Wednesday, December 08, 2004

A Reasonable Republican

I'm really not someone who enjoys condemning entire groups of people as worthless, so a story like this one, in which a Republican does something sensible and sane, is a real pleasure to report:

In an effort to help the environment and lessen pollution, Suffolk Legislator Daniel Losquadro (R-Miller Place) introduced a resolution that would "begin the use of biodiesel fuel in the Suffolk County fleet" and "encourage the use of alternative fuels in the county."
Most American municipalities have fleets of diesel trucks. Converting them to biodiesel is incredibly easy and cheap; it would save huge amounts of fossil fuel, and reduce certain types of air pollution. Ideally, these vehicles should also be fitted with particle filters, which can reduce particulate emissions to as little as one percent. That's a lot more expensive per vehicle than biodiesel conversion, at about a thousand bucks a pop. However, high levels of airborne particulate matter can be expensive too!

The ideas Losquadro's promoting are being considered or implemented in cities and counties all over the country. You may want to consider suggesting or supporting such efforts in your own region. And Losquadro himself - from what I can gather by Googling his name - seems like a pretty admirable man; he has a good environmental record, and seems to have a real commitment to bipartisanship. I think he deserves letters of support and thanks.

2 comments:

Thers said...

Losquadro is actually a good example of how a smart local Dem party can keep even a GOPer in line. I am not saying he's a bad guy. But the Suffolk Dems have made the environment a big issue, in no small part by reminding everyone out there that one major oil spill on the LI coast and the Hamptons and Montauk tourist economy is in the crapper, and then everyone's fucked. Also, they've been very good at keeping issues like the Pine Barrens and replenishing fisheries alive. Losquadro simply could not be bad on the environment and stay in office. If the Dems can equate sound environmental policies with bread and butter economics, it is very much a local winner. Hell, look at the Montana gov race. And even where we are in kill-the-deer upstate NY, keeping land open for hunting is a key issue I hope we can keep using. Even if we can't win seats on it, we can make progress on brownfields & curbing insane development ideas.

Anonymous said...

Hey, reasonable and Republican occasionally get together and do something groovy.

But me winning anything at the Lotto happens just about as often.

Oooh. Maybe this is an occasion to do it.

--LJ