In response to Governor Hochul’s State of the State address calling for a clean transportation standard study, the Clean Fuels NY coalition issued the following statement:
Transportation is one of the largest sources of climate and air pollution in our state. We appreciate Governor Kathy Hochul for advancing the conversation around the need for a clean fuel standard for transportation. However, the proposed Clean Transportation Study must not delay the passage of this important legislation, which has already been recommended by the Climate Action Council after considerable deliberation, passed by the State Senate with a bipartisan supermajority, collected nearly 100 Assembly members co-sponsoring the bill, and been included in the People's Budget of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus.
Long-standing clean fuels programs in California and Oregon offer an overwhelming amount of data that illustrates how a clean fuel standard successfully displaces greenhouse gases with little to no costs to consumers. In response, Oregon has made their initial goals more stringent and California has just proposed to do the same. Clean fuel standard programs are also underway in Washington State and Canada. The success of a clean fuel standard is well-documented as a tried and tested pathway toward cleaner air and transit. We must take action to curb emissions in the transportation sector now, especially in urban and disadvantaged communities burdened by tailpipe emissions, and we believe a clean fuel standard is a critical step forward that must be taken this year.