spend more money, but in the long run they will save money," he said. "We support getting more hybrids on the road."

This is what leadership is all about. Local officials, recognizing that the current administration will not address the problem at a Federal level, have struck out on their own. This case is particularly fascinating for a few of reasons. First, it makes a lot of sense. The taxis can save tons of gas, simply by running the electric motor at stoplights and in traffic, which in NYC is almost all of the time. Secondly, Bloomberg’s plan appears to have the support of the taxi drivers too. He, as my boss would say, got by-in from the key stakeholders (how was that for some bullshit business jargon). That kind of broad support can help ensure a programs success and, indeed, build some momentum for more ambitious goals. Lastly, hybrid taxis are a small part of the City’s overall target of a 30% carbon emissions reduction by 2030. The time has past for small, incremental changes to be effective. By leading the way, Bloomberg may just show other cities how to achieve similar results.

Bravo Mayor Mike, well done.