Dear Mayor Taylor and City Council Members, I hope this message finds you and your family healthy and safe. Thank you so much for continuing to be a leader in sustainability, while at the same time dealing with the COVID-19 emergency. I’m writing in support of Resolution No. 6552 https://www.menlopark.org/DocumentCenter/View/24571/F3-20200326-CC-Follow-up-grand-jury-response > to approve the sustainable vehicle fleet policy. This policy is a key climate action that will support electric vehicles (EVs) in place of fossil fuel vehicles in the city’s fleet (as those vehicles are retired), reducing carbon and air pollution. As you know, transportation is the biggest source of carbon emissions in Menlo Park. The proposed forward-thinking policies can serve as an example to the nation of how to make a real difference on transportation greenhouse gases. Further, the transition off fossil fuel vehicles will save the City substantial money, since electric vehicles are much cheaper to operate once the charging infrastructure is put in place. Electric Vehicles can also provide emergency power from their large batteries during grid outages (see here https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/will-your-ev-keep-the-lights-on-when-the-grid-goes-down > for example). This has become a standard practice in Japan, after the 2011 tsunami, improving community resilience. I strongly support the policy goals of purchasing EVs whenever feasible and reducing Gasoline and Diesel Consumption by 5% a Year. With this policy, Menlo Park will be one of the first cities in the nation to focus on the critical metric of fossil fuel consumption. Not only will our city be a role model for other cities (and counties, and states, and corporations) to follow, this would achieve meaningful progress towards the IPCC recommendation, that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must reduce our fossil fuel consumption by roughly 50% by 2030. Please consider the following two improvements to Resolution No. 6552, either in a way that allows adoption with no further delay, or as amendments in the near future: * In keeping with the IPCC recommendations, the 5% annual reduction should be from a baseline (e.g., the total consumption in 2018-2019) – not a 5% reduction from the prior year. * The city should add an EV charging installation requirement to this policy, or make installation of EV charging infrastructure a top priority in its Workplan and budget until sufficient charging is in place to transition the city fleet to meet the gasoline reduction targets. I appreciate your outstanding Leadership! Your commitment to addressing the climate crisis in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is to be applauded. It takes true leadership to keep working on challenging issues with significant long-term impacts to our communities, while at the same time doing everything possible to safeguard residents from the immediate health threats of COVID-19. Sincerely, Diane Bailey Diane Bailey | Executive Director MENLO SPARK diane_at_(domainremoved)ark.org> | 650-281-7073 Visit us: www.MenloSpark.org http://www.menlospark.org/ > & www.FossilFreeBuildings.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/menlospark2025?ref=aymt_homepage_panel > Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/MenloSpark2025 > [cid:1CD55049-1854-4B28-AE94-F9A38B4DD13A] Climate Neutral for a Healthy, Prosperous Menlo Park EV, PV & Fossil Free: Guides for Electric Cars, solar & Fossil Free Homes at: http://menlospark.org/what-we-do/ (image/png attachment: image001.png )
