Clean Vehicles Now! Conference

Thank you for joining us today. As you know, this day of clean vehicles is a critical milestone for us in King County, on several counts. We are excited that this Puget Sound region will be leading our nation into a new era of clean and climate-friendly vehicles.

Before I make our announcement, however, I would like to provide a bit of context for you. We have shown a lot of leadership in King County, the Puget Sound region, and Washington State, which has been extremely conducive to bold action on clean vehicles.

I would particularly like to thank the Governor, the state legislature and others who spearheaded an effort to adopt "California" tailpipe standards for reduced greenhouse gas emissions in Washington State. The USEPA must approve a waiver in order for us to implement those standards, but the fact is clear: our State is pushing the envelope on clean vehicles in this country.
Of course, I want to recognize local leaders, namely Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels for his long-time leadership on both local and national environmental efforts, and Mercer Island City Manager Rich Conrad, who has played a key role in getting support for clean vehicle programs among suburban cities.

The public sector in this state and in our Puget Sound region is leading the way. The State of Washington, King County, the City of Seattle, and other cities in the region have aggressive goals for greenhouse gas reduction, and clean vehicles are at the heart of that.

King County Climate Plan

This Clean Vehicles Now! conference is about putting our King County Climate Plan into action.

In that plan, we set a goal of developing regional consensus on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by the year 2050. To achieve that ambitious goal, we know that we need to reduce our emissions from the transportation sector -- which accounts for a whopping 60 percent of our total regional GHG emissions.

To tackle our transportation problem, we need to drive less. It's that simple.

I am proud to say that King County was one of the few governments in the country recently to win federal funding to implement a critical congestion pricing program, to begin to put a price on the carbon we are emitting from our cars in this region.

But we also need to clean up our cars and trucks.

As a nation we have had decades of opportunity to do this -- to make our vehicles smaller, lighter, and less emitting -- but we haven't bitten the bullet.

Now is the moment.

And this conference takes a major step toward that necessary clean vehicle industry, by showing that the public sector will LEAD on investment in clean vehicles. No more excuses.

Living Lab of Innovation

The conference is also about spotlighting the phenomenal work of our Department of Transportation, and projecting that work as a model of innovation to the rest of the country. I particularly want to thank Harold Taniguchi, Laurie Brown, and Windell Mitchell for their fantastic support of that goal.

King County's Fleet Division has long collaborated with municipal governments, the federal government, and the private sector, to invest in clean vehicles.

Just last November, we announced a $250,000 grant to Fleet Division from USEPA to fund our Northwest Hybrid Truck Consortium -- a collaboration of local governments in this region to invest collectively in hybrid trucks, and reduce the per-unit price. This conference introduces you to their work.

Announcement of the Regional Green Fleet Initiative

Finally, this event is about building the strategic coalitions necessary to solidify the Puget Sound region's position as THE leading clean vehicle region of this nation. Working together, we can make the climate goals of the state, county, and cities mesh.

And so, I would like to unveil for you today a "green fleet initiative" -- an innovative new partnership between King County, 20 cities, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition.

We have produced a statement of principles describing this initiative available for you now.

These partners have committed to work with King County during the next several months to pioneer the nation's first green fleet standards. It is anticipated that these standards will spur the use of clean vehicle technology and move the region closer to environmental sustainability. Once in place, these green standards could form the basis of one of the nation's first clean vehicle certification programs, one that could serve as a model for communities throughout the country.

Strategies to achieve these green fleet standards might include: meeting specific goals and targets regarding the purchase of clean vehicle technologies and the reduction of fossil fuels; adopting and successfully implementing policies that promote best practices in fleet design and operation; and sharing information on the total type and quantity of fuel consumed and vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis.

Underlying all of the standards will be the critical performance measure of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

Meeting or exceeding the standards could allow fleets to earn "points for innovation" in purchasing clean vehicles and achieving fuel conservation and efficiency. Governments that earn points at a designated level would be recognized publicly and potentially even rewarded for developing a green fleet.

Related information

• Conference video
    •  Windows Media Player
    •  Real Player
• Conference photos
• Sims sets new course for climate-friendly transportation; Clean Vehicles NOW! Conference launches next era in green technology, King County press release
• Puget Sound Regional Green Fleet Initiative Statement of Principles
• Clean Vehicles NOW! home page