Coalition Urges Immediate Action from the Legislature to Pass A.862-A/S.2962-A
A Clean Fuel Standard Will Make the Fossil Fuel Industry Pay For New York’s Clean Transportation Future
New York, NY (May 10, 2021) – The Clean Fuels NY Coalition applauds the Transportation Advisory Panel recommendation to advance a clean fuel standard as part of a broad and encompassing approach to reduce transportation emissions and fossil fuel use and urges immediate action from the legislature to pass A.862-A/S.2962-A. A clean fuel standard will make the fossil fuel industry pay for New York’s transition to a decarbonized and electrified transportation sector, help achieve the goal of near zero emissions across the transportation sector by 2050, reduce air pollution and improve public health.
The panel’s recommendation recognizes the state must immediately start the transition off fossil fuels as it moves towards the panel’s recommended goal of 100 percent zero emission vehicle sales of all types by 2045.
A clean fuel standard requires transportation fuel suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the fuels they make and sell, creating a more dependable market for clean fuels and technologies that are essential to reaching the goals set out in New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Low carbon intensity fuels include electricity, green hydrogen, and renewable and bio-fuels.
The standard would result in an estimated $1 billion investment annually in clean transportation fuels at little to no cost to the state. Those funds could provide support for transit bus electrification, charging infrastructure, and rebates for electric vehicles, among other clean transportation possibilities.
“Transportation emissions are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and asthma-inducing pollution in New York. We need to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for the damage they’ve done and make them pay for our transition to a clean transportation future,” said Julie Tighe, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters and member of the Transportation Advisory Panel. “On behalf of the Clean Fuels NY Coalition, we thank the Transportation Advisory Panel for making this important recommendation to the Climate Action Council. Now, we need to pass a clean fuel standard to reach our climate goals and protect the health of New Yorkers.”
“By passing a clean fuel standard, New York can create good-paying jobs while reducing transportation pollution, at no cost to the state,” said Vinny Albanese, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at New York State Laborers’ Organizing Fund. “We’ve seen the success of a clean fuel standard in California, which has created thousands of jobs in the clean transportation sector. New York needs to act pass a clean fuel standard to put New Yorkers back to work.”
For the past year, the advisory panel has been meeting to develop policy recommendations and tools to reduce emissions from the transportation sector – which contributes approximately 29 percent of climate pollution in the State, achieve New York’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, with a mandate of 85 percent emissions reductions by 2050, and place New York on a path towards carbon neutrality economy-wide.
A clean fuel standard is in place in California, Oregon and British Columbia, and was adopted by Washington State last month.
The Clean Fuels NY Coalition is a group of leading environmental, public health and energy groups led by the New York League of Conservation Voters, formed to demonstrate the diverse support for a clean fuel standard across industries.
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