County Executive Commends Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum for Incorporating Green Vehicles into the Department’s Fleet

Kingston, N.Y. - This week Ulster County Executive Mike Hein was pleased to join Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum to accept delivery of the first two “green fleet” vehicles to be used by the Sherriff’s Office.  The two new Ford Fusion Hybrids will replace traditional sedans used for administrative and investigative work. The new vehicles have two to three times the fuel efficiency (mpg) as their replacement vehicles. 

“We felt this was a really good fit for the Sheriff’s Office as it will not only save money, but also improves our environmental footprint and I want to thank County Executive Hein for his support,” said Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum. “There currently doesn’t exist highly fuel efficient and cost effective vehicles which can be deployed as patrol cars. However, we felt this was an ideal way to begin greening the Sheriff Department’s fleet and do our part.”

Ulster County has become a leader in green fleet management with the deployment of a variety of more fuel efficient vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles across the county fleet as well as the use of biodiesel in all buses operated by Ulster County Area Transit.  

“As a County government, it is important that all departments and units of our operations work together towards our environmental goals” said County Executive Mike Hein, “We are extremely pleased that Sheriff VanBlarcum and his Department has embraced my administration’s Green Fleet initiative and is now using its first hybrid vehicles.” 

Ulster County’s Green Fleet Law, signed by County Executive Hein in 2015, requires that at least 5% of the County fleet consist of “green” vehicles by 2020. The County has exceeded this goal in 2017 with the authorization to purchase 12 additional green fleet vehicles in 2017, thus, reducing fuel consumption and further reducing the environmental impact of county government operation.  In addition to these vehicles, the County also currently has 7 plug-in hybrids and 1 battery electric vehicle deployed across the fleet. Ulster County maintains a network of 9 electric vehicle charging sites, the most hosted by a single municipality in NYS. Ulster County operates the only net carbon neutral county government operation in NYS.

Photo: Captain Vincent Altieri, Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, Ulster County Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum, and Detective Mario Tagliaferro stand alongside the two new Ford Fusion Hybrids that will be used by the Sheriff's Department.