Have you ever seen a zero-emission vehicle? You may be seeing a lot more of them over the next ten years. Following an announcement in May of an eight-state action plan to promote zero-emission vehicles, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin released the Climate Cabinet’s draft Vermont Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action Plan for review and public comment in June. The draft Plan outlines state-specific actions and strategies to grow the ZEV market in Vermont, with the ultimate goal of having 3.3 million ZEVs on the roads in the eight states by 2025.
In Vermont, the transportation sector accounts for the highest share of both greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. Nearly half (46%) of Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, and transportation accounts for more than one third (34%) of Vermont’s energy consumption . With an aggressive statutory goal to reduce Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 50% by 2028 and state target of obtaining 90% of total energy from renewable sources by 2050, transforming Vermont’s transportation sector away from fossil fuels is crucial to attaining our greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy goals.
State-specific efforts encompass a variety of state agencies and committees, and include a number of actions and strategies aimed at boosting the number of ZEVs on the road. These include working with the automobile industry to increase availability of ZEVs and to provide creative financing, building infrastructure, adopting policies to increase percentages of ZEVs in state and municipal fleets, improving the ZEV experience through a variety of perks and incentives, and more.
The draft Vermont ZEV Action Plan can be found at www.anr.state.vt.us/anr/climatechange/ZeroEmissionVehicles.html.
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