Energy Exchange

Now is not the time to pump the brakes on fleet electrification

The coupled economic impacts of the pandemic and global oil crisis are expected to hit passenger electric vehicle sales hard, with a recent Bloomberg analysis predicting an 18% drop in sales this year. But many commercial fleets and state policymakers are continuing to push forward on their plans to electrify trucks and buses, even in these uncertain times.

We are seeing proof of this across the zero-emission vehicles market. In order to meet their long-term climate commitments as well as near-term policy requirements, fleet operators are continuing to accelerate their investments in electrification.

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Also posted in Air Quality, California, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

Mexico can rebuild a cleaner, stronger energy economy post COVID-19

This piece was first published in El Universal

Times of great turmoil sometimes bring the opportunity for great progress. As leaders around the world work to protect the sick and vulnerable from COVID-19, while also moving to restart their economies, they have a chance to rebuild better — creating a world that’s cleaner and healthier than before. This means investing in an economy that creates more jobs and less pollution, including less of the air pollution that causes diseases that put people at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

It should be a world with fewer deaths from heart and lung disease triggered by air pollution, a world with a safer and more stable climate for our children and grandchildren. This is the kind of world we can create if we heed the lessons of this terrible pandemic.

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Also posted in Air Quality, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas / Tagged | Comments are closed

Some of the biggest names in trucking are calling for federal support of electric trucks and buses

Momentum is building for federal support of truck electrification, and today’s launch of the National Zero-Emission Truck Coalition is a great example of how federal incentives are urgently needed to clean up our air, create tens of thousands of jobs and solidify American competitiveness in the global zero-emission truck market.

Organized by CALSTART, the ZET coalition is a group of America’s biggest truck equipment manufacturers, suppliers and key stakeholders, such as Cummins, Daimler, PACCAR, Eaton, Tesla, Rivian along with Environmental Defense Fund. This knowledgeable set of stakeholders is advocating for federal charging and refueling infrastructure and increased federal investments in advanced clean transportation technologies.

The group is also advocating for a national point-of-sale incentive program to help drive the near-term production of zero-emission trucks and buses in the United States — a policy that for the last decade has stood out for its effective support of clean vehicles at the state level. Also called a “voucher incentive program,” this incentive structure streamlines access to grants that directly support the purchases of clean trucks and buses, including battery electric and fuel cell vehicles.

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Also posted in Air Quality, California, Electric Vehicles, Illinois, Jobs, New York / Comments are closed

Report: California’s clean truck rule will save the economy billions, eliminate vast amounts of pollution

Chris Busch, Ph.D. with Energy Innovation co-authored this piece

Next week, California plans to do something that’s never been done before. The state will finalize the world’s first electric vehicle manufacturing standard, which promises to add thousands more clean trucks and buses to California streets.

The rule requires makers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to build more electric options, and says a certain percent of heavy duty trucks on the market must be zero emission vehicles. The rule will make it so that, by 2035, about 60% of all trucks and buses sold in California will be clean.

The move is certainly good news for California’s air, which is the smoggiest in the country. But it’s also good news for the economy. A new report from Environmental Defense Fund and Energy Innovation finds the proposed rule saves at least $7 billion over the next 20 years.

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Also posted in Air Quality, California, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

The energy job market is in trouble. Here’s how we fix it.

The coronavirus is inflicting a heavy toll on America: Over 100,000 dead, almost two million infected, and more than 40 million unemployed. Beating the virus is the top priority. But we also need to put people back to work as fast as safety allows. How we go about that now will determine our nation’s economic future for decades.

To achieve lasting prosperity, we need to rebuild better by investing in jobs that restart the economy, improve the environment and move us to a cleaner future.

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Also posted in Air Quality, Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas, Renewable Energy / Comments are closed

CalSTRS investor: Access to capital will tighten for oil and gas companies sidestepping climate

We’re back with the last in a two-part series on prospects for ESG and climate investing between EDF’s Ben Ratner and Brian Rice, a portfolio manager at California State Teachers’ Retirement Systems, the world’s largest educator-only pension fund with roughly $243 billion under management.

After exploring the importance of climate policy and net-zero corporate planning in the first Q&A, the discussion turns to oil and gas. The experts examine this historic moment for the industry, and how escalating climate pressures will profoundly affect energy markets and the companies that power them.

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Also posted in California, Clean Energy, Natural Gas / Comments are closed