At Drive Electric Week Event, Advocates Release New Guide to Help Cities Plug In

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GoEV City Toolkit Gives CO Cities and Counties Options for Leading Transition to Electric Vehicle Transportation System

GoEV City coalition

Environmental, energy efficiency, and consumer advocates gathered on Wednesday at Denver’s National Drive Electric Week event to call on all Colorado cities and counties to become a GoEV City and lead the charge to an electric vehicle future. The coalition is calling on cities and counties to make bold commitments to transition towards an all-electric future. To help cities and counties make the commitment, the coalition released the GoEV City toolkit, a catalog of local policies, strategies and programs designed to make it easy for cities and counties to make robust commitments around electric vehicles and advance toward a transportation system with zero tailpipe emissions and huge consumer savings. 

“It is critical that Colorado transition to a zero emission transportation system as quickly as possible so we can reduce dangerous air pollution and combat climate change,” said Matt Frommer, senior transportation associate at the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP). “Cities and counties can and should lead the charge and this toolkit will help them get there.”

“Transitioning toward electric vehicles not only reduces pollution but saves all of us money – it’s cheaper to fuel up an electric vehicle than filling up at the gas pump,” said Danny Katz CoPIRG Director. “We’re calling on every city and county in Colorado to make big commitments to go electric, and we stand ready to support their efforts with this new toolkit and our coalition resources.”

To become a GoEV City, the coalition called on local Colorado decision makers to pass a resolution setting an ambitious goal to get more electric vehicles on the road, develop a strategy or road map to get there, and begin to implement local policies that quicken Colorado’s transition to an electric vehicle transportation grid. GoEV Cities also should advocate and support statewide and national efforts. 

The toolkit breaks down specific policies and strategies that cities and counties can pursue, providing not only the how-to information but also examples in Colorado and around the country of what others have done. The toolkit provides recommendations around incentivizing the purchase of EVs, municipal fleet transitions, public transportation conversion, building more EV infrastructure and charging, working with utilities and implementing education campaigns.  

One of the big opportunities is for cities to work with their local transit agencies to transition away from diesel buses to quiet, non-polluting electric buses. Another example is adopting local building codes to make sure that developers put in the wiring needed for electric vehicle charging right when they build a new home or apartment building. It is cheaper and easier to do this during initial construction.

“At a time when the federal government is moving backwards on many environmental protections, Colorado cities have an opportunity to step further into leadership. Increasing EV adoption is good for our air, our health, and our environment,” said Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, Transportation and Energy Advocate for Conservation Colorado.

“Colorado continues to lead the transition to a zero emission transportation system, developing tools that have led to thousands of EV sales across the country through group buy efforts. The GoEV City toolkit is the next key tool to maintain and develop an electric transportation future,” said Mathew Shmigelsky with CLEER. 

The coalition has already begun to outreach to cities and counties in Colorado to get the toolkit in their hands and call on them to take action to move toward an electric vehicle future as fast as possible. IF WE have example of a city ready to go, put it here. IF WE have a goal, put it here. 

“To reach our climate goals, we must build a culture and movement toward sustainable transportation for all — and not just the cars we drive, but also our city transit buses, the school buses our children ride on, the cars we share and ride-hail, our government fleets, and the vehicles we operate while on the job. These policies are the roadmap to cleaner mobility,” said Emily Gedeon, Conservation Program Director with the Colorado Sierra Club.

For more information go to the website – www.goevcity.org 

The GoEV City Coalition includes the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), Conservation Colorado, Sierra Club, Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG), and Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER).