The township is going green in an effort to save some green.
The township has added four hybrid vehicles over the last two years, two this month, and is planning to continue replacing older vehicles with hybrids on an annual basis.
While the price tag for the new SUVs — the two most recently purchased Ford Escapes Hybrids cost a total of $63,648 — is about $8,000 per vehicle higher than for traditional Escapes, the cars will save on fuel by running on electricity at lower speeds. According to the Ford Web site, the Escape hybrid gets 34 miles per gallon for local driving and 31 miles per gallon on the highway, compared with 22 miles per gallon local and 28 miles per gallon highway for the traditional escape.
That means each vehicle will use about 160 gallons less for every 10,000 miles driven, which at today’s gas prices is a $542 savings per vehicle. Utilities Department employees, who will be the primary users of the vehicles, drive significantly more than 10,000 miles a year.
The hybrid purchases are a good first step, but more needs to be done to reduce the township’s carbon footprint — the impact that its energy use has on the environment.
Mayor Frank Gambatese says the Township Council is working to develop a plan to reduce energy costs that could include installing solar panels on township buildings and using more efficient lighting.
We think the township should be more ambitious in its green goals and that any municipal energy plan needs to include the following:
• Installing solar panels on all public buildings — school facilities included — and retrofitting properties with other energy-saving technologies.
• Increasing the speed with which it replaces its existing fleet with hybrids and other alternative-fuel vehicles.
• Studying the potential cost and benefits of placing solar- and wind-power generators on public property — such as at the municipal dump site adjacent to Sondek Park and other areas — so that the township could generate its own power, without creating a visual nuisance for neighbors.
• Creating a township energy pool that would include the municipal government, the school district and residents, which would shop for an energy provider in the deregulated market that relies on green technologies to generate power.
• Moving to biodiesel for the diesel-powered portion of the township and school district fleets and making excess biodiesel fuel available for residents.
Not all of this will be technically possible at the municipal level, or cost-effective, but analysis of the many and varied ways in which we can save energy and money in the long run is the only way to determine their viability. The township needs to draft a plan now and begin the process.

