October 16, 2020
Nationwide — The 10th annual National Drive Electric Week, a widespread celebration of electric vehicles (EVs), was held September 26–October 4 and hosted over 150 online events.
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.
Press Releases
October 1, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, during the 10th annual National Drive Electric Week, the Washington Post released a story on a report from the Sierra Club and 17 partner organizations calling on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to commit to
September 22, 2020
Nationwide — The tenth annual National Drive Electric Week, a coast-to-coast celebration of electric vehicles (EVs), will be held September 26–October 4 and include more than 100 online events for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign highlights the environmental, health, and consumer benefits of clean plug-in vehicles and is hosted each year by Plug In America, Sierra Club and Electric Auto Association.
September 8, 2020
NATIONWIDE – Today, Uber announced a commitment to reach 100% electric vehicle rides by 2030 in the US, Canada, and Europe, and by 2040 for the rest of the world. In June, ride-hailing company Lyft committed to 100% electric vehicle rides on its platform by 2030.
August 31, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled against the Trump Administration’s efforts to skirt the law and give a pass to allow automakers to pollute more. Today’s ruling states that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) must apply the higher penalties issued under the Obama administration when automakers fail to meet the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
August 27, 2020
San Francisco, California-- Today, in a 5-0 vote, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready 2 program, a $436 million electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure program that will support deploying up to 38,000 new charging stations across Southern California over the next four years.
August 20, 2020
NATIONWIDE -- Today, the Sierra Club, Plug In America, the Electrification Coalition, and Forth, released a newly updated version of AchiEVe: Model Policies to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption, the most current and comprehensive 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.
August 6, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Sierra Club today urged the Senate to take up and pass H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, as a critical step to improving the nation’s rail and public transit infrastructure. The act was passed by the House of Representatives on July 2, 2020.
July 27, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced its plans to evaluate the EPA’s rollback - finalized in March - of the clean car standards, which are the corporate average fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for light duty vehicles (or CAFE).
July 21, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new aircraft. The Trump administration’s EPA has issued the proposal because without the standards, American airplanes would be barred from flying in international airspace.