NYC hits snag in ‘net zero emissions’ plan
New York City’s goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2040 turns out to be more difficult than the city’s globalist leaders planned.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott M. Stringer announced the plan in 2021, which included investing $50 billion in “climate change” initiatives by 2035.
“Climate change poses an existential threat to New York City, and we must do everything in our power to confront this crisis head on,” said de Blasio in a press release. “In my State of the City address in January, I urged our pension funds to move to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and to increase investments in climate change solutions to $50 billion by 2035. Today’s vote by the trustees will help the pension system meet these goals and ensure we have a livable planet for future generations to come.”
The initiative requires the Department of Sanitation to change over its entire fleet of 6,000 garbage trucks from diesel-powered to electric. The city’s current rear-loader trucks are equipped with plows that allow the trucks to collect garbage even during the heavy snowstorms that often beleaguer the city.
But the city has found that the electric trucks — each coming with a $523,000 price tag — can only plow for four hours before running out of battery, according to Auto Evolution. With approximately 19,000 miles of road requiring plowing every winter, this might mean some communities would have to manually clear their own roads.
"We found that they could not plow the snow effectively — they basically conked out after four hours,” said Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “We need them to go 12 hours." She added, "Given the current state of the technology, I don't see today a path forward to fully electrifying the rear loader portion of the fleet by 2040. We can't really make significant progress in converting our rear loader fleet until the snow challenges are addressed."
Even if the electric trucks’ limited power issue is resolved the city still faces a shortage of charging stations and other infrastructure. At this point, the Sanitation Department only has access to 13 chargers.
The city has already placed an order for seven electric rear-loader garbage trucks, which are expected to be delivered next spring.
Winter’s cold has been known to affect an electric vehicle’s (EV) driving range between 20%-41%, reports Axios. According to University of Michigan’s Energy Institute Director Anna Stefanopoulou, EVs “prefer the same sort of temperature range that people do. Anything below 40 or above 115 degrees Fahrenheit and they’re not going to deliver their peak performance.”
The Wall Street Journal also notes that EVs are severely hampered by extreme weather.
“When temperatures drop to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, the cars achieve only 54% of their quoted range,” writes the WSJ. “A vehicle that’s supposed to be able to go 250 miles between charges will make it only 135 miles on average. At 32 degrees—a typical winter day in much of the country—a Tesla Model 3 that in ideal conditions can go 282 miles between charges will make it only 173 miles.”
