GRCC Statement of Principles and Purpose

Adopted by the GRCC Board February 19, 2020

 

Mission Statement

The Greater Rochester Clean Cities (GRCC) organization is working to “foster the [region’s] economic, environmental, and energy security by working locally to advance affordable, domestic transportation fuels, energy efficient mobility systems, and other fuel-saving technologies and practices.” [1] We support a transition from conventional, petroleum-fueled vehicles to alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). [2] Our vision is to build a community that uses clean, affordable, and accessible energy for its personal and commercial transportation services.

From an environmental perspective, we believe transportation fuels should have (1) low life-cycle emissions for both greenhouse gases (considering both near-term and long-term climate change impacts) and criteria pollutants (such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and non-methane hydrocarbons); and, (2) minimal impacts on our land and waterways. We also believe that locally-produced fuels will lead to a stronger and more resilient local economy, and that low-cost fuels and their supporting infrastructure will improve affordability and accessibility of these fuels to the public (especially low-income households and small businesses).

 
What We Do

As part of the national U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Cities Program, we achieve our mission in a number of important ways, including: (1) educating consumers about the benefits and costs of clean, locally-produced fuels for transportation; (2) disseminating information about federal, state, and local programs and initiatives; (3) sponsoring, coordinating, and leading public outreach events, including conferences and workshops on AFV technology; (4) studying and analyzing strategies and tactics for the implementation of AFVs in the region; and, (5) promoting and implementing strategies for AFV conversion projects in the nine county region of Livingston, Genesee, Monroe, Orleans, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, Seneca, Wyoming, and the City of Rochester (the “Community”).

 
How We Accomplish Our Goals

We accomplish our goals through a series of services that we provide the public and organizational stakeholders. These include activities such as:

  • Workshops aimed at educating the public and fleet operators about the attributes of different alternative fuels.
  • Public Ride and Drive Events that allow the public to test-drive AFVs and get questions answered about these vehicles from dealers and current owners.
  • Website and social media that includes information on events, services, and financial programs to support the conversion to AFVs.
  • Technical assistance to assist stakeholders in evaluating the feasibility of certain AFV choices.
  • Financial support that will help stakeholders pay for AFVs and their supporting infrastructure.
 
Our Position on Picking the Right Fuel

We recognize ongoing debates about the pros/cons of different fuels. Such debates are natural when multiple objectives and multiple stakeholders are involved. For example, a fuel that is relatively clean with respect to criteria pollutants may have negative near-term climate change attributes; a fuel that has low greenhouse gas emissions may be unaffordable; or a fuel that is low-cost, may impact water quality in negative ways. Our overall goal is to promote fuels that have minimal environmental impact, are affordable, and are domestically-produced; however, we are particularly interested in promoting alternative fuels that demonstrate near-term and long-term climate benefits compared to conventional fuels.

Because our mission is multi-faceted, we focus on educating stakeholders about the pros and cons of different fuels for their given application. Ultimately, those stakeholders must decide which fuel is right for them based on the attributes that they deem most important. We recognize that what is right for one stakeholder (e.g., minimizing costs) may be different from what is right for another stakeholder (e.g., minimizing near-term climate change impacts). Our goal is to provide information to stakeholders – about costs, environmental impacts, energy security, and technical feasibility – using the most recent, unbiased, peer-reviewed information available. We also aim to inform policymakers and legislators so that the public sector can evaluate AFV policy and act in accordance with the “will of the people”.

 
How Do We Know Success?

We measure our success in different ways. Because we are primarily an “educational” organization, one way we measure success is by the number organizations and consumers that attend our workshops, events, or training sessions. This education ultimately leads to action; and that action may include the transition from petroleum-based vehicles to AFVs. Therefore, we also measure our success by the number of AFVs operating in the region (and their supporting infrastructure) and the amount of petroleum and greenhouse gases these vehicles displace. [3]


[1] More information on Clean Cities can be found at https://cleancities.energy.gov.
[2] More on AFVs can be found at https://afdc.energy.gov.
[3] This information is reported to the U.S. Department of Energy annually.

 

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