From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):
PennEnvironment’s Research & Policy Center has issued its newest report, Cleaner Cars for PA: How the Zero-Emission Vehicle program would cut climate and air pollution in the Keystone State. The report details the potential climate and air pollution reductions that could be achieved by Pennsylvania’s participation in a strong Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Program. After more than a year of recommending to Gov. Wolf’s staff the importance of joining ZEV, we were excited when they announced this February their intentions to do just that.
Here are links to the full report along with an educational factsheet we created to further inform the public, as well as our press release.
Our report’s findings were enthusiastically received by media outlets across the state. All told, nearly 20 news stories have covered our report’s findings. This coverage includes many of Pennsylvania’s most-watched TV news outlets such as 6ABC Action News in Philadelphia, Harrisburg’s ABC 27, the Lehigh Valley’s WFMZ TV-69, and more. It was also covered in more than a dozen newspaper outlets such as PGH City Paper and the Reading Eagle, and garnered national media attention on Yahoo News, which has a reach to over 60 million Americans.
If you’re interested, you can watch a video of the news conference announcement, where PennEnvironment was joined by State Representative Darisha Parker, Sarah Olexsak from Duquesne Light Company, Dr. Gabriel Cisneros with the PA American Academy of Pediatrics, and Adrian Pforzheimer from the Frontier Group.
Our report, Cleaner Cars for PA, found that adopting a strong ZEV program in Pennsylvania would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 18 million metric tons — equal to taking nearly 4 million cars off the road, or shutting down 5 coal-fired power plants.
It is projected that transitioning to electric vehicles will also lead to major reductions in emissions of key air pollutants by 2033, including a 27 percent drop in both smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a 25 percent decrease in sulfur dioxide emissions, and a 15 percent reduction in emissions of small particulates.
We know that clean cars are ready to roll in Pennsylvania, and with benefits like this there is no time to delay. So we will be working this year to help ensure Pennsylvania joins the ZEV program and gets on a path to an all electric transportation future.
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