CRTA participated in a legislative hearing yesterday that explored the criticisms expressed by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) in their January report on the recently adopted 2022 Scoping Plan Update. You can learn more about this report from CRTA’s article. The hearing was convened by the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, and the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
In questions presented to the LAO and Liane Randolph, Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), committee members expressed concern and sometime skepticism about the state’s ability to meet its short-term emission reduction goals and overcome the challenges – such as infrastructure development, grid reliability and technology improvements – that could hinder its success.
CRTA President Nicole Rice delivered remarks during public comment that expressed agreement with the LAO’s assessment regarding the lack of a “clear and comprehensive strategy for achieving near-term emission reductions” in the Plan, a point that CRTA consistently raised throughout the Scoping Plan process. She also concurred with comments made by Committee Members that additional options beside zero-emission trucks do exist and when applied at the appropriate juncture during the clean transportation transition, can yield even better results than simply remaining with the status quo.
She emphasized, that if we don’t do more today with the cleaner proven technologies that are already in use today, “the result will be the continued use of the higher-emitting heavy-duty truck options that are in use today.” She also urged the Legislature to “direct CARB to prioritize the use of the cleanest available technology, as defined by their own performance standards, while zero-emission trucks become commercially available for use.”
To learn more, read this article from the March 2nd Sacramento Bee.