By David Mastio
When Albuquerque announced plans to acquire a new fire engine, New Mexico’s governor lauded the “zero emissions” technology while a fire department spokesman called it “all electric” and KRQE 13 gushed about the “fully electric” fire truck.
San Diego’s NBC 7 reported on what it called that city’s first “all electric fire apparatus.” When the electric fire engine debuted in Portland, NBC’s KGW 8 quoted a fire department spokesman lauding the “monumental” “zero emissions” vehicle.
When an electric fire truck came to Gilbert, Arizona, FOX 10 quoted the fire chief saying that “There’s no cancer coming out of the tail pipe and I say it that way because diesel particulates are a contributor for cancers.”
Viewers could be forgiven for thinking that the new fire trucks were all electric and zero emissions. They’d be wrong. All the fire trucks also have a diesel engine and a tailpipe releases those “cancer-causing particulates.”
When the first Pierce Volterra Electric Fire Truck rolled out in Madison, Wisconsin, the vehicle was repeatedly called “all electric” or “zero emissions.” You had to listen 8 minutes into the presentation to get to the part where a fire chief admits there’s an internal combustion engine for pumping water on a fire.
Perhaps journalists and fire department spokespeople were misled by Pierce Manufacturing’s web site ,which reads in bold headline type: “Zero Emissions. Zero compromises.”
Critics say it is because electric engines are being hyped beyond what they can deliver. “As we’ve seen time and time again, electric engines are not up to the powering a simple road trip, much less taking on a role as critical as public safety,” said Larry Behrens, Communications Director for Power The Future. “The fact this over-hyped fire truck has a diesel engine is proof they know it needs power that won’t run out.”
The new fire trucks come with a hefty price tag – 40% to 50% more than a comparable diesel fire truck. For example, the New Mexico hybrid fire truck that has been ordered costs the local government $1.8 million with $400,000 coming from a federal grant.
As state governments such as California and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency write regulations to phase out most uses of the internal combustion engine, the federal government has a program that is buying new diesel engines to replace older, more-polluting models all over the country in everything from school buses to tug boats.
The replacements come from grants under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act. The EPA has spent billions of dollars on the project since the law was passed in 2005 and signed by President George W. Bush.
After replacing diesel engines in every state, DERA received fresh funding under President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, but now states and localities are incorrectly claiming diesel doesn’t have anything to do with DERA.
Is anyone who works for the government capable of doing basic research or a cost-benefit analysis? Electric vehicles provide no benefit to the environment, they are expensive and unreliable, and they are rolling death traps. Electric firetrucks will make the public less safe, not more.
Too bad Gilbert’s fire chief didn’t think through before speaking. Environmental contamination is a much more complex part of what contributes to human disease. And fire fighting doesn’t involve personnel spending time near the tailpipe of the fire truck. Their exposures to contaminates are complex. Instead the fire chief was a willing pawn meant to frighten the public and manipulate their opinions against the practical uses, benefits and lower costs of fossil fuels. Ho Hum ….
The other day I had an epiphany, I thought to myself about the millions of tires on the roads worldwide. Those tires are made of synthetic materials, crude oil and plastics. Those tires are in a constant state of wear and tear until finally disposed of. We know where the old tires end up, but what happens to all the microscopic materials that wear off those millions and possibly billions of tires? It goes into our atmosphere, the ground and waters around us. With all the talk about the micro-plastics on the planet and inside of us now, I wouldn’t be surprised where those micro-plastics are coming from. One of these days the radical environmentalists are going to realize this fact and then scream for the elimination of rubber tires world-wide and the return of wooden wheels. If they get their way, we’ll all be driving “Flintstone” foot powered vehicles. Just saying!!
Zero emissions? Wow so now we are God and humanity is going to save the earth!? ‘Climate and Energy The Case For Realism’ is a very informative read. Y’all need to study up on how sensitive climate really is to greenhouse gases! The benefits of human-generated CO2 escapes small brains that really just want control! PERIOD!!!
There is no climate crisis. If there was a crisis it will not be fixed mere men. This is just more virtue signaling by the radical marxists. Their goal is to destroy this country as we know it now. Any and all ills are blamed on climate change by these idiots!
Lithium for the batteries is extracted from spodumene. It involves initial crushing, roasting at 2012°F (1100°C), further grinding, and then acid leaching with sulfuric acid at 482°F (250°C). That sounds healthy, right? The added weight from the batteries makes the trucks even heavier, which wears out our roads and the truck’s tires faster. That’s healthy, right? Costing 40% to 50% more, that really helps the taxpayers that pay for the trucks, right? What about having a truck fighting a long fire and running out of power? How do you recharge it in remote situations that fire trucks occasionally go? What about the strain on our electrical grid that’s already insufficient? Yes, we should be real proud of our electric fire trucks.
Without reading story I sent a friend a message that this over priced Fire Truck would cost the taxpayer 50%more. Every fire-station will have to install an ICE back-up power plant to keep batteries charged up during power outages during severe storm hurricanes cold ala Texas ME
If the only emissions are when it is LITERALLY PUTTING OUT A FIRE, I think that’s an acceptable trade-off.
Sir, you fail to recognize that there are emissions and hazardous wastes created during the entire creation of the truck, there are emissions whenever the batteries are being charged, and there are emissions and hazardous wastes created during the disposal of the truck. An electric fire apparatus makes no sense, given the fact the machine is simply a massive water pump on wheels. These vehicles normally weigh 60,000 pounds – add massive lithium ion batteries to that truck, and then tell me how much electricity must be used to move that vehicle a mile down the road. These vehicles go on every call, medical, fire, auto accident etc…
Try putting out an electrical vehicle fire. They burn so hot the fire fighters just let it burn itself out for a day or so. So you save on diesel emissions from the fire truck but how about the burning vehicle….? Not a good trade-off.
I agree!
They call it ‘hype’, I would call it false advertising. Let alone intentionally misinforming the public! Zero emissions is great but don’t lie about it!