Clean Transportation

Clean Transportation

Clean Transportation

Revolutionizing our transportation systems is a crucial piece of Sierra Club's work to ensure we all can live in healthy communities, move around safely, and build a future powered by renewable energy.



What is clean transportation?

We all want to breathe clean air and protect our families from toxic pollution and climate change. Unfortunately, transportation is currently our nation's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and a major source of air pollution. To build a livable future, we must shift away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles and towards clean, renewable transportation.

Right now, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress want to make it harder to drive clean cars, which will increase how much money you spend at the pump. We can stop them, but we need your help to protect access to public transportation, electric vehicles, and other clean transportation options.

Over the lifetime of the vehicle, a gas car puts out 4.5x more carbon pollution and infinitely more toxic tailpipe air pollution than an electric car.

Why is clean transportation essential?

We all want to breathe clean air and protect our families from toxic pollution and climate change. Unfortunately, transportation is currently our nation's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and a major source of air pollution. To build a livable future, we must shift away from combustion vehicles and towards clean transportation.

Victory!

In a landmark legal win for clean transportation, a federal court has permanently barred the Trump administration from freezing funds for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program – that is, a $5 billion federal initiative to build reliable, high-speed electric vehicle charging stations along America's highways!

The ruling means all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico now have the legal certainty they need to move forward building a nationwide charging network, free from unlawful interference. Sierra Club and partners brought this case on behalf of members who were directly harmed by the freeze.

This is what people power looks like: Sierra Club members standing up to protect clean transportation investment, cleaner air, and better access to affordable electric vehicle driving for everyone.

February 1, 2023

NATIONWIDE - Today, the US Department of Transportation announced $800 million in grants to fund 510 projects in communities across the country to make both urban and rural neighborhoods safer for people to walk and bike. This funding comes out of the Bipartisan Infrastructure law passed last year, and represents the first round of funding for the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. 

February 1, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, more than two dozen environment, health, and consumer advocacy organizations sent a letter to Truck and Engine Manufacturer Association (EMA) member companies asking them to leave the EMA, which is well-known for working to stall and weaken clean air safeguards across the country. 

January 26, 2023

NATIONWIDE - Today, the Sierra Club, Plug In America, the Electrification Coalition, and Forth released the latest version of AchiEVe: Model Policies to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption, a national toolkit designed to accelerate the switch to clean, electric vehicles (EVs) in an effective and equitable way by providing various stakeholders with model EV policies at the state, local, and utility levels. 

January 20, 2023

Washington D.C. – Yesterday, on the first day of the Washington D.C. Auto Show, auto accountability experts from health, faith and environmental advocacy groups held a press conference in front of the Convention Center calling on automakers to produce more, clean electric vehicles. Advocates condemned car companies like Toyota for prioritizing profit over our collective health and safety. 

December 20, 2022

PORTLAND — Today, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) voted to adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) program, setting the state on a path to lower vehicle emissions and a healthy transition to electric vehicles and cleaner air, by requiring that every new light-duty vehicle sold in Oregon to be a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) by 2035. 

December 20, 2022

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final rule updating federal standards that will reduce pollution from heavy-duty vehicles. The rule released today targets NOx pollution from trucks and buses, a major threat to public health for millions of Americans and especially dangerous for marginalized communities across the nation that live next to major freight corridors.

December 20, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, after a year and a half of significant public pressure over the Postal Service’s unpopular and short-sighted decision to buy hundreds of thousands of gas-powered trucks and stick to a fleet of merely 10 percent electric vehicles, and then 40 percent, the agency announced a major reversal to clean up the whole of the delivery truck fleet.

December 19, 2022

Seattle, WA - Today, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) announced their adoption of three regulations: the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule (ACC II), the Heavy-Duty Omnibus Low NOx Rule, and the Fleet Reporting Requirement. ACC II requires an increasing percentage of new zero-emission (includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric) light-duty passenger vehicles (ZEVs) be made available in Washington State, culminating in 100% new zero-emission sales by model year 2035 and beyond.

December 15, 2022

New York, NY - Today, as the New York City Council Committee on Environmental Protection held its first hearing on the Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) for NYC Act (Intro 279), environmental advocacy groups, clean energy and micromobility industry leaders, and elected officials announced their support for this transformational bill that would require NYC to convert its entire fleet of 30,000+ vehicles to ZEVs. Working on an accelerated timeline that begins in 2025, the bill would mandate the full conversion of all municipal vehicle purchases by July 1, 2035, making NYC the largest municipal fleet…

November 30, 2022

NATIONWIDE - Today, a broad coalition of 114 organizations, representing communities across the nation, sent a letter to the EPA urging the agency to move forward with three Clean Air Act waivers that are essential for states to protect their residents from toxic pollution from heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses.