Imagine 100% of light-duty auto sales in New Jersey being electric by 2035. It’s possible if the state adopts Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) standards, as Gov. Phil Murphy proposed in February. An April report commissioned by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council explained some of the benefits of this transition: significant reductions of greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide, and particulate emissions in New Jersey, and as many as 358 fewer premature deaths and 362 fewer hospital visits from breathing polluted air. The report also forecasts lower electric rates made possible by increased demand for electricity and annual vehicle cost savings of $4.4 billion by 2050.
Under Murphy’s plan, electric vehicle sales would gradually increase each year until the 100% target is reached in 2035. He aims to have ACC II adopted by the end of this year. On the East Coast, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, and Vermont have already adopted or are about to finalize ACC II standards. Such standards are important, because the transportation sector accounts for nearly 46% of New Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions, and tailpipe exhaust exacerbates the climate crisis and degrades air quality and the health of all our residents.
“ACC II will save lives, slash emissions from one of New Jersey’s dirtiest sectors, and ease the economic burden for households,” said Sierra Club NJ Director Anjuli Ramos-Busot. “We urge New Jersey to move forward quickly with the Advanced Clean Cars II Program.”
In 2021, New Jersey adopted Advanced Clean Truck and Fleet Reporting rules, which require each truck manufacturer selling medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in New Jersey to increase the number of electric vehicles sold in the state over time. These vehicles, including buses, amount to just 4% of all vehicles on the road, but they make up almost 25% of transportation sector greenhouse emissions.