Get gas out of transportation


To the Editor:

Growing up in Jericho, I enjoyed a great place to live and going to great schools. But I came into more than my share of climate-killing, unhealthy diesel fumes and car exhaust from the asphalt triangle that surrounds my neighborhood. Specifically, as a school bus rider, I subjected my young lungs daily to the risk of pollutants and toxins.

Now, the Climate Action Council, creating by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, is laying out a Climate Scoping Plan to transform our economy to fulfill that nation-leading law which requires a 100% emissions-neutral state by 2050. A major target of this plan must be the clear delineation of the electrification of our transportation sector, the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Fortunately, commitment to state-wide adoption of zero-emission school buses by 2035 is already in place, and $1 billion has been allotted for EV charging infrastructure and adoption state-wide.

But for the next generation growing up in Jericho, the transition from gas and diesel to electric vehicles must be sped up. The Scoping Plan must support the removal of barriers to EV sales, increase the ease of EV ownership for low-income New Yorkers, and the adoption of rules to support widespread electrification of medium and heavyweight trucks.

As today’s pump prices reiterate, and our rapidly warming planet warns us, it’s time to get the gas out of transportation.

Grace Mok

 

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