If the federal government wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions, one of the most obvious ways to do so would be to clean up its own vehicle fleet. The feds currently operate some 655,000 vehicles, and only a minuscule fraction of these are truly low-emission.
President Obama signed an executive order Thursday directing the federal government to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2008 levels by 2025. As a part of this plan, plug-in vehicles are to make up 20 percent of government agencies’ fleets by 2020, and 50 percent by 2025. Agencies will also have to ensure that there is sufficient charging infrastructure.
“America once again is going to be leading by example,” said the President. “We’re proving that it is possible to grow our economy robustly while at the same time doing the right thing for our environment and tackling climate change in a serious way.”
The Obama Administration has made several attempts in the past to clean up the federal fleet. However, these earlier efforts only required government agencies to buy “low-emission” or “alternative-fuel” vehicles, including “flex-fuel” models that are capable of running on an 85 percent mix of ethanol.
It’s probable that a large percentage of the vehicles purchased to satisfy the requirements have been “flex-fuel” models, and the emissions benefits of ethanol are controversial. Furthermore, as Green Car Reports pointed out, E85 is available at fewer than two percent of gas stations nationwide, so it’s likely that few of these “low-emission” cars have ever burned a drop of E85.
According to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, during the first 10 months of 2014, EVs represented less than one third of one percent of vehicle registrations by federal, state, and local government agencies. That’s probably less than the proportion bought by the general public, which was .85 percent of total vehicle sales last September, according to the Sierra Club.
Serikali ya Marekani inapotaka kupunguza uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu, mojawapo ya njia za wazi za kufanya hivyo ni kuondoa uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu katika magari yake. Serikali ya Marekani ina magari 655,000 na ni sehemu ndogo tu ya magari hayo ambayo yana uzalishaji mdogo. Rais Obama amesaini amri ya serikali ya Marekani ya kupunguza uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu kwa asilimia 40 kuanzia mwaka wa 2008 hadi 2025. Mipango hiyo inazingatia kuwa magari ya kuunganisha na umeme yatakuwa asilimia 20 ya magari ya serikali ifikapo mwaka 2020, na asilimia 50 ifikapo mwaka 2025. Mashirika pia itabidi kuhakikisha kwamba kuna miundombinu ya kutosha ya kuchaji. "Amerika kwa mara nyingine tena itaongoza kwa mfano", alisema Rais. """Tunaonyesha kuwa inawezekana kukuza uchumi wetu kwa nguvu wakati huo huo kufanya kitu sahihi kwa mazingira yetu na kukabiliana na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa kwa njia ya dhati,"" alisema Obama, ambaye amekuwa akifanya kazi katika shirika la ndege la Marekani." Hata hivyo, juhudi hizi za awali zilihitaji tu mashirika ya serikali kununua magari ya "uchomaji wa chini" au "mafuta mbadala", ikiwa ni pamoja na mifano ya "mafuta ya kubadilika" ambayo yana uwezo wa kuendesha mchanganyiko wa asilimia 85 ya ethanol. Ni uwezekano kwamba asilimia kubwa ya magari kununuliwa ili kukidhi mahitaji yamekuwa "flex-mafuta" mifano, na faida ya uzalishaji wa ethanol ni utata. Kwa kuongezea, kama ripoti za magari ya kijani inavyoonyesha, E85 inapatikana katika chini ya asilimia mbili ya vituo vya mafuta nchini kote, kwa hivyo inawezekana kwamba magari machache ya "matoleo ya chini" yamewahi kuchoma tone la E85. Kulingana na Shirika la Wauzaji wa Magari (AUMA), katika miezi kumi ya kwanza ya 2014, magari ya umeme yaliwakilisha chini ya theluthi moja ya asilimia moja ya usajili wa magari na mashirika ya serikali ya shirikisho, serikali za majimbo na serikali za mitaa. Hiyo ni chini ya asilimia ya jumla ya magari yaliyouzwa na watu wa kawaida, ambayo ilikuwa asilimia 85 ya jumla ya mauzo ya magari Septemba mwaka jana, kulingana na Sierra Club.