Letter to Our Leaders

June 7, 2018

Dear: Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
Chairs and Members of the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees
Members of the Legislature

CC: Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Re: Budget Support for ZEV Deployment and Infrastructure Development

We urge your support of the Governor’s nearly $3 billion multi-year budget proposal to accelerate the deployment of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and fueling infrastructure. The Legislature’s support of the $3 billion is critical, as is support for additional resources allocated for multi-year incentives for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to put the state on a path to 5 million ZEVs by 2030 and to meet our climate change and clean energy goals.

The transportation sector is the largest contributor to air pollution and greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in California. Scientists and academics confirm we can’t meet our 2030 GHG-emissions reduction goals without transitioning a large portion of our trucks, buses and cars to zero-emission technologies.

Zero-emission technologies also reduce toxic air pollutants by over 90 percent, helping to clean our air and dramatically reduce health impacts, like asthma, in children and adults. Air pollution and associated illnesses are particularly prevalent in disadvantaged communities, which experience a disproportionate amount of pollution from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Expanding the Governor’s eight-year budget proposal to include reliable funding for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, will remove key barriers to widespread ZEV deployment in California by providing reliable, long-term funding to:

 

  • Continue expansion of zero-emission truck and bus deployment
  • Continue incentives for consumers for light-duty vehicles
  • Complement private investment to accelerate widespread deployment of zero-emission fueling infrastructure
  • Enhance purchase incentives for low and moderate-income households
  • Enhance equity program benefits for disadvantaged communities including agriculture-worker vanpools, financing assistance, car-sharing and mobility options that fight poverty and pollution by cleaning the air and creating reliable mobility options.

Now more than ever, California needs to reaffirm its commitment to clean energy and clean transportation solutions. The federal government is looking to reverse strong fuel-efficiency standards intended to help us diversify our transportation fuels.

A multi-year approach is significant to accelerate the ZEV market. Historically, funding has been uncertain and inconsistent year to year. Budget certainty, for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty ZEVs, is critical to instilling confidence in private investors and consumers. The Governor is sending a clear signal that California is serious about diversifying its transportation fuels and transitioning to cleaner transportation options.

We strongly support the Governor’s proposed multi-year budget allocation, and support including multi-year funding for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. This will greatly increase the effectiveness of the Governor and Legislature’s plan to address climate change and improve public health for Californians in every community.

 

Sincerely,

Bonnie Holmes-Gen, Senior Director, Air Quality & Climate Change
American Lung Association of California

Eileen Wenger Tutt, Executive Director
California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC)

Walker Wells, Executive Director
Global Green USA

Molly Rauch, National Health Policy Director
Moms Clean Air Force

Alice Huffman, President
California State Conference NAACP

Tom Knox, Executive Director
Valley Clean Air Now (Valley CAN)

Harry Wang, MD, President
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Sacramento

John Shears, Consultant – Climate, CEC, & CARB
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology (CEERT)

Jeffrey Reynoso, DrPH MPH, Executive Director
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California

Alberto Ayala, PhD, MSE, Executive Director/Air Pollution Control Officer
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District

Julian Cañete, CEO
California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce

Michael A. Lawson, President & CEO
Los Angeles Urban League

Lia Nitake, Public Policy Manager
CalAsian Chamber

Bryan Cope, Program Development Manager
Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA)

Sharon Evans, CEO
Business Resource Group

Cornelious Burke, Senior Director for Government Relations
Bay Area Council

Celia V. Andrade, Director, Energy & Environmental Services Department
Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE LA)

Robert M. Gould, M.D., President
San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility

Emmanuel Wagner, Assistant Director
California Hydrogen Business Council

Robert Bienenfeld, Assistant Vice President
American Honda Motor Co, Inc.

Brian Goldstein, Executive Director
Energy Independence Now

Jim Ross, Director
Electric Vehicle Charging Association (EVCA)

Alex Cherepakhov, Chairman & CEO
First Priority Group, LLC

Joel Levin, Executive Director
Plug In America (PIA)

F. Kent Leacock, Senior Director Government Relations & Public Policy
Proterra

Jay Friedland, Vice President Government Relations & Public Policy
Zero Motorcycles, Inc.

Eugene Mitchell, Vice President External & Legislative Affairs
San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E)

Anne Smart, Vice President, Public Policy
ChargePoint

Urvi Nagrani, Director of Business Development
Motiv Power Systems

Hyepin Im, President & CEO
Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE)

Max Baumhefner, Senior Attorney, Clean Vehicles & Fuels
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Larissa Koehler, Senior Attorney
Environmental Defense Fund

Adrian Martinez, Staff Attorney
Earthjustice

Michelle Kinman, Clean Energy & Transportation Program Director
Environment California

Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director
Climate Resolve

Bill Magavern, Policy Director
Coalition for Clean Air

Tanya Stevenson, EdD, MPH, President & CEO, Golden Gate Public Health Partnership
Breathe California

Yvonne Gonzalez Duncan, State Director
California League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

Howard Penn, Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League (PCL)

Mike Mattos, President
Breathe California Sacramento Region

Caroline Choi, Senior Vice President Regulatory Affairs
Southern California Edison (SCE)

Matt Petersen, President & CEO
Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)

Gary Passmore, President
Congress of California Seniors

Al Abdallah, Chief Operating Officer
Urban League of San Diego County

V. John White, Legislative Director
Clean Power Campaign

Mike Mielke, Senior Vice President, Environment & Energy
Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Damon Porter, Vice President, Government Affairs
Association of Global Automakers

Veronica Padilla, Executive Director
Pacoima Beautiful

Earl ‘Skip’ Cooper II, President & CEO
Black Business Association (BBA)

Nancy H. Sutley, Chief Sustainability Officer
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LA DWP)

Arlen Orchard, CEO & General Manager
Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Amisha Rai, Senior Director, California Policy
Advanced Energy Economy

Zachary S. Kahn, Director of Government Relations
BYD America

Paul Francis, CEO & President
KIGT

Gustavo Occhiuzzo, CEO
Green Commuter

Thomas Ashley, Vice President, Policy
Greenlots

Roy Kuga, Vice President Grid Integration & Innovation
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)

John D. Clements, Special Projects
Hummingbird EV

Sara Rafalson, Director, Market Development
EVgo

John Boesel, President & CEO
CALSTART

Hanna Grene, Director of Policy
Center for Sustainable Energy

Michelle Pierce, Founder
EV Nirvana

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