Supervisor Don Knabe, Chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, lauded a recent report that shows a dramatic increase in the County’s use of hybrid vehicles.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Internal Services Department released its annual Clean Fuels Report. The report shows that hybrids now make up over 20-percent of the County’s entire passenger car fleet. The County currently has a total of 268 hybrids, which is an increase of over 1,400-percent since the Board of Supervisors made acquiring hybrids a priority four years ago. This number does not include vehicles within the Department of Public Works, the Fire Department, or the Sheriff’s Department, which each maintains their own vehicles and fleet management.
In November 2005, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to modify the County Clean Fuels Policy to ensure that hybrid vehicles become the standard for new non-emergency passenger vehicles acquired for routine County business. The Board also directed County Departments to begin purchasing hybrids as they replaced their gasoline powered passenger vehicles, whenever practical and economically feasible.
I am very pleased with the results of this report, said Supervisor Knabe. The County of Los Angeles is one of the largest employers in the region, and it is important that we are at the forefront of reducing energy use. By increasing the use of hybrids, we are not only saving money on fuel costs, but we are also reducing the amount of resources that we consume.