Sadly, big polluters are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to attack vital environmental rules by pressuring government agencies for regulatory delays, rollbacks, or weaken enforcement. One target of their lobbying is the ongoing Advanced Clean Truck rulemaking, which would put clean, zero-emission trucks on California’s roads starting in 2024.
The Greater Los Angeles Region, home to almost half of all Californians, is aiming to meet pollution and carbon emission goals by targeting 80% EV market share by 2028, in time for the LA Olympics. 30% of the private vehicle fleet of around 15 million vehicles will be EVs.
The California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project provides a rebate of up to $7,000 when a California resident who is eligible for the program buys or leases a new all-electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel-cell electric vehicle.
A new study on the hazardous gas emissions from the calamitous 2015 blowout of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, near Porter Ranch, CA, has found that apart from methane, a group of other hazardous pollutants escaped into the air, affecting many residents in the area. The study calls for air monitoring at underground gas storage facilities nationwide, potentially affecting thousands of sites around the country.
EVgo has become the first EV charging network in the United States to contract 100% of the energy needed to power its customers with renewable energy this week. This was made possible thanks to a host of new renewable energy purchase contracts and Renewable Energy Credit purchases that all of the electricity consumed by customers on its charging network directly support renewable energy generation.
Grants for EV charging stations for multi-resident buildings and workplaces will be available later this year in San Mateo County, CA, under a $16 million program — the largest in the state thus far — aimed at accelerating the adoption and use of EVs in the area.
California-based Motiv Power Systems has delivered the first of seven fully electric mid-sized delivery vans to the United States Postal Service this week as part of a California Air Resources Board-funded program.
California might be on the leading edge of renewable energy and electric mobility, but sometimes even the Golden State bows to industry pressures and powerful lobby arms. The highly successful access greener drivers get to dedicated high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on California roads are now being pulled away from those greener drivers (drivers of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. EV drivers aren’t being kicked out of the lanes immediately, but the same usual carmaker suspects have apparently been successful in lobbying for anti-EV changes — they only get three years in the lanes.
Electric powertrain solution provider Motiv Power Systems announced that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has certified its Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis (EPIC) family of products for use in Class 4-7 commercial vehicle applications.
Lawyers for the EPA and CARB have notified attorneys for Fiat Chrysler that any settlement of civil claims against it arising from allegations of selling diesel powered trucks and SUVs must include “substantial” penalties.
