Blumenthal Behind Wheel Of Gas Guzzler As He Waits For New Hybrid
by Christine Stuart | August 14, 2009 11:39 AM
Posted to Environment
| General News
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, an environmental champion, is no longer driving his state-issued Honda Civic hybrid. He returned the “silver bullet” a few weeks ago to the state garage and traded it for a gas guzzling Crown Victoria.
He said earlier this week that he’s waiting for another Honda Civic hybrid with lower mileage, but refused to take back the one he brought in for repairs.
A few weeks ago, he was driving down I-395 when the dashboard lights started flashing at him. He said this was the second time the car had given him problems, the first was back in May when a battery needed to be replaced, a few days after the check engine light appeared the first time.
Blumenthal is the only constitutional officer to request a hybrid vehicle. The rest of the constitutional officers including Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, Treasurer Denise Nappier, and Comptroller Nancy Wyman drive Crown Victoria’s, which get about 18 to 25 miles per gallon. The 2007 Honda Civic hybrid Blumenthal was driving should have been getting an estimated 49 to 51 miles per gallon according to the owners manual.
Donna Micklus, communications director for the Department of Administrative Services, said its likely another hybrid will become available over the next few weeks as part of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s effort to reduce the state fleet of cars by 20 percent.
The state currently owns 385 hybrid vehicles, which are a mix of the Honda Civics and Toyota Priuses.
“The Civic hybrids have been very dependable,” Micklus said Thursday. She said they’re no less problematic than any other vehicle in the same class.
According to maintenance records, Blumenthal brought the “silver bullet” into the state garage on July 27 because the check engine light was on. Records show the car was taken to the dealership and “no problem was found.” The same thing happened on May 4. On May 12 the battery needed to be replaced and back in January the car was rear ended causing about $5,156 in damage.
Of the state’s constitutional officers, Blumenthal has one of the longest commutes every day. His roundtrip commute is 164 miles from Stamford to Hartford. Fedele’s commute is probably just as long, but it’s unclear how often he’s in Hartford.
When Blumenthal returned the car on July 27 it had about 93,000 miles on it. That’s almost four trips around the world and 16 round trips from Connecticut to California. It also means that he spent about 35 weeks in the car since getting it late last year.
Comments (12)
Posted by: TrueBlueCT | August 14, 2009 2:25 PM
Hey, don't feel sorry for Fedele. He's got a State Trooper as a full-time driver.
Posted by: christine | August 14, 2009 2:41 PM
Pretty sure Blumenthal has a driver too, but he also drives sometimes.
Posted by: Bill Doak | August 14, 2009 3:35 PM
How much is one of them Pious batteries, anyhoo?
Posted by: lance | August 14, 2009 7:40 PM
yup, and obama is flying places for dinner dates, has air force one flying over nyc for photo shoots, and has the white house thermostat at 78 in january.
Posted by: urban ed | August 15, 2009 9:30 AM
The headline seems a little overwhought, given the facts reported in the article.
Posted by: ACR | August 17, 2009 8:34 AM
Seeing as virtually all "domestic" nameplate vehicles have at least some Connecticut content; as do a surprising majority of European cars including some that never see our shores at all (IE: Russian Lada).
What on earth are we doing buying vehicles that have very little (or worse in the case of the Toyota Prius, -0-) CT content?
We're stabbing our own citizens in the back.
Posted by: Sean | August 17, 2009 9:45 AM
Exactly, this is a very misleading headline and a very misleading story. If one reads the entire article, one discovers that this has absolutely nothing to do with Blumenthal's preferring a gas-guzzler to a gas-efficient hybrid. It has everything to do with Blumenthal's being fed up with his repeatedly failing car that he's had to take in for repairs four times since mid-May. And, as Christine points out, since AG Blumenthal has one of the longest commutes of any state official- 164 miles round-trip every day, having to drive a car that is constantly going in for repairs is a major pain.
Christine, how in the world do you get from Mr. Blumenthal's driving a high-mileage car that is breaking down with increasing regularity to the assertion in your headline that he has abandoned abandoned saving gasoline?
A very misleading headline and article, Christine. Try to do better next time.
Posted by: christine | August 17, 2009 9:58 AM
Ok, okay I get it. None of you liked the headline. In my own defense it did get everyone to read the story.
Posted by: christine | August 17, 2009 2:36 PM
I added the word "temporarily" to the headline, so no one thinks I'm misleading them. Being misleading is not what headlines should be about. I stand corrected by my readers. Thanks.
Posted by: bobzaguy | August 17, 2009 3:02 PM
You say: "It also means that he spent about 35 weeks in the car since getting it late last year."
93,000รท164=567.0731707317 trips?
In less than a year?
Something doesn't work out here. Remembering...365 days in a year-52 weeks in a year...
A 164 mile rt is 82 one way. About an hour and a half each way, give or take.
Is this guy round-tripping more than once a day?
Posted by: Sean | August 17, 2009 3:05 PM
But the thrust of the headline is still the same. You want people to think that Blumenthal caved on the issue of energy conservation when it came to his own personal life and personal choices. But that is clearly not what he did.
Sadly, just inserting "temporarily" in the title doesn't change the fact that it is meant to mislead, and does mislead.
Might I suggest that a more honest headline would be: "AG Blumenthal Dumps Clunker". It isn't exactly a headline that grabs the reader, but let's be honest: the entire point of the article was to embarrass Blumenthal on an issue important to Democrats.
Perhaps pulling the article would be the best choice. Are we really concerned that the AG is having car trouble? Without the headline, that's all there is.
Posted by: Doug | August 17, 2009 3:47 PM
OK there's a new headline for you folks - now that's interactive journalism!
-editor