While the White House and GOP continue to force an American backslide on climate change, Governor Walz is taking initiative to make Minnesota a climate-conscious state. Walz has directed the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to implement clean car standards, modeled after standards already in place in 14 other states. The initiative, Clean Cars Minnesota, may reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by two million tons by 2030. This change will allow Minnesotans access to more options in vehicles with better fuel-economy, boost the state’s economy, combat climate change, and improve air quality.
Clean Cars Minnesota will also save Minnesotans money at the pump, an estimated total of $320 million a year by 2030. Other states that adhere to clean car standards have saved drivers $88 billion dollars. The new set of standards will also allow manufacturers to offer a wider selection of fuel-efficient vehicles, unleashing a new market of new and used car choices for consumers. As another added bonus, the program will make an impact towards reducing Minnesota’s reliance on foreign oil. Governor Walz’s Clean Cars Minnesota proposal is also a plan to boost Minnesota’s economy on a state-wide level. With 61,000 Minnesotans already working jobs within clean energy, expanding Minnesota’s electric vehicle infrastructure will undoubtedly increase the number of careers in the field, especially in Minnesota’s rural electric cooperatives.
Walz is continuing the conversation with Minnesotans online through the hashtags #CleanCarsMN and plans on beginning the process of transitioning to this new set of standards with the MPCA in October 2019. Minnesotans deserve to save money, have options, and breathe easier.