December 10, 2021. The City of Orlando, Florida, is taking drastic steps to reduce its carbon footprint by converting its entire fleet to electric or natural gas.
Climate experts say air pollution not only takes lives by causing disease and exacerbating respiratory problems, but it also alters weather patterns, including stronger storms, sea level rise and in some cases drought.
“If we can reduce emissions now, we can still make a difference,” said David Dunn, Director of the Fleet Management Division for the City of Orlando. He explained that urban vehicles use 860,000 gallons of gasoline each year, and his department is working to reduce that to nearly zero. “Reduced emissions are good for the environment because they reduce the amount of hydrocarbons we put into the atmosphere,” Dunn said.
Currently, the city of Orlando has nearly 1,700 vehicles that run either entirely on electricity or a combination of gasoline and electric. The city also uses 72 garbage trucks that run entirely on natural gas, eliminating the black smoke that older trucks bellow.
The city’s goal is to run all 3,000 vehicles on alternative fuels by 2030.