Statement: Minnesota moving toward adopting advanced clean cars program

The rule clears a path for Minnesota to become the 14th state to follow the low emission vehicle (LEV) standards

Environment Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) moved toward cutting the state’s global warming emissions from transportation and accelerating the transition to electric cars on Monday by publishing a draft rule adopting the Advanced Clean Cars program.

If Minnesota finalizes the rule, it would become the 14th state to follow stronger car pollution standards through the Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) program and the 13th to follow the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program. 

As transportation accounts for 35 percent of the state’s contribution to climate change, speeding up Minnesota’s transition to cleaner, electric-powered vehicles is essential for reducing air pollution and slowing the state’s contribution to global warming.

Morgan Folger, director of Environment America’s Destination: Zero Carbon Campaign, released the following statement:

“We applaud the MPCA for moving forward with this reasonable measure to reduce carbon pollution while improving the options consumers have when purchasing a car. We hope the MPCA will apply this same thinking to new fossil fuel projects such as Enbridge’s Line 3 that continue to threaten our future. 

Rather than interfere in this important process, we call on Minnesota’s legislature to respect the rulemaking process and support this effort.

States have long set the bar for our federal leaders to follow. Environment America and our network of state environmental groups have campaigned for state clean cars programs since the early 2000s, building the necessary support before the national standards were adopted by the Obama administration in 2012. We hope more states  will follow Minnesota’s lead and adopt their own advanced clean cars programs.”