Published
4 months agoon
The western Fresno County farm town of Huron is on President Joe Biden’s radar thanks to Mayor Rey León.
Huron used to be a transportation desert. When he was a child, León told Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times, it took three hours and 13 stops to ride a bus 53 miles to Fresno to visit a cousin in the hospital.
“That experience stuck with me,” León said.
Huron Mayor Ray León
Writes Halper: “The mayor took matters into his own hands. And now, as the Biden administration builds its multibillion-dollar blueprint for confronting deep inequities in the transition to green transportation, one of the few places it has to look for inspiration is Huron.
“Headquartered in a former diesel truck garage, the growing fleet of nine electric cars managed by León’s Green Raiteros program shuttles residents all over Fresno County free of charge.”
Read more from the Times about Huron’s innovative ride-sharing program here or here.
To promote zero-emission efforts, León has teamed with actor Mark Ruffalo and “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” star Chloe Bennet on the “40 Million Reasons to Go Electric” campaign.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal is for California to switch to zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
In 2020, the California Energy Commission inducted León into its inaugural Clean Energy Hall of Fame.
Watch: Huron Mayor Rey León Drives Like a Super Hero
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email
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