Colorado Newsline outlined updates to a Colorado clean transportation requirement, quoting AEE's Emilie Olson on why the state needs to move faster on its advanced clean trucks rulemaking. Read snippets below and the full article here.
Advocates for stronger climate action suffered the latest in a long line of defeats in their efforts to accelerate the pace of Colorado’s greenhouse gas policymaking in a meeting of state air commissioners on Thursday.
Members of the Air Quality Control Commission unanimously rejected a petition from environmental justice advocates to reverse a delay in the panel’s consideration of a rule aimed at boosting the transition to electric trucks and buses, and declined even to support a separate, non-binding motion calling for a speedier timeline from regulatory staff...
The Advanced Clean Trucks rule, modeled on requirements passed by California and five other states, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission models — applying the same approach to trucks and buses that Colorado and many other states have taken with passenger cars through Zero Emission Vehicle mandates.
Adopting the rule as soon as possible would send “a clear signal to manufacturers to begin delivering electric trucks,” said Emilie Olson, a principal with clean-energy business group Advanced Energy Economy. But pushing back adoption into the next calendar year, as proposed by the Polis administration, would mean its requirements won’t take effect until 2026, rather than 2025 as originally planned.
“The sooner we move on ACT, the sooner fleet owners will be able to choose and realize significant cost savings from a breadth of newer, clean vehicle offerings coming into the marketplace,” Olson told the commission during public comment at Thursday’s meeting. “By deferring adoption of ACT, Colorado risks ceding ground as a priority market for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles.”
Read the full article here.