Turning to greener wheels

SACRAMENTO — If you are what you drive, California lawmakers are a newly green bunch.

They're swapping gas-sucking sport utility vehicles for gas-sipping hybrids as their official state cars.

Now that the lease on his Ford Explorer has expired, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) is driving a Toyota Prius. At least 38 of his fellow members also have chosen hybrids; only 10 have requested nonhybrid SUVs as their taxpayer-subsidized wheels.

That's a transformation since 2002, when a single member drove a hybrid and 33 had SUVs.

Some senators are converts too, though not nearly as many. And it was Nunez who largely orchestrated the turnaround: He used his discretionary budget to slice $6,000 off the price of a leased hybrid for any member who chose one.

"I figure in the end, there will be a cumulative savings that I think will be good for us," Nunez said, though the lower house has no specific savings projections. "It sends the right message."

The Legislature buys cars, then leases them to lawmakers. But taxpayers don't foot the whole bill. Depending on lease terms, the state pays a maximum $300, $400 or $500 a month toward the cost. Anything over that is withdrawn from the lawmaker's salary. Taxpayers buy the gas; each lawmaker gets a state-issued credit card.

Using both gas and electric technology, a hybrid gets far better mileage and pollutes less than a standard car. It is "definitely a statement car now," said Patsy Cisneros, a Quartz Hill image consultant who advises political candidates and their families on how to dress, speak and otherwise cultivate an image.

Conservatives are signaling that they're frugal with Californians' money, said Cisneros, a partner at Corporate Icon & Political Icon. Liberals' message is, "I'm interested in the environment, and I have a strong opinion on global warming."

Not every lawmaker opts for a state car. Those who do usually drive them in their districts.

The Assembly has 54 Dodge Stratuses for Southern California members, who fly to work, to use in Sacramento. Nunez, who earned international praise for last year's legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions, says he's going to "green" them too.

The speaker is actually a latecomer to his own cause. He got the Prius only this month. Its average highway gas mileage is 51 miles per gallon. His 2003 Eddie Bauer Explorer logged an average of 21.