State Green Party Press Release

Councilman Segal Creates "Fuel-Efficient" Ordinance With Coalition.

January 20, 2004

Contact:
Jeff Toste - Co-Chair, GPRI - (401) 751-5596
Linde Rachel- Co-Chair, GPRI - (401) 226-4342

(Providence) Green Party Councilman David A. Segal, working with an unusual but important coalition of environmental and labor advocacy groups, sponsored an ordinance to require future purchases of the Providence City fleet of vehicles to give preference to fuel efficient and union made vehicles.

The ordinance was a consequence of Green Party Councilman Segal's collaboration with Clean Water Action, and the United Auto Worker's Union (UAW). The language of the ordinance ensures that as American union manufacturers produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, they will receive a preference in the purchasing process for the Providence fleet.

"The ordinance is about leading by example," said Linde Rachel Co-Chair of the Green Party of Rhode Island. "The city-owned fleet is small relative to the number of cars driven in the city, but these will be a permanent fixture, and will be easily noticed throughout our capital city."

A separate resolution requests that the State of Rhode Island mandate, in accord with legislation passed in California, that by 2007 a percentage of cars sold in RI follow strict emission standards. The resolution seeks to ensure that we have cars on the road that are better for our lungs and our environment.

"This is the type of legislation is long overdue, and it took a forward thinking Green official to get it done," saidRob Goldman, member of the GPRI elections committee. "It's not just about cost, it's about the future health of our community!"

In RI, there were 17 "ozone days" in 2002, which means our approximately 100,000 residents with asthma were told to stay inside. The number of ozone days in RI, and nationwide, continues to rise.

Cars and trucks emit 36% of air toxins, and 40% of the nitrogen that causes smog in RI's air. Exposure to benzene, and other toxins from vehicle emissions, can lead to the development of leukemia and other cancers. Providence has benzene levels in the air that are 11 times higher than the level that yields no increase cancer risk.

"With this ordinance, our Green Party councilman is not only looking out for the environmental health interests of our community," said Jeff Toste, Co-Chair of the GPRI. "By giving American union made vehicles a preference, he is working to ensure quality pay and American work standards are also a major part of the 'health' of our community."