Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly filed seven bills to repeal the Commonwealth’s Clean Car Standards. Today, the last repeal bill died in a Senate committee, marking a victory for continued climate progress.
RICHMOND, VA: Today, the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources committee voted down the seventh and final attempt this legislative session to repeal Virginia’s Clean Car Standards. This landmark policy is designed to make more electric vehicles (EVs) available to Virginians – and reduce Virginia’s carbon emissions – by ensuring that Virginia receives EVs from manufacturers, who prioritize sales to states that adopt the Clean Cars policy.
Repealing the enjoining legislation was a key policy priority for Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), who is pushing an anti-climate agenda that also includes removing the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and significantly weakening Virginia’s commitment to 100% clean electricity.
Statement from Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director of CCAN Action Fund.
“It is with gratitude to our climate champions in the state Senate that I celebrate the death of this partisan attempt to undo one of Virginia’s crowning achievements on climate. Transportation accounts for more than half of our annual emissions. We cannot reach climate stability without significantly reducing vehicle pollution in the near-term, and the Clean Car Standards are a commonsense first step to doing so while bringing new economic opportunities to Virginia. But let us be clear: to truly bring vehicle pollution down to zero by mid-century, we also need to dramatically increase funding for transit, rail, and pedestrian infrastructure.”
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CCAN Action Fund is the advocacy arm of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. For 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
