For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
New Jersey joined the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). TCI is a regional collaboration of 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia that focuses on these areas. Clean Vehicles and Fuels, Sustainable Communities, Freight Efficiency, Information and Communication Technology, and Exploring Regional Policies to Improve Transportation and Reduce Emissions. Each agency is free to determine whether and how they will participate in individual projects and working groups. The other participating states include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.
“Today, New Jersey took a big step forward in reducing greenhouse gases. By working with other states, we can reduce our air pollution in our state and the other regions. The biggest source of greenhouse gases in our state is from the transportation sector. We have parts in New Jersey where people are choking on exhaust. TCI is the transportation version of RGGI. New Jersey will be able to work with other states to build a multi-state electric infrastructure that will save people money while reducing air pollution,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Now the Murphy Administration need to jumpstart electric by implementing a successful electric vehicle system in New Jersey. This will mean less money sent out of state for petroleum, more in-state jobs, less carbon pollution, and cleaner, healthier air.”
Participating states started taking action through working groups focused on regional priorities, such as clean vehicles and fuels. Several TCI states are also now working together to explore potential regional policies to improve transportation systems and reduce pollution. To date, the NJDEP has received more than $400 million in project proposals for the VW Settlement Funds. All eligible project categories include freight trucks, school buses, transit buses, airport ground-support equipment, freight-switching locomotives, ferries, tugboats, cargo-handling equipment, ocean-going vessels and government vehicles.
“It is critical for New Jersey to work to reduce our GHG emissions from our mobile sources. Our state gets impacted because we are a corridor state getting pollution from in and out of state that are driving on our turnpikes and other major highway. Our state used to be a leader in innovation and transportation and can be again in clean transport,” said Tittel. “Now that New Jersey has joined TCI, we can coordinate with other states to buy electric buses, have electric mass transit, and put the infrastructure in place for electric vehicles. We can get rid of range anxiety if we install charging systems from D.C to Maine.”
It is more important than ever for states take action and move forward with policies to reduce air pollution from mobile sources. President Trump’s decision to rollback clean car emission standards like the CAFÉ standards and California Car Waiver could make it much more difficult for states like New Jersey to set strong emissions and fuel efficiency standards.
New Jersey and states participating in TCI can stand up to Donald Trump’s rollbacks to CAFE standards and California car standards. We can see the benefits of clean air and clean jobs if the we build a multi-state-wide network of charging stations, create green jobs, save people money on gas, and reduce air pollution. Almost 45% of New Jersey’s greenhouse gases come from mobile sources, but these emissions can be easily cut by implementing EV technology,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We thank Governor Murphy for moving forward on making our transportation sector cleaner and greener. Now we must accelerate these electric vehicle programs if we want to reach Murphy’s clean energy goals by 2050.”