Colorado signs exec order to support transition to ZEVs

Governor of Colorado Jared Polis has signed an executive order which outlines a suite of initiatives to support a transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEV) in the US state.

Polis says: “Our goal is to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2040 and embrace the green energy transition already underway economy-wide”

He believes the public health and environmental benefits of widespread transportation electrification will increase as the state moves towards a cleaner electric grid.  

The initiatives include a directive to create a working group to implement state programmes and strategies supporting this.

As part of the executive order, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is to develop a rule to establish a zero emission vehicle programme which it will then propose to the Air Quality Control Commission no later than May.

The 5701 Colorado Department of Transportation is also to develop an electric vehicle policy and plan.

Additionally, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is to revise the state Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, which describes how the state will allocate nearly $70 million received in trust funds due to the settlement of the federal 994 Volkswagen (VW) emissions case. The revised plan will focus all remaining, eligible investments on supporting electrification of transportation, including transit buses, school buses and trucks.

In September 2015, the US 1999 Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to VW. The German automaker %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external admitted false http://www.itsinternational.com/categories/travel-information-weather/news/germany-to-toughen-rules-after-vw-scandal/ false false%>to US regulators that it programmed its cars to detect when they were being tested and altered the running of diesel engines to conceal their true emissions.

Steps have already been taken toward more sustainable vehicles in Colorado. Last year, former governor John Hickenlooper launched the Colorado Electric Vehicle (EV) %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Plan false http://www.itsinternational.com/sections/general/news/colorado-launch-plan-to-support-evs-on-state-highways/ false false%> to support EV infrastructure.