Eight-state initiative hopes to have more than 3 million zero-emission vehicles on road by 2025. New York joins the effort but not Pennsylvania or Delaware
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
It looks like New Jersey is lining up with other states to fight the Trump administration over its steps to weaken tough rules to reduce carbon pollution from cars.
Gov. Phil Murphy yesterday announced New Jersey would join eight other states in a cooperative effort to bolster the sale of zero-emission vehicles, a multistate program targeted to curbing greenhouse-gas emissions from the transportation sector.
His action to join the clean-car initiative follows a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks, as well as an indication that the Trump administration will challenge California’s ability to set tougher air pollution standards for vehicles.
The latter issue is significant to New Jersey because it is one of 12 states that have agreed to require that California’s cleaner cars be sold here. Clean-energy advocates view the program as crucial to the state’s goal of reducing air pollution, including emissions contributing to climate change.
Sisterhood is powerful
“We know we can’t win this fight alone, so we are joining with our sister states in efforts to deploy clean vehicles to advance the health of our communities and tackle the largest source of air pollution in our state,’’ Murphy said in a press release.
By signing a Memorandum of Understanding, New Jersey will join other states including New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maryland, and California in a concerted effort to implement a comprehensive zero-emission vehicle program.
