MOLINE, IL – Moline Mayor Don Welvaert said the city has taken cleaner air to heart. Last month, the city’s flex-fuel fleet was recognized as one of the top 100 fleets in North America, according to the Web site www.qconline.com. The city received a rebate check of more than $6,600 from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency through the agency’s Green Fleets program.

The city has 26 flex-fuel vehicles as of 2006 and purchased 7,100 gallons of E-85 fuel that year. By 2008, the city will purchase another nine alternative-fuel vehicles, plus add hybrids to its fleet. Welvaert said the city wants to get an E-85 ethanol tank at its public works facility. Moline has also used B-20 biodiesel fuel in 64 road-use vehicles that have logged 550,000 miles.

Darwin Burkhart, manager of the clean air program unit for the Illinois EPA, said the Green Fleets program started in 2001. The Green Fleets program is designed to get cities, school districts, businesses, and the general public involved in using alternative fuels. One of the ways is through rebates. For more information, go to www.illinoisgreenfleets.org.