As an advocate for renewable energy, Caglia Environmental is leading the fight on behalf of family-owned, local businesses for more state funding to help finance low/zero-emission truck purchases in the Central Valley. 鈥淓nergy projects that convert vehicles from traditional fuel like diesel to renewable energy will help the valley become more environmentally sound,鈥� said Rich Caglia, Corporate Development Officer and the Caglia family鈥檚 spokesman. 鈥淎s a family-owned solid waste and recycling company serving Central Valley communities, we support the state鈥檚 goal of implementing more clean-air vehicles in California.鈥�
Caglia Environmental鈥檚 Director of External Affairs Nathan Alonzo spoke at the most recent meeting of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in Sacramento about Caglia Environmental鈥檚 support of CARB鈥檚 goal to put more clean-air commercial vehicles on the road. 鈥淐aglia Environmental, a family-owned company serving the Central Valley for eight decades, is working hard to meet our local air board and CARB鈥檚 goals of emissions reductions. In addition, as the owners of a recycling facility, we process organic materials that can be converted to renewable natural gas (RNG) which will help fuel our fleet of trucks. As a family-owned business, we are excited about someday having zero-emission trucks as part of our operation,鈥� said Alonzo. 鈥淥ur reality is that we are unable to strategically plan to purchase more clean air vehicles without the certainty of truck grants becoming available in the next few years. To reduce our emissions, Caglia Environmental has already converted Diesel trucks in its fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG) and is planning to convert more in the near future. However, we cannot do so alone. Grants for the purchase of low/zero-emission trucks are necessary for family-owned companies to convert from older trucks to new, low/zero-emission vehicles. The change from high to low/zero-emission trucks isn鈥檛 possible without a strong and reliable partnership with our air district and CARB, due to the $50,000 an additional cost for each new CNG truck, compared to the purchase price of a new diesel truck.鈥�
As technology progresses in the development of sustainable fuel like RNG, Caglia Environmental will move forward to reduce emissions and continue converting its fleet to RNG produced from recycled organic materials, with the goal of zero emissions trucks. Changing technology is expensive, so Alonzo urged CARB and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to continue offering financial incentives to private industry and to reevaluate the Three Year Investment Plan that will potentially kill any possibility of smaller, privately held companies to switch from current Diesel and CNG trucks to those powered by RNG.