Editor’s note: This letter was provided by Ecopel.

Dear Mayor Mullen and the Board of Trustees and Village Administrator:

We, the Board of Directors of EcoPel, would like to add our voices to the growing chorus of community members who oppose the purchase of four new diesel garbage trucks in the Village of Pelham. We believe you have a unique opportunity here to make a decision that will help reduce carbon emissions and have long-term positive benefits on the environment in our towns and beyond.

We request that the Village pause the process and consider every alternative to committing to the use of diesel trucks for the next 20 years. While we understand that electric garbage trucks are costlier at present, we feel it is only a matter of time before federal and state sources offer financial incentives so municipalities can electrify their fleets. Plus, we anticipate that prices of electric vehicles will come down as sales go up.

We support the solutions offered by the Village of Pelham Sustainability Advisory Board and the Climate Smart Communities Task Force:

• purchasing two electric vehicles and two used diesel vehicles now which can be converted to electric or traded in to go all electric when that becomes feasible;
• extending the current contract until we find a long-term cleaner alternative to diesel;
• contracting with a different hauler until we find a cleaner alternative;
• leasing vehicles for a short term until we find a cleaner alternative;
• purchasing four used vehicles that we can trade in or convert to electric a few years from now to go all electric.

If the Board is determined to move forward with this purchase, it should commit to running the trucks on 100% biofuel, including installing any necessary infrastructure/fuel tank in the DPW yard.

We urge you to seize this opportunity now to further the commitment of the Village of Pelham to an environmentally sustainable future for our community. Thank you for considering the ideas and opinions in this letter. We welcome your contact if you would like our input on anything mentioned.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors of EcoPel