In response to a letter sent by a dozen governors to President Joe Biden urging the administration to set standards for the transportation industry, the Sierra Club on Wednesday said it applauds the move towards electrification.
The governors’ letter asked the Biden administration to set a national zero-emission standard for all cars and light-duty trucks by 2035 and all medium- and heavy-duty trucks by 2045, among other recommendations.
“We applaud this bipartisan group of 12 governors for urging the Biden administration to commit to specific targets to clean up and electrify the transportation sector. This week, leading up to the US Climate Summit, all eyes are on Biden to meet the moment with bold, transformative solutions that commit our nation to equity, justice, and urgent climate action,” Katherine Garcia, Deputy Director of National Policies for Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, said in a statement. “This is a critical time for the administration to address our nation’s most polluting sector and ensure cleaner air for communities across the country, especially our Black, Latinx, and Asian communities that have been historically exposed to higher levels of air pollution from transportation due to traffic from cars, buses, and commercial trucks.”
The national grassroots environmental group, new research from UC Berkeley, GridLab, and Energy Innovation has found that every new car and truck sold in the U.S. can be electric by 2035 and that this transition would create climate, economic, and public health benefits. The research found that accelerating electric vehicle adoption would save 150,000 lives and prevent $1.3 trillion in health and environmental damages through 2050.
The research also concluded the move to electric vehicles would create 2 million new jobs by 2035 and save households $1,000 per year for the next 30 years.