Statement on Federal Actions to Strengthen Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Economy Standards and Accelerate Adoption of Zero-Emission Vehicles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2021

Contact
Paul J. Miller, Executive Director
(617) 259-2016
pmiller@nescaum.org
www.nescaum.org

The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) welcomes the administration’s actions to strengthen federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks, develop new standards for all vehicle classes, and establish a goal that 50 percent of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030 be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). These important first steps will help accelerate the transition to a clean and equitable transportation future.

Light-duty passenger vehicles are the single largest source of climate-disrupting GHGs and smog-forming pollutants in the Northeast. Emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are a major source of GHGs and pollution that disproportionately burden frontline communities. NESCAUM looks forward to carefully reviewing the administration’s proposed standards to ensure they put the United States on a trajectory to rapidly electrify the on-road transportation sector. NESCAUM also looks forward to working with the administration in setting firm commitments to achieve its 50-by-30 light-duty ZEV sales goal.

A strong federal commitment is needed to effectively address climate change and position the United States to exercise global climate leadership. Stringent emissions standards will help ensure the American automotive industry remains competitive in a rapidly changing global marketplace. NESCAUM’s member state agencies have long been at the vanguard of clean transportation policy and will continue to advance nation-leading emissions standards that spur market innovation, create high-quality jobs, and promote strong federal action.

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NESCAUM is the regional association of state air pollution control agencies in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NESCAUM serves as a technical and policy advisor to its member state agencies on a wide range of air pollution and climate issues and facilitates multi-state initiatives to improve air quality and mitigate climate change. For more than three decades, NESCAUM and its members have closely collaborated with California and other states, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the automobile industry to promote low- and zero-emission vehicles.

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