Heidi to the California Air Resources Board: 100% Clean Car Sales by 2030!

Heidi Harmon, Public Affairs Director

Date: 06/09/2022
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Before I was a mayor, I was a single mom and a maid.

Reliable transportation was critical to raising my kids and doing my job. My family was at the mercy of gas prices and fear of an unexpected car breakdown — if you're living on the poverty line, that can ruin your life. I am grateful to be free from those worries now that I have ditched my old Volvo station wagon and embraced my Nissan Leaf — and it was California state incentives and policies that built a bridge out of fragility and into a vehicle that I could count on.

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California must set stronger electric vehicle sales targets with mandatory equity provisions to provide that security to more families, especially those living in our most vulnerable communities. As the mayor of San Luis Obispo, I led my city to adopt the most ambitious carbon neutrality goal of any city in the United States at that time. I was proud of that, but localities can't get there alone. Local communities need the steadfast support and the bold leadership of the state on the defining issue of our time.

I am here today representing many other elected officials and the entire Democratic party who have endorsed the goal of 100% EV sales by 2030. More importantly, I am here representing my children, Zoie and Emet — now young adults. It’s well past time to keep asking ourselves, "what is possible, what is reasonable.” It's time to ask ourselves, “what is needed? What does this unprecedented moment require?” This moment requires that we give it our all, and our all is the most ambitious target we can set: 100% by 2030!

Europe and China have been leading the way in EV adoption due partly to strong regulations that have catalyzed those industries. Washington state has committed to 100% clean car sales by 2030. If Washington can do it — California can do it! Denmark, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, and Sweden have all pledged to reach 100% EV sales by 2030.

If they can do it, California can do it. It’s time to stop asking what’s possible and instead do what's needed to make the impossible the inevitable.

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