As part of a plan to reduce emmissions in the state, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered that every last one of NY’s taxis operate on hybrid engines by 2012. This step would give New York the largest and cleanest fleet of taxis in the world. However, with only 375 of the 13,000 licensed taxis currently complying with this new guideline, the state has a long way to go.
I am definitely pro-environment, but this initiative troubles me a bit. To have a full fleet of hybrid taxis is a great idea, but what is going to happen to the perfectly usable taxis currently being driven? It seems like the state is creating an unnecessary amount of manufacturing of new hybrids that may cause more damage than if they were to just leave the current fleet of gas-powered vehicles. Now, if the old taxis were to be sold to other sectors of the city or to the population instead of being destroyed, then that may be okay, but with the modifications done to taxis, I wonder if this is possible. If the 12,625 remaining gas-powered taxis are to be destroyed and replaced by newly manufactured cars, I wonder if the overall impact would be positive or negative on the environment. These are things we have to keep in mind when initiatives like these are put in place.
CNET [via Treehugger]
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3 Comments
I think the health benefits would out weigh the cost. The cars could be sold off, donated or recycled. By the time the edict came into play, I bet the cars would need to be replaced already.
I hope it works out that way. Always good to hear from an optimist
Is the suv in the picture a Ford? This might also be a publicity stunt. Ford might have promised to back up Bloomberg if he promoted this with a Ford vehicle. Or maybe the taxi companies will get a discount if they buy Ford vehicles? There are always more angles to a story. I could be completely wrong though..:)