Lieu, Florez Take Administration to Task Over Lack of Alternative Fuel Use

Despite $17 million Investment, State Fleet Continues to Run on Gasoline

Sacramento, CA – In a Joint Informational Hearing of the Senate Government Organization Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Air Quality, Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) grilled Administration Officials on the use of alternative fuels in the State Fleet.  Lieu sat as a special guest in the hearing at the personal invitation of Senator Florez, who chairs both committees.

As reported last week, since Governor Schwarzenegger took office, the State has spent $17 million purchasing “flex-fuel” vehicles, which can run on either gasoline or alternative fuels, but has not used a single drop of alternative fuel.  Worse, the vehicles that were purchased, when running on gasoline, are actually far more polluting than the vehicles they replaced, and other vehicles that are available for purchase

“This is unacceptable,” Lieu said. “The Administration needs to align their actions on alternative fuels with their rhetoric.  We’re going to stay on them until they do.”

Lieu is the author of Assembly Bill (AB) 236, introduced in January of this year, which addresses many of the issues raised in today’s hearing.  The bill would require the State to consider the availability of fueling infrastructure when purchasing flex-fuel vehicles, and to run flex-fuel vehicles exclusively on alternative fuels by July 1, 2009.  The ultimate goal, as laid out in the bill, is to reduce the State’s use of petroleum by 20% by 2020. 

During the hearing, Administration Officials cited the lack of fueling infrastructure for ethanol, the alternative fuel on which their vehicles are built to run.  This caused the committee to question why the State did not purchase compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, for which there are pumps available.

Lieu thanked Senator Florez, the principal co-author of AB 236, for his work on the issue. “The San Joaquin Valley has air quality problems that are as bad if not worse than the Los Angeles Basin,” the South Bay lawmaker added. “The Senator and I are going to work together to make sure that the State is doing its part to clean up this mess.”

AB 236, Lieu’s bill, is currently awaiting action in the Senate Appropriations Committee.