Today’s Good News: Friedman Says “Save the Planet: Vote Smart”

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I’m not a fan of the New York Times - bad writing, Bush cheerleading and all that - nor, usually, of the NYT’s Thomas Friedman. But he makes a boatload of sense here, and uses a fine story of how New York City got hybrid taxicabs to talk about how to make real environmental change.

Friedman says, “Choose the right leaders…Why? Because leaders write the rules, set the standards and offer the tax incentives that drive market behavior across a whole city, state or country…When leaders change the rules, you get scale change across the whole marketplace. And the energy-climate challenge we face today is a huge scale problem. Without scale, all you have is a green hobby.”

I disagree with him that personal choices, like buying fluorescent light bulbs, only matter “a tiny bit.” Especially in America, cutting personal consumption is a VITAL part of the solution. Government and industry can’t do it all. However, I do agree that having the right leaders who can move government to real action is also VITAL.

He illustrates his point with the story of hybrid taxicabs in New York City. To make a long story short, it started with David Yassky, a City Council member, and Jack Hidary, a tech entrepreneur. They cut through some red tape, with the help of others framing the issue as not only environment but health, and got some hybrid taxis rolling back in 2005. Fast forward to 2007, and Mayor Bloomberg is pushing to require all cabs — that’s 13,000 in all — to be hybrids or other low-emission vehicles that get at least 30 miles a gallon, within five years.

Friedman asked Evgeny Freidman, a top New York City fleet operator, how he liked the hybrids: “Absolutely fabulous! We started out with 18, and now we have over 200, mostly Ford Escapes. Now we only put hybrids out there. The drivers are demanding them and the public is demanding them. It has been great economically. With gas prices as they are, the drivers are saving $30 dollars a shift.”

Check out the whole article here.

Filed by Karen on October 25th, 2007 under Environment, State and Local Politics, Technology, Transportation


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