Working Together for Waupaca County would like to commend Police Chief Tim Goke and City Administrator Henry Veleker for their foresight and their decision to retrofit two squad cars with propane tanks.
The use of propane in vehicles is not particularly novel as some local residents, my father-in-law for one, have driven cars equipped with a propane tank for many years to save money, literally over the long haul.
The current lower cost of propane compared to fuel makes it an attractive alternative.
It is available domestically and in large quantities.
It burns cleaner than gasoline and diesel, producing up to 20 percent less nitrogen oxide and up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide.
For too long, we have looked at green solutions as pie in the sky.
Today the opposite is more likely to be true.
Technologies keep on improving on cost effectiveness and carbon reducing.
We can only ignore the consequences of wanton energy spending at our own peril.
Issues of energy security and stewardship of the environment matter to local residents, who have a huge stake in sustainable practices to make sure their children live as well or better than we do.
Kudos to both men for looking at problems from rational, cost-saving and sustainable angles.