Chicago Coalition Touts Green Initiative and Big Savings

The windy city is going green.  Here’s what’s up: The  Chicago Area Clean Cities Coalition  announced that in 2015 its member fleets saved more than 25 million gasoline-gallon equivalents (GGEs) of petroleum and 225,000 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions.

“That is the equivalent of removing 3,000 tanker trucks of gasoline from roads,” said Samantha Bingham, coordinator, Chicago Area Clean Cities (CACC). “This is an example of the success that our coalition’s member fleets are having by using alternative fuels, hybrids, and advanced technologies, which not only helps to save fuel, but also helps to reduce tailpipe emissions.”

Members of CACC include commercials fleets and municipalities throughout the six-county Chicago area. The coalition made its announcement of its 2015 fleet-fuel survey results recently at its annual Green Drives Conference and Expo, at which nearly 250 attendees learned about steps they can take to make their fleets less reliant on petroleum, and be cleaner and more fuel efficient.

Companies such as Coca-Cola and Peapod were featured at the conference as examples of companies that are “going green” with their delivery vehicles in the Chicago area. More than 40 environmentally friendly vehicles were showcased at the event, and two-dozen exhibitors featured their technologies for green transportation.

The United States is 92 percent dependent on petroleum to transport our goods, services and people, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2015, the U.S. imported 2.7 billion barrels of oil at a cost of $131 billion.

“All of these local actions add up,” said John Walton, vice chairman of Chicago Area Clean Cities. “The trend towards using more efficient vehicles and alternative fuels continues, despite gas prices being lower than their peak.”

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