Speak Up for BP Oil Disaster Funds for PSTA's New Electric Buses!
What more appropriate way to use BP oil disaster funds than to help move the county beyond its dependence on oil with its first electric buses?
WHAT: Pinellas County Commission Public Input Session on Proposals for Use of its BP Economic Settlement Funds
WHEN: Tuesday evening, July 12, between 6 and 9 p.m. Drop by and have your say!
WHERE: Pinellas County Commission Assembly Room, 5th floor, 315 Court St., downtown Clearwater
WHY: Support PSTA's request for funds for its first electric bus charging station
Tuesday night the Pinellas County Commission will listen to all Pinellas residents speaking between 6 and 9 p.m. in support of proposals for how to spend the county's $7 million in BP oil disaster funds. Let's pack the room Tuesday night to show support for Commissioner Ken Welch's idea to give PSTA just 9 percent of its BP oil disaster money to allow it to buy an electric bus charging station for downtown St. Pete.
If the county does provide these BP funds, PSTA will buy its first two (or more) electric buses to use in downtown St. Petersburg, a number that could soon grow to nine zero emission electric buses, all using the same charging station.
Great idea! Why isn't this a slam dunk, you ask? Surprise: Numerous proposals to spend far more than the $7 million the county has available have been submitted. While we're sure they're all good things to do, we doubt any idea is as directly related to the reason the county has the funds — the impact of the BP gulf oil disaster — as is helping PSTA begin oil-free, emission-free transit next year. After all, if we use less oil, the pressure to drill for oil lessens — the rule of supply and demand.
Besides, people are excited about these new clean, quiet buses, both the people who'll ride them and those who won't hear or smell them as they go by their homes, restaurants, etc.
Speakers will get up to the usual three minutes, or may give their time to another person who'd like to speak longer. All we need to make zero emission electric transit a reality in Pinellas is YOU. See you there!
—Phil Compton, senior organizing representative, Sierra Club National Beyond Oil / Florida Healthy Air Campaign
Find out how you can help make our air healthier to breathe at https://www.facebook.com/floridahealthyair and www.sierraclub.org/evguide.