Larisa Manescu, larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Sierra Club launched a digital ad campaign, urging the Biden administration to establish new, bolder vehicle standards — beyond the Obama-Biden standards — and to not give into vehicle manufacturers lobbying behind closed doors to keep us tied to weaker ones.
The ads are running in Politico and The Hill, as well as on LinkedIn, throughout the month of April, leading up to the US Climate Summit on April 22.
The ads link to a website with an action emphasizing the importance of strong clean vehicle standards, including the need for “the transition to these pollution-free vehicles to be one that protects workers and invests in domestic manufacturing and quality union jobs.” The site also references the history of automakers siding with the Trump administration, and what steps the Biden administration should take to achieve electric cars, trucks, and buses this decade.
Here is a sample of the online ad:
Katherine Garcia, Deputy Director of National Policies for Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, released the following statement:
“The Biden administration has a critical opportunity to make up for lost time and address our nation’s outsized transportation pollution problem. One of the most important levers to do that is through strong policy to scrap Trump’s weakened standards in the short term and then establish new bolder vehicle standards. This will set us onto the necessary path for pollution-free cars, trucks, and buses this decade. And we must do so in a way that protects American workers.
“Yet, once again, vehicle manufacturers have been working behind closed doors to keep us tied to polluting vehicles by pushing for weak standards. We urge President Biden to restore the Obama-Biden standards and go even further.”
Background:
In a letter sent to the White House in February, two dozen organizations, including environmental, faith, consumer, family and health groups, urged the Biden administration to go forward with nothing less than the Obama standards in the short-term and to create new standards that set us on a longer-term path to make all new cars and light-duty trucks zero-emission by 2035.
Recently, over 80 members of Congress in the House and the Senate made the same call, urging the Biden administration to, at minimum, restore the Obama-Biden greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards.
As the US Climate Summit approaches, groups are also pushing the Biden administration to address toxic diesel pollution from freight trucks, which disproportionately impacts communities located near ports, warehouses, and highways. By adopting additional new pollution standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles, the administration can accelerate the expansion of zero-emission trucks and buses across the nation and address a major environmental justice issue.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.8 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.