By Megan VerHelst, Patch Staff
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday announced the state will move up its goal to reach 100 percent clean energy by 15 years — an initiative that will also require new cars sold in the state to be all-electric by 2035.
Murphy made the announcement during a speech at Rutgers University. The decision to move the state’s 100 percent clean energy goal from 2050 to 2035 was among six environmental actions Murphy plans to enact to achieve the “Next New Jersey,” he said.
“These bold targets and carefully crafted initiatives signal our unequivocal commitment to swift and concrete climate action today,” Murphy said in a statement. “We’ve turned our vision for a greener tomorrow into a responsible and actionable roadmap to guide us, and it’s through that pragmatic, evidence-based approach that we will ultimately arrive at our destination.”
Related:
NJ will target 100% clean energy 15 years ahead of schedule
Murphy’s clean-energy plans labeled ‘unrealistic’ by GOP Senate leaders
Murphy signed three executive orders Wednesday aimed at combatting climate change. Among the state’s goal to reach 100 percent clean energy by 2035, one order calls for the installation of zero-emission heating and cooling systems in 10 percent of all low-to-moderate income residential properties by 2030.
Another order calls for the state Board of Public Utilities to research the possibility of a natural gas utility in New Jersey.
The move to require all-electric cars by 2035 is among some of the most aggressive actions taken to tackle climate change in the nation.
In August, California Gov. Gavin Newsom officially banned the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the Golden State by 2035. The mandate requires all new vehicles to have zero emissions and be free of fossil fuel emissions.
The California Air Resources Board will require 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 to produce zero emissions. By 2030, that number will climb to 68 percent.
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