Colorado air quality officials on Thursday launched a push ordered by Gov. John Hickenlooper to ensure ever-more-efficient gas-powered vehicles — calculated to cut heat-trapping greenhouse pollution by 2 million tons a year of carbon dioxide.
Then the state air commissioners went a step further and committed to consider requirements on the auto industry aimed at accelerating a shift toward zero-emission electric vehicles.
This means new cars Coloradans buy likely will have to cover more miles per gallon in the future — even as the Trump administration freezes federal fuel-efficiency standards. And it means Coloradans could face a greater variety of electric vehicles.
Hickenlooper ordered action requiring manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency after Trump officials ended the gradually toughening of federal standards that over four decades has led to reduced toxic and heat-trapping pollution from tailpipes.
But local governments and a grass-roots movement are demanding more to address climate change caused by burning fossil fuels.
State action to ensure less pollution from gas-powered vehicles, combined with a policy to accelerate a shift to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), “is absolutely essential” for Denver to meet Mayor Michael Hancock’s goal of cutting the city’s greenhouse gas pollution by 80 percent below 2005 levels before 2050, said Mike Salisbury from Denver’s public health and environment department.
“If we want to meet that goal, we have to basically get all the vehicles to be electric or hybrid by 2050, and we are on a path for that,” Salisbury said. “We need to be the leaders on this. We are not seeing the leadership at the federal level.”
State air-quality-control commissioners voted unanimously in favor of developing a rule proposed by health department staffers to require new cars and light trucks to meet California’s miles-per-gallon standards for tailpipe pollution.
This would cost auto makers $750 million, or about $954 per vehicle, according to a state analysis — costs that likely would pass to vehicle buyers. However, the increased fuel efficiency would save drivers money on gas — an estimated $3,412 per vehicle, the state analysis found. That projected 2 million-tons-a-year cut in carbon dioxide pollution would continue through 2030.
The commissioners also voted unanimously to direct staffers to propose, by December, a policy requiring manufacturers to sell more electric vehicles, or else face penalties — to be refined at a rule-making session in March if approved in December.
More than 80 students, grandmothers, environmental campaigners, and a man whose recent cancer diagnosis requires him to breathe cleaner air jammed a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment hearing room urging adoption not only of the low-emission vehicle (LEV) rule but also a ZEV incentive rule.
They argued that aggressive government intervention to encourage electric vehicles is necessary for Colorado’s economy, environment and people.
“Our planet is suffering from our actions,” Metropolitan State University student Alexsandra Ruiz-Ortiz told the commissioners. “Selling cars is where the money is at. But if our planet is too polluted to live on, what is the point of all that money? Bring more electric vehicles to Colorado, and keep my air cleaner.”
When Elias Zwierzynski, 70, was told that breathing good air would boost his chances of surviving five years, he began focusing on the future, and his son. He asked commissioners to “make as much progress as you can” in spurring a shift to zero-emission vehicles.
Auto industry officials objected.
Association of Global Automakers representative Julia Rege argued that “if Colorado wants to promote electric vehicle sales” the appropriate way would be to improve charging infrastructure — not impose a government mandate.
Colorado Automobile Dealers Association president Tim Jackson opposed the push to ensure cleaner gas-powered engines by adopting California standards. “We’re concerned about policies that limit choice or increase costs for the Colorado consumers we serve,” Jackson said, vowing industry officials “will be back” at rule-making hearings. “We don’t think it is government’s role to make consumer car-purchase decisions.”
There are more than 15,000 electric vehicles registered in Colorado, and sales are increasing by more than 40 percent a year. Yet electric vehicles account for only 1.6 percent of vehicles sold in the state.
It’s unusual for so many people to attend a state scoping hearing at the start of a regulatory “rule-making” process.
“People are really interested in what they can do,” Environmental Defense Fund attorney Thomas Bloomfield said, suggesting climate change impacts are a motivator. “It’s great that this state is going to look at zero-emission vehicles.”
Colorado Communities for Climate Action president Anita Seitz, representing 20 local governments, welcomed the state decisions. “Everyone wins if they adopt ZEV provisions. We all get to breathe cleaner air, it’s much easier for anyone who wants an electric vehicle to get one, and Colorado families and businesses save money. We want Coloradans on the Front Range and across the rural parts of our state to have good electric vehicle options.”
Hickenlooper’s order directed state action to ensure cleaner gas-powered vehicles but did not address electric vehicles. However, Hickenlooper has been working with other Western governors on an initiative to install more charging stations along highways.
“We are pleased that they are continuing to make progress on the directives of the executive order,” Hickenlooper spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said. “Colorado is simply putting protections in place to maintain federal standards.”
Hickenlooper couldn’t be reached for comment on the decision to look at boosting electric vehicle options. Montgomery said: “We support a collaborative stakeholder process on the important issues facing the state.”
