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Resolution to Sign the West Coast Fleet Pledge

By Signing the West Coast Fleet Pledge, the employer promises to annually review its fleet with the intention of finding opportunities to add additional electric vehicles. As it is non-binding there is nothing to lose by signing this pledge, and it will allow BCEHS to benefit from provincial incentives for things such as electric vehicle chargers.

It will read as such in the convention package.

Signing the West Coast Fleet Pledge

Whereas

  • The scientific consensus is that the Earth's climate system is unequivocally warming, and that it is extremely likely (i.e., >95% probability) that this warming is predominantly human caused.

And whereas

  • Climate change is responsible for an increase in natural disasters and extreme weather events such as flooding, wild fires, heat waves, and super storms, and these events make the work of paramedics more difficult and less safe.

And whereas

  • If climate change continues unabated there will be further acidification of the ocean, collapse of fisheries, more drought, and climate refugees. All of which will jeopardize the well-being of future generations more so than our own.

And whereas

  • Environment and Climate Change Canada estimate that the transportation sector makes up 24% of our greenhouse gas emissions.

And whereas

  • The cost to power a vehicle with electricity is 25% of the cost to power a vehicle with gas, and that the cost of maintaining an electric vehicle is 70% of maintaining a gas-powered vehicle.

And whereas

  • The American Lung Association estimated the health costs associated with vehicle emissions within just 10 of the United States to be over $24 billion for 2015, and that the International Agency on Cancer and the Environmental Protection Agency both agree that diesel exhaust and benzene in gasoline are known carcinogens.

Let it be resolved that

  • CUPE 873 lobby the employer to sign the West Coast Electric Fleet Pledge. This will ensure that BC Emergency Heath Services (BCEHS) continue its efforts to reduce its organizational carbon footprint through the adaptation of electric vehicles. Furthermore, it will allow BCEHS to access free suitability assessments that indicate which vehicles could be replaced by electric vehicles in our fleet, and give BCEHS access to provincial infrastructure incentives such as electric vehicle charging stations.

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