SCHUMER ANNOUNCES FIRST MAJOR STEP TO HELP NYS MEET 2050 CARBON-FREE TARGET; NY & LONG ISLAND FAMILIES WOULD SAVE THOUSANDS UNDER HIS PLAN; NEW CLEAN CAR PURCHASES WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL, MAKING CARBON-EMITTING VEHICLES A THING OF THE PAST

New York Legislators Who Passed 2050 Climate Plan Join Schumer & Praise Plan That Would Dramatically Help State Meet Its Mandated Carbon-Free Target With Clean Cars & Charging Stations Available To All

Schumer Plan Would Be A Boon For Millions Of NY Families; Locals Could Swap Out Their ‘Clunker’ For New Electric Car Purchases, No Gas Station Trips & Save Thousands

Schumer: New Clean Cars Plan Will Drive Jobs, Make New Car Purchases Easier & Affordable—And Help Kick Carbon

Citing a New York State law he helped push to pass, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,  requiring a net-zero carbon economy by 2050, and flanked by the state legislators, Senator Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, and grassroots advocates who got it done, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced the FIRST major step to help the state meet the target. Schumer detailed how his new national plan to tackle climate change and get clean cars on the roads is also a boon for New York families and explained how New York and Long Island households would save thousands under his plan as he detailed how new car purchases and better miles per gallon (MPG) options will be accessible to locals.

“This national climate plan for clean cars is also a plan for New York because it advances the first major step to help the state meet its ambitious 2050 carbon-free target,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “New York and Long Island families would save thousands and new clean auto, electric car purchases will be accessible to all. New Yorkers are sick and tired of the dependence on gas stations, and it is high time to pursue a new front that will drive jobs, make new car purchases easier and less costly, while helping to kick carbon for good."

“Thanks to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), New York envisions a future just a few decades away where electric vehicles dominate our roads,” said Senator Todd Kaminsky, Chairman of the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee and author of the CLCPA. “The challenge of transforming our transportation sector is a major one and Senator Schumer’s plan is exactly the bold, aggressive and necessary action required to help us meet those goals, reduce our carbon footprint and ultimately save our planet.”

“This is revolutionary. It is also in perfect alignment with the new law that Senator Kaminsky and I sponsored and our colleagues voted for. There is a tremendous need to reduce our emissions into the atmosphere and the internal combustion engine is the largest source of emissions. Senator Schumer is attacking the biggest remaining problem with positive incentives—with a voucher that will draw people in to do what is best for them and their loved ones, creating a requirement for all new infrastructure bills in America to have charging stations, and revitalizing our largest industry,” said Assemblyman Steve Englebright.

Under part of the plan, New Yorkers would be able to swap out their carbon-guzzling vehicle for a new electric one in a way that saves them money, while advancing aggressive climate policy. Schumer explained the full details of how the plan will drive jobs, make new purchases easier and kick carbon, so New York can meet its target and so local families can quit the costly gas station trips.

Schumer’s Clean Cars for America plan would result in 63 million fewer carbon-emitting cars on the road by providing steep discounts for clean vehicles when trading-in a gas-powered car. Schumer noted that the Trump Department of Energy (DOE) says it is about a 50% gas savings when transitioned to an electric vehicle.

The plan would make clean vehicles and charging infrastructure accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live and work. And it would firmly establish the United States as the global leader in clean vehicles and battery manufacturing. In addition, the plan is supported by a broad coalition of stakeholders – including leading climate groups, labor unions and auto companies, as well as the environmental groups alongside Schumer today, which included Luke Tonachel, Director of Clean Vehicles and Fuel for Natural Resources Defense Council and Loren Blackford, National President of Sierra Club.

There are three major components to Schumer’s proposal:

• Making clean vehicles affordable by giving consumers a substantial cash voucher to trade-in their gas-powered cars and buy a U.S.-assembled and affordable plug-in electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell car. 
• Making charging infrastructure accessible through a new grant program to states and localities to ensure all Americans have access to charging infrastructure. 
• Reasserting U.S. leadership in clean car manufacturing with robust incentives for manufacturers to build new factories or re-tool existing factories in the United States to assemble zero-emission vehicles or manufacture charging equipment. 

Schumer reiterated his Clean Cars for America proposal has a broad coalition of support, from such stakeholders as leading environmental groups like the Sierra Club, the NRDC, and the League of Conservation Voters, as well as labor unions like the United Auto Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and large auto companies like Ford and General Motors. The initiative would incentivize the transition to clean vehicles by providing significant discounts for clean vehicles when trading in a gas-powered vehicle, establishing a new grant program to states and localities to ensure all Americans have access to charging infrastructure, and providing robust incentives for manufacturers to build new factories or re-tool existing factories. The plan would result in 63 million fewer carbon-emitting cars. The plan is also estimated to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in the United States.

Schumer said the Clean Cars For America Climate Initiative would accelerate the critical transition to net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century by making electric vehicles and charging infrastructure accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live and work, and would firmly establish the United States as the global leader in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing.

The Climate and Community Protection Act (S.2772/A.3876), introduced and passed in the New York State Assembly by Assembly Member Steve Englebright and in the Senate by Senator Todd Kaminsky, which Schumer helped push to pass, mandates specific actions by 2050 that Schumer’s plan will help achieve. The CCPA legislation mandates New York State achieve 100 percent greenhouse gas emissions reductions and a transition to renewable energy, economy-wide by 2050. The bill directed a strong portion of all state energy investments to benefit disadvantaged communities, and creates strong wage and contracting standards for jobs that will be created in a renewable energy transition. Passage of the CCPA positioned New York to lead the national debate on tackling climate change and offers an example for other states to follow, which Schumer is helping make real with this national proposal.

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