Colorado joins electric vehicle truck pact

Zero-emission trucks critical to fighting climate change and air pollution

CoPIRG

Colorado joined 14 other states plus the District of Columbia to announce today that they will set landmark goals for zero-emission trucks. CoPIRG joined clean car advocates in applauding the Polis administration’s decision to join the pact through an MOU that sets targets for achieving full electrification of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, along with interim sales targets for truck manufacturers. 

CoPIRG is calling on the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission to adopt the Advanced Clean Truck Rule in Colorado, which it can do under federal Clean Air Act authority. The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) estimates that adopting the Advanced Clean Truck Rule in Colorado would prevent on the order of 5 MMT of carbon dioxide pollution relative to business as usual through 2040 in Colorado, while saving industry more than $1 billion in fuel and maintenance and preventing more than $1 billion in health care costs by cleaning up our air.

“We should never accept unhealthy air days as the cost of getting around,” said CoPIRG Director Danny Katz. “The technology is there to not only switch to cleaner, electric-powered passenger cars but also to ditch dirty diesel trucks. This MOU demonstrates the state’s commitment to pursuing cleaner trucks that will reduce air pollution, fight global warming, and lower vehicle fuel and maintenance costs. I’m glad to see Governor Polis and Colorado’s leadership on this.” 

The MOU can be found at https://www.nescaum.org/topics/zero-emission-vehicles