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07/01/09 - I congratulate President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency on a long-overdue action to grant California the right to set toughest-in-the nation greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks. California has always been a leader in driving policy on clean vehicles, as demonstrated by President Obama's announcement in May about making federal fuel economy rules similar to those for which California has advocated for years.
Our constant challenge in environmental activism is avoiding the pitfall of setting the bar too low and achieving our modest goals. We must aim high -- which is why I have advocated strongly for electric vehicles as the future of clean cars. Above and beyond the massive environmental benefits of a transition to fully electric and plug-in hybrids -- reducing the lifecycle CO2 impact of auto travel by orders of magnitude -- EVs also will prove to be an economic boon for our state. California stands to gain $2.5 billion in new infrastructure investments and billions more in battery sales if the state follows the Bay Area’s lead in creating a support network for electric vehicles -- jobs and revenues we desperately need in this current economic downturn.
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