Contact: Noah Barnes, Electrification Coalition
noah@electrification.org, (202) 461-2371
On Wednesday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper released his budget recommendations, including:
- $500,000 recurring for a new team within the Department of Transportation to focus on new transportation technologies, including electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure,
- $136,000 for consumer services testing equipment for EV charging stations, and
- a full repeal of language in last year’s budget prohibiting the Advanced Clean Trucks rule.
In response, Electrification Coalition Vice President of Policy Anne Blair released the following statement:
“North Carolina is a national leader in transportation electrification, with companies like Toyota and Kempower creating thousands of jobs in the EV sector. Gov. Cooper’s recommendations to advance electric vehicles will help end our nation’s dependence on oil, improving national and economic security. Unlike oil, electricity is produced domestically through diverse sources.
“The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule is critical to accelerating the electrification of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which use a disproportionate amount of oil and cause public health risks, particularly in underserved communities. Repealing the prohibition language in last year’s budget is one step toward passing ACT in North Carolina.
“We applaud the governor for taking these steps to end oil’s monopoly on our transportation systems, but there is still much more that needs to be done to ensure North Carolina and the country are not left behind as the world shifts to electric transportation.”
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About the Electrification Coalition: The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes policies and actions to facilitate the widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) on a mass scale to overcome the economic, public health and national security challenges that stem from America’s dependence on oil. ElectrificationCoalition.org