Ogden's deeper shade of green
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Saturday, May 19, 2007
As Ogden goes about the task of rebranding itself as an outdoor-recreation hub of the Intermountain West, it just might be behaving morally in addition to accomplishing an economic development goal.
The city has begun to buy gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in order to test their cost-savings for the police department. As reported by the Standard-Examiner's Scott Schwebke, the Ford Crown Vics officers drive now get about 13 miles per gallon and burn through an average of $176 in fuel each week. The averages are not yet in for the four Ford Escape hybrids the city recently purchased, but they expect the numbers to be close to Ford's sales pitch: 500 miles per tank, and 36 miles per gallon driving around town -- which is where almost all patrol car miles are added. If the city realizes that 277 percent increase in fuel economy, and maintenance issues aren't greater with hybrids, it should more than make up for the extra up-front cost of the hybrids over their useful lifespans.
The only thing we would suggest as an improvement to the city's plan would be to require members of city staff who receive hundreds of dollars each in car allowances each month to purchase hybrids, too. It may require a significant change in city policy regarding vehicle allowances, yet if Ogden's really interested in saving money, and the planet, it will present a consistent image to the public.
But the hybrids aren't simply a token offering by the city to burnish Ogden's image as an environmentally conscious community. The city will also buy 900,000 kilowatt hours of renewable wind energy from Rocky Mountain Power, Schwebke writes, that will offset about 19 percent of the city's electricity that now comes from more traditional sources like coal-fired plants. The power company estimates Ogden's actions will remove 900 tons of carbon dioxide from our region's air on an annual basis.
Junction City leaders are also toying with the idea of placing community-use bicycles around the downtown area, to be ridden freely by anyone. They could be retrieved from and returned to specific locations in downtown -- the only hitch is, they'll probably have to paint them all bright pink to discourage thieves.
We like not only the free-downtown-bikes idea, but the notion of clearly designated bike lanes to separate the nonmotorized two-wheeled transportation from the motorized four-wheeled kind. Models for these lanes exist in some parts of Salt Lake City, but far better examples can be found in other parts of the country: Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore. Ogden should look to these communities if it wants models of cities that are doing it right.
And that's what Ogden says it wants to do -- welcome and embrace the outdoor-rec lifestyle. It's entirely possible -- in fact, it's happening. But the city will need to establish its green bona fides in order to close the sale with the industries and employees it's trying to attract.
A greener Ogden? We're all for it.
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