Environmental Graffiti

As part of a drive to make the big apple greener, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that the city’s fleet of taxis will be converted to hybrid models by 2012.

Hybrid cars, which run on a combination of electricity and petrol in order to cut emissions, currently account for just 390 of New York’s 13,000 taxis. However, Bloomberg hopes that by October next year, over a thousand will be hybrids.

The scheme makes both economic and environmental sense. Although hybrid models are more expensive, their fuel efficiency should save taxi operators more than $10,000 a year. It is also estimated that the reduction in carbon emissions will be equivalent to taking 30,000 individually owned cars off the street.

The taxi scheme is part of potential presidential candidate’s drive to make New York a greener city. The wider goal is to reduce carbon emissions 30% by 2030.