Partnerships are key to our success

The best thing about the National Clean Cities Coordinator Leadership Retreat I attended last week was meeting so many people who are passionately engaged in working toward advancing solutions to our petroleum dependence. Many of these folks have been part of Clean Cities since its inception over 15 years ago, and there are also lots of new faces. This program is successful because of the enthusiasm of the people involved and the partnerships they build, not because there is a huge level of funding dedicated to the effort. It was wonderful to meet many of the coordinators from the 86 other coalitions nationwide and to hear their motivating and exciting stories of local success. This casual interaction was fulfilling, fun and motivating for me, but it is challenging to bring the stories home and communicate them to you in a compelling way.

Luckily, that problem has been solved for me by John Davis, creator, host and Executive Producer of the PBS MotorWeek program. Motorweek is television's longest running automotive series and is a huge supporter of the Clean Cities program. John spoke to us at the meeting, shared his passion for this work and then let us screen many of the fantastic Clean Cities spots he has produced in the past year. I would like to share a few of them with you.

Check out a few things going on rather close by...

Dallas County Schools - Oct. 2, 2009
Watch how Dallas County Schools fuels its school bus fleet with biodiesel and propane.

City of Kansas City - Sept. 18, 2009
This segment takes a look at the City of Kansas City's fleet-wide alternative fuel program, including their use of compressed natural gas and biodiesel.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - Sept. 5, 2009
Clean Cities success story spotlighting DFW's extensive use of compressed natural gas and other alternative fuels in everyday operations.

And a little further away...

New York City Department of Sanitation - Oct. 16, 2009
This segment spotlights New York City and the sanitation department's use of natural gas, biodiesel, and hybrid electric trucks.

I hope you'll enjoy these stories of success from several Clean Cities Coalitions. John Davis reported that MotorWeek will produce 26 of these segments per year for the next two years. Please join me in doing everything we can to make sure Arkansas is featured in at least one of them!