Comptroller Peter Franchot complained the state was “moving very glacially”in its purchase of hybrid cars for its fleet. Out of its 9,000 vehicles, the state owns only 30 hybrids, Franchot said at Wednesday?s Board of Public Works meeting.
Franchot suggested the state set a goal of 20 percent hybrid vehicles, but “we want to be fiscally prudent.” His remarks were triggered by the board?s consideration of motor vehicle purchase standards, which were delayed for three weeks.
“I wonder if we couldn?t accelerate our efforts,” Franchot said. “Can we lead by example?”
Deputy Budget Secretary David Romans said that in general, “it?s up to the individual agency” what kind of car it buys once the overall standards are approved.
“We do have some hybrid passenger vehicles,” Transportation Secretary John Porcari said, but “they are considerably more expensive” than other cars. Already, many State Highway Administration trucks are using biodiesel fuels.
Last year, the legislature passed and then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed a bill that requires at least half the state?s fleet of 2,500 diesel-fueled vehicles to use biodiesel fuel, generally a mixture of fats and oilseeds like soybeans with petroleum-based diesel fuels. General Services Secretary Al Collins said, “We?re in the middle of looking at our vehicle mix,” and he didn?t want to make a commitment until the study was finished at the end of the year.
Treasurer Nancy Kopp asked the bureaucrats to “look at fuel-efficiency” and not just at alternative fuels, since there are standard cars that can get 40 miles per gallon. She also encouraged them to get more vehicles that can use both gasoline and ethanol, made from corn and other grains.
The state installed an ethanol station in Baltimore last year, Collins said, and a second one is planned for Annapolis. It is now in the design-construction process, General Services spokesman Dave Humphrey said.
Gov. Martin O?Malley already has called on department heads to reduce the number of state-owned cars as a budget-cutting move, and he agreed Wednesday that vehicle standards should be set “to reduce our carbon footprint.”
