SKAGGS

Thank you Mayor! According to the New York Times today, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his plan today - PlaNYC - that is aimed at creating a more environmentally sustainable city and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. This will be accomplished in part, by converting the entire fleet of NYC cabs to hybrids by 2012.

“There‚Äôs an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City obviously, so it makes a real big difference,” Mayor Bloomberg said this morning on the NBC News program “Today.” “These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes; this does a lot less. It‚Äôs a lot better for all of us.”

In the last two years, NYC has added about 400 hybrid vehicles to the taxi fleet. Under the new proposal, that number would increase to 1,000 by October 2008 and would grow by about 20 percent each year after that until the entire fleet is converted.

Too bad there aren’t more Republicans like Mayor Bloomberg…