Please take action to urge Governor Phil Murphy to adopt the Advanced Clean Car II (ACCII) regulations ASAP to accelerate New Jersey’s transition to a clean transportation sector. Adoption of ACC II in 2023 is essential for New Jersey to achieve its goal of cutting climate pollutants by 50% by 2030. Adoption of ACCII will allow New Jersey to unlock numerous economic, climate and public health benefits thanks to more widespread electric vehicle adoption.
ACCII will rapidly cut light-duty vehicle emissions by requiring an increasing number of new vehicles each year sold to be zero-emission. The regulation also includes provisions that advance equity in the zero-emission vehicle transition and provide consumers certainty about the quality and durability of clean cars and trucks and their batteries.
This rule will improve air quality and allow New Jerseyans to choose from a wider array of electric vehicles, all while saving families money at the pump. Learn more about ACC II here.
ACC II, if adopted, specifically when combined with a comprehensive just transition plan that ensures no workers and communities are left behind, will take the state’s already growing zero-emission vehicle market and robust motor vehicle emission control rules and augment them to meet more aggressive tailpipe emissions standards in order to ramp up to 100% zero-emission vehicles.
The transportation sector is the largest source of climate-harming pollution in New Jersey, generating roughly 40% of our climate pollutants. Within the transportation sector, more than 70% of climate pollution comes from passenger cars and trucks. A key strategy to decarbonize this sector is accelerating the transition to a zero-emission vehicle fleet. The NJDEP 80 x 50 report from October 2020 clearly stated that New Jersey needed to move to require 100% of light-duty vehicle sales to electric and plug-ins by 2035.
Our best mechanism for accelerating this transition is adopting the ACC II regulations this calendar year. Please urge Governor Murphy to Act now to adopt ACCII.
The American Lung Association’s Zeroing on Healthy Air report found that from 2020 to 2050, transitioning to zero-emission transportation across the country and cleaner electricity could result in:
- $43.6 billion in public health benefits for the state
- 3,960 avoided premature deaths
- 92,400 avoided asthma attacks
- 464,000 avoided lost workdays.
A majority of New Jerseyans live in counties that do not meet federal EPA clean air standards for ozone. Communities of color and low-wealth communities bear an especially unfair burden of fuel costs and harmful air pollution due to decades of systematic marginalization.
The economic benefits are also significant. According to an Energy Innovation report, the average New Jerseyan could save more than $682 in annually per household by switching to an electric vehicle.
Adopting the ACC II rule in New Jersey will ensure that our residents can access the zero-emission vehicles they want within our state while solidifying New Jersey’s role as a climate leader.
This is a critical moment for New Jersey to join the wave of states moving towards a clean transportation future. Urge Governor Murphy to act now.