Ed. Note: Updated with video and photo.
This afternoon, President Obama unveils his green fleet initiative which ensures that by 2015, all new vehicles purchased for Americas's federal agencies will be electric, gas-electric hybrid, or alternatively fueled.
I will stand alongside the President when he makes that announcement because the Department of Transportation will do whatever we can to support this bold new goal.
The transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of the United States’ oil use and contributes one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. After housing, transportation is the second biggest monthly expense for most American families. Reducing the gas consumed by our federal fleet will help relieve some of the upward pressure on gas prices.
As the President said earlier this week, “In an economy that relies so heavily on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody.”
We have the opportunity, and the obligation, to take action. We can change both the types and the amounts of energy that our transportation systems use while also creating good, high-paying jobs and easing everyone’s burden at the pump.
Fonte: White House