Eliminating pollution from cars is good for all Californians.
We can protect public health.
Accelerating the transition to zero emission technologies is critical to protecting and improving health.
California is home to the most polluted air in the United States, and the transportation sector is the leading source of harmful air pollution and climate pollution in the state.
Seven of the 10 most ozone polluted cities in the United States are in California and six of the 10 most particle polluted cities are here in California. (American Lung Association)
Unhealthy air contributes to asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and premature death. (American Lung Association)
California is home to the most polluted air in the nation.
The American Lung Association found that more than 9 in 10 Californians live in communities impacted by unhealthy air. And eight California cities appear among the Top Ten most polluted by short-term spikes in dangerous soot pollution, with Fresno #1 in the nation.
Create economic and job opportunities.
The electric and connected car industry has attracted more than $100 billion in investment since the beginning of 2020 (McKinsey).
California’s clean energy economy supports almost 500,000 jobs across the state but that pandemic has impacted all economic sectors (E2).
Globally, when a local region sets strong standards for vehicle emissions and sales targets for electric vehicles, economic investment and manufacturing jobs increase for that region. (ICCT)
Furthermore, policies that drive clean energy investments and job growth can also help mitigate the human toll and the economic cost of climate including the over $100 billion lost to extreme weather events in the U.S. in the last year alone. Climate risk is business risk. (E2)
In order to recover from the pandemic and increase good-paying, union jobs in the most valuable export industry in the state, CARB must set ambitious electric vehicle sales targets that drive us to a 100% electric fleet.
Leave a better world for future generations.
What kind of future do we want to leave to our children?
If we don’t significantly cut our climate pollution, the average 6-year-old will live through roughly three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents, the study finds. They will see twice as many wildfires, 1.7 times as many tropical cyclones, 3.4 times more river floods, 2.5 times more crop failures and 2.3 times as many droughts as someone born in 1960. (Washington Post)
In a recent survey of 16- to 25-year-olds, scientists found that three quarters of respondents feared the future and more than half believed they would have less opportunity than their parents. Nearly 60 percent said their governments had betrayed them and future generations — making them feel even more anxious. (Washington Post)
We owe it to future generations to act boldly to cut climate pollution from cars and trucks.
Improve power security and grid resilience.
Electric vehicles can create a cleaner more resilient electricity grid and help give Californian’s energy security with EV’s that connect to homes to supply emergency power.
Electric vehicles are batteries on wheels, and can provide families and businesses with a back-up power supply in the event of a blackout or other grid emergency.
All major automakers offer, or are considering offering, electric vehicles that can provide backup power to homes, businesses, and emergency services.
Ford’s 2022 F150 Lightning, for example, will have the capacity to power a home for up to 10 days without air conditioning or three days with AC being used in the home.
Electric heavy-duty fleets can add electricity storage to support a cleaner and more resilient electricity grid with bi-directional charging. Heavy-duty electric truck fleets - like school buses - can feed electricity back onto the grid during periods of increased energy use.
Fight back the climate crisis.
A strong Advanced Clean Cars program is essential to complete California’s suite of policies that are essential to slashing emissions from the transportation sector, the state’s number source of greenhouse gas emissions.
California’s Advanced Clean Cars program is our state’s best weapon against the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
While CARB has led the world for decades in setting strong health protections around our air quality, they are failing to do so now, and the health of Californians are suffering.
In California, transportation is responsible for more heat-trapping emissions than any other sector, almost 40% of the state’s total.
And within the transportation sector, over 70% of that pollution comes from passenger cars and trucks - over one quarter of the total emissions in the state! (American Lung Association)
There is no Californian that has not seen or felt the impact of our warming climate: with heat waves, drought, and wildfires.
98% of Californians are living with unhealthy air quality (American Lung Association)
CARB cannot squander it’s codified authority to protect our citizens, to which they are beholden.
Protect frontline communities.
The disproportionate exposure to unhealthy air caused by polluting cars and trucks is the clearest example of how environmental racism, inequality and the systemic marginalization - like redlining in communities - continue to harm the health of low-income communities and communities of color.
These communities not only suffer the heaviest burden of air pollution, they are being hit first and worst by the impacts of climate change.
CARB can improve the health and quality of life of low-income communities and communities of color by eliminating the source of smog forming pollution through vehicle electrification.
Maintain California’s global leadership.
California's authority to address tailpipe pollution and protect the public health of our own citizens is codified in the Clean Air Act, which explicitly grant states the right to either follow federal standards or follow the standards set by CARB, which are historically stricter than federal standards because of their unique pollution pollution.
15 states plus DC—representing over a third of the U.S. population—have committed to following California’s current Advanced Clean Cars program, with Minnesota, Nevada and New Mexico still in the process of officially adopting.
In 2012, the federal government announced rules that states - led by California, federal agencies and automakers had agreed to adopt one set of strong, national clean car standards that incorporated most of the California’s Advanced Clean Cars program.
CARB must maintain its historical leadership role and adopt an Advanced Clean Cars Program that inspires local, national and international action to eliminate pollution from cars and trucks on global scale.
We are the tip of the spear. So goes California, so goes the world, and we are falling behind.
We have the authority inspire research and technologies that improve our health and quality of life.