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A MOTION concerning the county's efforts to combat global warming and seeking ways for King County to accommodate the use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles.
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WHEREAS, the council in Motion 12362 acknowledged that global warming pollution by humans is one of the world's most serious problems, with potentially grave risk to the Pacific Northwest's drinking water, fish and wildlife habitat and quality of life, and
WHEREAS, in adopting Motion 12362, the council demonstrated its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate their impacts and prepare for climate change, and
WHEREAS, transportation-related pollution is a primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, and
WHEREAS, the county has acted to reduce vehicle emissions, including the use of biodiesel fuel in metro transit buses and other county-owned vehicles, purchase of hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles for county fleets and support for public transportation and non-motorized transportation options, and
WHEREAS, King County and many of its cities are participating in the Puget Sound Regional Green Fleet Initiative to develop a uniform green fleet standard for clean vehicles and promoting best practices in fleet design and operation, and King County cosponsored a national Clean Vehicles Now conference in September 2007; and
WHEREAS, hybrid technology offers significant promise as a means of reducing vehicle emissions, including carbon dioxide, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle ("PHEV") technology makes further reductions possible especially when these batteries are combined with carbon free and renewable energy sources such as wind or solar energy and PHEVs are supplemented by alternative fuels, and
WHEREAS, when enough PHEVs are in use and combined with technology to control access to the grid, PHEV batteries could help the grid store idle power and return when high use occurs, and
WHEREAS, battery electric vehicle ("BEV") technology m...
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