Officials showed off New York City government’s growing fleet of climate friendly vehicles at Flushing Meadows Corona Park Thursday, touting a sign of progress toward local and state climate goalsRecent additions to the fleet include four electric paramedic cruisers, which are used to zoom from emergency to emergency, allowing first responders to triage patients while ambulances haul people to hospitals. Also on display was an ambulance that runs on biodiesel and is equipped with a diesel particulate filter, which reduces the vehicle’s emissions by half, compared to old fossil fuel-power ambulances. Nearly all of the FDNY’s 636 ambulances now run on biodiesel.A local law requires New York City to transition its fleet of light and medium-duty vehicles to electric by 2035. Its trucks must be electric by 2038. Currently, more than 75% of municipal vehicles – or about 21,500 – are either hybrid, electric or running on renewable biofuel, city officials said.The rapid transition comes as other aspects of the state’s ambitious climate goals have hit significant obstacles due to President Donald Trump’s deregulation agenda.”We’re trying to electrify the city fleet in all its aspects,” said Keith Kerman, Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. “One of the most difficult, challenging places to do that is going to be in fire services, emergency medical services, [with] extraordinarily complicated equipment [and] very difficult response requirements.”Two electric FDNY robot dogs also pranced near the unisphere. The electronic canines are dispatched in situations deemed unsafe for humans, such as incidents involving hazardous materials. The robots’ head, FDNY officials said, can turn valves.Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said the ultimate goal is to eventually rush to emergencies in electric fire trucks.“Our fleet is a big part of what we are focused on, and getting to emergencies quickly with the most state-of-the-art vehicles is imperative to us,” Tucker said. “We want to be good neighbors of our planet.”
So, like, the officials in New York City were all excited to show off their fancy new climate-friendly vehicles at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. They were like, “Look at us go, making progress towards our climate goals!” The fleet now has these cool electric paramedic cruisers that zoom around to emergencies, helping out patients while the regular ambulances take them to the hospital. Oh, and there’s also this ambulance that runs on biodiesel and has a filter thingy that cuts emissions in half. Pretty neat, right? Almost all of the FDNY’s ambulances are now running on biodiesel. A law says the city has to switch all their light and medium-duty vehicles to electric by 2035 and trucks by 2038. Right now, most of the vehicles – around 21,500 of them – are either hybrid, electric, or using biofuel. The city is really trying hard to make everything electric, even in the fire and emergency medical services, where it’s super tough to do.
The transition to eco-friendly vehicles is happening real quick, especially with all the challenges from Trump’s deregulation stuff. Keith Kerman, the Deputy Commissioner guy, said, “We’re trying to electrify the city fleet in all its aspects. It’s gonna be a real headache, especially with the fire and emergency services, where things are super complicated.” And get this, they even have these electric robot dogs for when things get too dangerous for humans. These robots can do some pretty cool stuff, like turning valves and stuff. Fire Commissioner Tucker is all about the electric fire trucks too, saying, “We really wanna get to emergencies fast with the best vehicles possible. We gotta be good to our planet, you know?” Not really sure why this matters, but there you have it.
