Cleaner Cars Key to Climate Goals

WASHINGTON  – The Department of Transportation announced today that it will advance efforts to build new electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and it proposed reversing the Trump administration’s illegal attempt to preempt the ability of states to address vehicle pollution. The announcement came the same day President Biden unveiled a historic goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The following is a statement from Luke Tonachel, director for clean vehicles and fuels at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“Meeting President Biden’s historic climate goal will require bold actions to address vehicle pollution, both with new investments and strong clean car standards. 

“Expanding the charging corridors for electric vehicles and increasing federal purchases of zero-emitting vehicles will create thousands of good, domestic jobs and provide the infrastructure we need to expand adoption of clean vehicles.

“Reversing the illegal attempt to preempt the authority of states to address vehicle pollution is another key to making this transition to clean vehicles. It’s a necessary first step for the administration to get back to what the law requires. The next steps are to correct the EPA waiver -- and then put clean car standards in place that put us on the path to sales of all zero-emitting vehicles by 2035.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.