I’m thrilled to be here today. Once again, Santa Barbara is on the cutting edge of new technology that will help our citizens, our environment, and our economy.

Communities across the country are looking for ways to deal with growing traffic congestion, high energy costs, and new demands for service – all in an environmentally responsible way. While other communities are looking for solutions, Santa Barbara continues to take the lead.

The new hybrid electric buses will deliver cleaner air, better service, and less congestion – all while saving taxpayers money. This has been a partnership from the start, and I’ve been proud to offer my support by securing over $1 million in federal funding.

There are many ways this investment will help our community. For our environment, these buses are cleaner than the buses they are replacing. That means fewer emissions and cleaner air for our region. Second, these buses will save taxpayers money. The fuel savings alone may be as high as 60 percent a year. Finally, the new buses will reduce congestion. Because of MTD, 17,000 cars are not on the road each year. That makes our transit system more efficient and helps more passengers get where they need to go.

Santa Barbara is setting a great example for the rest of the country. If more cities upgraded their buses, our country would save millions of gallons of fuel a year and keep millions of tons of pollution out of the air. Those are the types of benefits we can produce across the country, and I’m so proud that we’re setting the example today here in Santa Barbara.

Making smart investments to reduce our dependence on dirty fossil fuels just makes sense. We can’t drill our way out of this mess.  We need to invent our way out.

In Congress, Democrats have outlined an innovative energy plan, which invests in hybrids like the ones we’re celebrating today. I’m committed to developing a real energy policy this year and providing the funding to carry it out. And I’ll keep fighting to make smart investments like this throughout the Central Coast.

So thank you all for working together on this great investment. In particular, Sherrie Fisher and MTD team should be congratulated on their environmental leadership. The decision to buy clean-air, hybrid-electric buses is an important step toward protecting the area’s environment while reducing traffic congestion.

I’m proud to be your partner, and I’m going to continue to support projects like this – that help us do good and do well for our entire community. Thank you.

Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.