Eight states have agreed to put more zero-emission trucks and buses on the roads and highways in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont and the District of Columbia will move forward to develop an action plan and agreement facilitated by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).
“Zero-emission trucks and buses are better for the environment and health, while reducing fueling and maintenance costs.”
The multi-state effort will put hundreds of thousands of electric trucks and buses to expand clean transportation for the “sake of the climate and public health.”
“Electrifying our dirtiest trucks and buses is a critical step forward to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and unhealthy air pollution for communities across the nation,” Andrew Linhardt, Deputy Advocacy Director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, said in a statement. “We applaud these eight states for moving the needle and expanding clean transportation in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sector for the sake of climate and public health.”
According to a press release, the eight-state commitment came just as “an important California Air Resources Board (CARB) hearing in Sacramento on the state’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule (ACT).”
California is doing a variety of things to help accelerate and promote the commercialization of zero- and near-zero medium and heavy duty trucks and buses, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said, by investing close to $1 billion in cap and trade proceeds.
“Trucks are increasingly a major contributor to air pollution nationwide, but especially in our cities where they are among the largest sources of toxic emissions in vulnerable neighborhoods,” Mary D. Nichols, chair of CARB, said. “We need to design a regulatory program that gets to the heart of this problem. We will move farther faster in partnership with other states who share the same commitment to cleaning up trucks and protecting public health.”
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