Growing Coalition Urges Legislature to Pass A.862-A/S.2962-A to Cut Fossil Fuel Use and Reduce Transportation Pollution
A Clean Fuel Standard Will Make the Fossil Fuel Industry Pay For New York’s Clean Transportation Future
New York, NY (March 15, 2022) – The Clean Fuels NY Coalition applauds the New York State Senate, Senator Kevin Parker, and Senator Todd Kaminsky for the inclusion of a Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) in its one house budget bill. The Senate recognizes that a clean fuel standard is an immediately available solution to reach the State’s climate goals, transition off fossil fuels, and work towards energy independence.
A clean fuel standard will make the fossil fuel industry pay for New York’s transition to a decarbonized and electrified transportation sector, help achieve the goal of near zero emissions across the transportation sector by 2050, reduce air pollution and improve public health in communities that are hardest hit by diesel truck and bus pollution.
Based on how the program is working in California and Oregon, the standard would result in an estimated $1 billion investment annually in clean transportation fuels at little to no cost to the state. Those funds could provide support for transit bus electrification, charging infrastructure, and rebates for electric vehicles, among other clean transportation possibilities, and incentivize both the public and private sectors to more rapidly reduce fossil fuel use.
“We applaud the State Senate on taking important climate action by including the clean fuel standard in its one-house budget. The clean fuel standard will cut fossil fuel use for transportation, clean our air, force the fossil fuel industry to pay for the climate crisis that they created and help us build the clean transportation infrastructure, including electric buses and trucks, that we need. We look forward to continued progress on this bill, which is co-sponsored by the overwhelming majority of members in the State Senate and Assembly, and the ability to make significant progress to reach New York’s climate goals,” said Julie Tighe, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters.
“We’re pleased to see the New York Senate include the clean fuel standard in its one house budget. This is an important policy that can create good-paying jobs while reducing transportation pollution, at no cost to the state. We’ve seen the success of a clean fuel standard in California, which has created thousands of jobs in the clean transportation sector. We’re optimistic that New York will pass a clean fuel standard this year and prioritize New York jobs,” said Vinny Albanese, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at New York State Laborers’ Organizing Fund.
“Long Island's residents have more than our fair share of environmental challenges brought on by climate change. Today the New York State Senate signaled support for Low Carbon Fuel Standards by including the bill into the one house budget. This legislation gives Labor the ability to partner with industry to tackle the collateral damage caused by fossil fuels, improve groundwater while simultaneously creating a sustainable fuel source and resilient workforce in the process,” said Matthew Aracich, President of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
“We applaud the New York State Senate for including a clean fuel standard in its one house budget. This is an important step forward to create good-paying jobs and to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Now, we’re calling on the Assembly and Governor’s office to support the clean fuel standard to reach our climate goals and create a green economy,” said John Murphy, International Representative, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada.
“Kudos to the New York State Senate for including this creative and effective policy for cleaning and electrifying our transportation sector. The member companies of ACE NY see a future fueled with clean, renewable electricity – including on the road. Setting a standard for transportation climate pollution can set NY on the path to a zero-emission future and help pay for it,” said Anne Reynolds, Executive Director, Alliance for Clean Energy New York.
“The State Senate is to be commended for its support of a clean fuel standard in New York. This policy will provide rapid benefits to New Yorkers in the form of lower greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, enhanced green jobs creation, and a reduced dependency by our state on foreign oil at a time of high energy prices worldwide. Adoption of the clean fuel standard will further establish New York’s leading role in the global effort to prevent catastrophic climate change by giving New Yorkers a greater ability to protect the climate and environment,” said Tristan R. Brown, Director of the Bioeconomy Development Institute and Associate Professor of Energy Resource Economics at SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry.
A clean fuel standard requires transportation fuel suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the fuels they make and sell, creating a more dependable market for clean fuels produced in the United States and here in New York and technologies that are essential to reaching the goals set out in New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). A clean fuel standard is in place in California, Oregon, British Columbia, and Washington. In 2019 and 2020 (the most recent years with official data), clean fuels in California displaced nearly 5 billion gallons of fossil fuels, thanks to their clean fuel standard.
The Clean Fuels NY Coalition is a group of leading environmental, public health and energy groups led by the New York League of Conservation Voters, formed to demonstrate the diverse support for a clean fuel standard across industries.
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