Going Green: New York Sets the Example

New York City, one of the nation's largest cities, has hundreds of thousands of cars on the road during any particular day. In a new effort by the City administration, all 13,000 taxis are expected to go hybrid by 2012 in order to cut back on smog and pollution. Public officials wonder if this is the way to go for all cities.

A major advantage to taxi cab drivers is fuel efficiency. Taxi cab drivers spend many hours in a day waiting in traffic and burning up fuel. With their large Crown Victoria's they are lucky to get even 14 miles per gallon. The extra cost spent on a hybrid vehicle is money well spent if they are saving thousands a year in fuel cost.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg states "There are an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City. These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes." He further went onto comment that hybrids do the job with a lot less cost and pollution. For the City of New York this makes great sense as the goal is to reduce emissions by 30% before 2030.

If other cities, which have the highest concentration of residents within the U.S., follow New York's example it could end in a dramatic change for the environment and for the automotive industry. Let us say that if 10% of the Nation's emissions were reduced by requiring cities with over a million people to go Green, this could have a dramatic positive affect on the sustainability of our way of life.

If Americans truly believed in the process of preserving the economy there are numerous ways to cut back on pollution without damaging the way people live their lives. These changes include manufacturing more hybrid vehicles, increased ethanol production, increased public transportation both within and between cities, increasing diesel vehicle production, and the development of bio-diesel fuel which is made out of vegetable oil.

Public and business officials are beginning to worry about the rising cost of fuel and the rising cause of environmental pollution. Each of these costs has the potential to damage our economy in the next 10-20 years. The higher the cost of fuel the more expensive it is to manufacture products and ship them to consumers. The more environmental pollution, the more cost due to shifts in the weather, which can affect lakes, streams, forests and grasslands.