WHITE PLAINS, NY – Improving air quality and setting stricter emissions standards for vehicles starts with government fleets, said speakers at a conference on air quality, reported The Journal News newspaper. The conference, sponsored by Federated Conservationists of Westchester County (N.Y.), included 60 attendees from regional transportation departments. “If the public sector doesn´t demonstrate that this technology works, you´ll never get (private fleets) to do it,” said Herb Fox, a consultant on bus pollution from the New York Institute of Technology. In addition to operating alternative-fuel vehicles, the government can also promote better air quality by writing requirements for cleaner vehicles into its construction contracts and offering incentives to businesses that use these vehicles, said Andrew Darrell, New York regional director of Environmental Defense, according to The Journal News. Although alternative-fuel vehicles have a higher initial purchase price, Darrell said health costs to the community must also be considered. “The health-care costs of pollution are high. These pollutants are triggers of asthma,” he said.