Sunday, August 15, 2010

Hey ConEd, wanna make some money?

Here's an idea- drop some power outlets for street vendors. You know, the food carts and ice cream trucks that sit there, idling their gas- or diesel-powered putt-putts and stinking up the whole block. Who wants to eat street meat smoked in diesel fumes?

Do something that's actually green for once. It would make your claims of environmental friendliness just a little bit more credible. Taking advantage of existing infrastructure to eliminate hundreds of engines (with unregulated emissions!) is pretty damn green, no?

Once you get that all set up, make it illegal for them to run gas powered generators on the street. It's already illegal to idle your car in a school zone (though it should be illegal to idle your car everywhere)... Why should we let them run their generators all day in public places?

And I'm sure you guys can figure a way to bill them for the power. If there's one thing you guys are good at, it's billing. Be creative! And they'd be instant customers, since you guys already monopolize the power grid here.

And the vendors would probably benefit from this too. They'd have healthier working conditions and quieter carts. They'd probably even save money on power and fuel, so long as ConEd doesn't decide to gouge them too hard. And they'd have some extra space in their carts, once they dump the putt-putts.

So, ConEd, you have the power, now put it to good use!

[Pun intended, grudgingly.]

1 comment:

  1. Even better, have an electronic meter like for parking spaces to swipe a card through or print out a ticket. Hell even make it like a monthly subscription, like a MetroCard. C'mon people, go green.

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