You know that the climate zealots are on their heels when even the MTA, which is controlled by the woke state government, is conceding that they cannot follow through on the ridiculous mandate that their new buses be all electric.
There were lofty goals espoused by the climate change radicals, but the truth finally caught up to them. Their goals were totally unrealistic. And brutally expensive. Unnecessarily expensive.
Six hundred fifty electric buses that were planned to be purchased by the MTA have been canceled in lieu of a fleet fueled through natural gas. According to the City Reporter:
The MTA committed nearly a decade ago to having its entire fleet of close to 6,000 buses be emissions-free by 2040, but officials on Thursday said the transportation authority is instead seeking proposals from manufacturers to produce low-emissions alternatives to diesel.
This is a common-sense move that will not only be cheaper for the cost-beleaguered agency, but will also help reduce emissions. Natural gas has been the prime entity responsible for the huge reduction of America’s carbon footprint over the last two decades.
The transition from dirty coal and oil to cleaner natural gas is what has allowed the carbon footprint in America to be reduced over this time while it has been increasing significantly worldwide.
Earlier this year, Governor Kathy Hochul came to her senses — at least because of political pressure as she approached reelection — when she declared that the goals of the 2019 Climate Change law were simply unrealistic and had to be pushed out.
This column, and other sensible observers, had warned that the climate extremists were lying to the public by understating the costs of their programs and overstating the environmental benefits. Most importantly, we noted that their ambitious goals of reducing carbon emissions by going to 100% renewables was wildly unrealistic and would not happen in the immediate future if we wanted to keep the lights on and avoid unsustainable rate hikes.
Even the biggest promoters of the doomsday scenarios, including billionaire Bill Gates, are now toning it down and warning against climate policies that make the world considerably poorer.
This MTA’s decision is another step toward tamping down the climate extremists’ pie-in-the-sky idealism. We can get to a cleaner planet without bankrupting ourselves, so long as we employ a gradual, pragmatic plan of transitioning.