The Right to Join the Advanced Clean Cars Program
The Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act (CAA), signed into law in the 1970’s, requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cut air pollution.
In 2007, a large coalition of groups, states and cities successfully won the Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency Supreme Court case which ruled that CO2 is an air pollutant that causes climate change and ordered the EPA to regulate it.
Under Section 209 of the CAA, California is allowed to adopt clean air climate pollution standards for cars that other states can then follow.
State Adoption
For more than 50 years, states have exercised their special ability, provided through Section 177 of the CAA, to protect the health of their residents by adopting clean car standards, which go above and beyond federal standards to cut tailpipe pollution from cars. States must all adopt the same standards to ensure market consistency.
The Clean Air Act has helped millions of Americans to breathe easier thanks to clean car states’ commitments to bringing cleaner, more efficient cars to the road.
One Advanced Clean Cars Program For All
This common-sense tool helps states access affordable electric cars that are pollution-free and gas-free.
The first Advanced Clean Cars program, adopted by 18 states and the District of Columbia, will expire in 2025. The new program presents an opportunity for states to address their pollution problems and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. With this new program, automakers will be required to gradually increase sales of pollution-free vehicles from 2026-2035, with the goal of achieving 100% pollution-free new car sales in 2035. This will create a larger market of affordable used electric cars, giving everyone the option to go green and breathe clean air.
Focus on Frontline Communities
We must ensure that zero-emission vehicles get placed in the most-polluted neighborhoods first. Systemic barriers and lack of engagement and outreach mean low-income communities of color have not been able to take full advantage of available clean vehicle technologies.
Frontline communities - low-income communities of color - are hit first and worst by oil price spikes and the impacts of climate change: drought, fires, extreme heat and blackouts. Cars and trucks are the number one source of climate warming pollution driving this devastation.
States can do more for environmental justice communities by implementing programs that compliment the Advanced Clean Cars program by improving access to these vehicles as they become more available at new and used dealerships.