www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/26/CARS.TMP
Email This Article (09-26) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- Despite their outspoken support for landmark legislation to fight global warming, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some of the leading Democratic lawmakers who voted for the measure still use gas-guzzling vehicles for official state business. The global warming bill's co-author, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nez, D-Los Angeles, travels in a state-leased 2003 Ford Explorer that gets about 14 mpg in the city and 20 mpg on the highway. Two other lawmakers who voted for the legislation, Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, and Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, D-Saratoga, drive Jeep Grand Cherokees, which the US Department of Energy has noted is the least fuel-efficient SUV in its class at 16 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway. While some lawmakers have been slow to give up their roomy SUVs, the overall fuel efficiency of the fleet of cars driven by the Legislature has improved over the past five years, mainly because 27 out of the state's 120 lawmakers have switched to hybrids. For example, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills (Los Angeles County), co-author of this year's global warming bill, drives a Toyota Prius that gets 60 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. But not everyone is on the path of driving fuel-efficient vehicles. In the Senate, Dean Florez, D-Shafter (Kern County), whose district has some of the worst air quality in the country, drives a GMC Yukon Denali, which gets 12 mpg in the city and 16 mpg on the highway. Florez, who has authored several measures aimed at reducing pollution in the Central Valley, also voted for the global warming bill. The legislation, worked out between Democratic lawmakers and Schwarzenegger, requires industries, including automakers, to lower carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. Cars are the single largest source of carbon emissions in California. The fact that many state officials still drive fuel-inefficient SUVs has some environmentalists shaking their heads. would set a better example for the rest of us in the state," said Bill Magavern, a lobbyist who represents the Sierra Club. One of the worst offenders among state legislators who voted "yes" on this year's global warming bill is Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, who said she commuted from her Oakland home to the state's capital four days a week during the legislative session. The Democrat drives a 2004 Lincoln Aviator that gets 13 mpg in the city and 18 mpg on the highway. "I would admit that I should get a better mileage car," Chan said. I drive every day from Oakland to Sacramento, and I see these horrific accidents on I-80." As for statewide elected officials, all but the attorney general are assigned cars and drivers that are provided by the CHP. The lieutenant governor, secretary of state, controller and insurance commissioner each has been assigned a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria. Phil Angelides, state treasurer and Democratic challenger in the governor's race, also gets driven by a CHP officer in a Crown Victoria, although his campaign spokesman added that the candidate has three hybrids and a Volvo station wagon at home. The Excursion and Crown Victorias (18 mpg city/25 mpg highway) are used primarily because CHP officers who drive them are trained in those vehicles, said CHP spokesman Tom Marshall. Attorney General Bill Lockyer also has a pair of Crown Victorias, based in Sacramento and Los Angeles, but they are driven by Justice Department agents. But Lockyer, who last week sued automakers in an attempt to hold them liable for global warming, also has a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid that he drives himself, especially when he is near his East Bay home, his spokesman, Nathan Barankin, said. Lawmakers are free to choose their own automobiles, which are leased through the state. The state makes the first $360 or $400 of the monthly lease payment -- depending on their lease term -- and the rest is paid by legislators. The number of lawmakers who use hybrid vehicles has risen significantly in the past five years. In 2001, only one lawmaker -- Assemblywoman Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Montclair (San Bernardino County) -- drove a hybrid. Now, a third of the 80-member Assembly and a quarter of the 40-member Senate drive hybrid cars. In the Assembly, the percentage of Democrats driving hybrids this year is the same as that of Republicans. However, most of those GOP lawmakers opted for more fuel-efficient SUVs, while their colleagues across the aisle have mostly leased Toyota Prius and Honda Accord hybrids. None of the Republicans who drive hybrids, however, voted for AB32, the global warming bill. Particularly in the Assembly, one of the motivating factors for the switch was that in 2003, lawmakers who lease hybrids were given an extra $3,000 that they can use for office expenses. However, another incentive to use hybrids should be to save the state money, since lawmakers use state-issued gas cards, said Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, who was the chairman of the Assembly rules committee in 2003 that allowed lawmakers to use foreign cars as long as they are hybrids. "This isn't just about doing the right thing and showing constituents that we are doing the right thing. There is bottom-line savings to the state of California," said Nation, who drives a Honda Accord hybrid. Still, SUVs still make up a sizable chunk of the Legislature's fleet -- 11 senators and 18 Assembly members still drive them. Nez's spokesman, Steve Maviglio, said the speaker's 2003 Ford Explorer is on its last year of a four-year lease and once the lease expires, "he will certainly be acquiring a hybrid." "In 2003, the selections on hybrids were pretty thin," Maviglio said. "He has two teenagers and another kid in a car seat, so something like a Toyota Prius probably wouldn't have worked for him and his family." Florez, the Democratic senator, said he drives his GMC Yukon Denali, which he has used since 2003, in his district but drives one of the hybrids in the Senate's fleet of loaners when he is in Sacramento. The senator said he wanted to turn in the Denali but was told he must wait until Dec. "After driving the Honda, I initially had concerns about power, safety and so on, but I'm now convinced that the hybrid meets all expectations, so I will be trading in the Denali for a hybrid in December," Florez said. Other lawmakers voiced their need for large cars to haul staff, constituents and even paperwork. Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk (Los Angeles County), who drives a 2003 Ford Expedition (13 mpg city/18 mpg highway), insisted he needs a large vehicle because he often uses it for community service, like delivering turkeys during Thanksgiving and toys for Christmas. The truck is used for a number of those events, including moving constituents and staff. So, it is a working vehicle, not a pleasure vehicle," he said.
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