NYC To Reduce Gas Usage in Effort to Go Green

By Carolann Lowe

 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his intent to create a greener city through reduction of the city’s cars and to increase use of environment-friendly vehicles.

One thousand city vehicles will be replaced with electric vehicles in efforts to reduce the use of gas. There will be electric vehicle chargers run by solar power installed all over the city. Four billion dollars will be invested in renewable energy, de Blasio said.

De Blasio said many New Yorkers would rather commute by vehicle because of the unreliability of the MTA. Therefore, he plans to invest money in fixing and upgrading the MTA.

De Blasio spoke to the media in the empty parking lot of the Citi Field Stadium, which could be considered an usual venue for a press conference. He said, “I know the Mets are not here today…We wanted to be here specifically because we needed a really big parking lot to show you the impact of what today’s announcement would mean. All the cars that will disappear from the city fleet because of the actions we are going to take today.”

Commissioner Lisette Camilo, of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, said the mayor’s plan involves reducing the number of SUVs in the city.

New York City fleet vehicles will be equipped with new technology known as Vehicle Telematics, officials said. This technology will track where vehicles are going and when they are being used, which will help to identify patterns and provide information as to learn how vehicles can be used more efficiently.

Vehicle Telematics will make sure that every “take home” vehicle is justified. If the vehicle is being misused or its driving patterns show that it is being used for purposes other than commuting to work, it will be pulled off the road, officials said.

The executive order will also lead to he phasing out of SUVs, which are highly gas consuming.

Although officials were not certain about the cost of the electric vehicles, de Blasio insisted that buying more electric vehicles will help reduce costs overall.

“We have to shift into high gear to fight global warming and this has to be one of the leaders of this earth,” de Blasio said. The mayor intends for the reduction of traditional vehicles to be in effect by June 30, 2021.