Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Since the beginning of 2022, electric vehicle sales in the United States have been downright electrifying. Last year, US drivers bought more than 800,000 new electric vehicles (EVs), 65 percent more than in 2021, even as overall car sales declined. Given the climate crisis, which seems to worsen every day, the sooner the better.

Electricity 338

Electricity Air Pollution 2030 Clean Air Act 338

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Zero-emission trucks and buses eliminate tailpipe emissions and significantly reduce life-cycle pollution. This tells us which fleets are deploying electric vehicles, which types of these vehicles are being deployed, and where. One indicator of this progress is the growing share of zero-emission truck and bus registrations.

Electricity 328

Electricity Nitrogen Oxides 2023 2024 328

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is necessary to decrease climate-changing emissions. By using recycled instead of newly mined materials, reduction of climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions is approximately 64%. The switch from gasoline to electric presents a huge opportunity for efficient resource use.

Electricity 328

Electricity Recycling Nitrogen Oxides Climate Change 328

PA Environment Daily

APRIL 25, 2025

On April 25, the Department of Environmental Protection announced the release of the 2024 Climate Change Action Plan Update and 2024 Climate Impacts Assessment Report. Visit DEPs Climate Change webpage for more information on these and other Pennsylvania climate initiatives. from 2019 to 2020 and 44.4%

Climate Change 81

Climate Change 2024 Natural Gas Electricity 81

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 7, 2023

The latest new car sales numbers are in, and California has hit a new milestone on the path to electrification: 1 in 4 new cars sold in California in the second quarter of 2023 were plug-in electric cars and trucks. Despite the sales, this affordable electric option is being discontinued.

Electricity 246

Electricity Air Pollution 2023 Climate Change 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 19, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently developing a regulation to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from trucks, known as the Phase 3 GHG standards, which would in theory result in increased adoption of electric trucks. Adapted from Table A2 in ICCT’s January 2023 study mentioned above.

Electricity 243

Electricity Air Pollution Regulations 2023 243

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 6, 2022

Climate change in California isn’t a future threat; we are already dealing with extreme drought and destructive wildfires. Switching from gasoline and diesel engines to electric motors is one of the most effective ways to reduce both global warming emissions and air pollution. Who supports Proposition 30 and why?

Air Pollution 299

Air Pollution Electricity Climate Change 2030 299

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 2, 2022

This bill would establish a federal tax credit for businesses to purchase electric and plug-in hybrid trucks, buses, vans, shuttles, and other heavy-duty vehicles, among many significant investments in decarbonization and air quality. A key step towards addressing climate change and air quality. What’s in the bill?

Nitrogen Oxides 299

Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution Electricity 2030 299

PA Environment Daily

MAY 2, 2025

Bringing More Generation Online As new generation comes online more efficiently through these reforms, the demand for electricity and retirement of generators continues to outpace the addition of new generation. MW-Day In 2024-25; Extreme Weather Risk Big Factor [PaEN] Related Articles This Week: -- DEP Received Air Quality Permit For 4.6

Electricity 98

Electricity Natural Gas 2026 2025 98

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

More efficient (and cleaner) gasoline cars are part of the reason why gasoline use is down, but the increasing number of electric vehicles being sold in the state will likely drive gasoline use down even further. To meet emissions goals and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, this trend will need to accelerate over the coming decades.

Carbon Dioxide 291

Carbon Dioxide 2005 Electricity Nitrogen Oxides 291

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Production of the gift itself and packaging contribute to pollution, however, I wanted to better understand this “last-mile” delivery impact. How would that change if I hopped on the electric bus route at the end of my block? Would the footprint of my choices be greater if I shopped online versus driving to a local store?

Nitrogen Oxides 308

Nitrogen Oxides Electricity Fossil Fuels Air Pollution 308

Legal Planet

AUGUST 22, 2024

To address these dual needs, UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) and the UCLA Law Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment are today releasing the new report Fueling & Financing: Addressing the Urgent Challenges Facing Electric Heavy-Duty Vehicle Deployment.

Electricity 147

Electricity Climate Change Fossil Fuels 2009 147

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

It’s immediately clear how fully-electric battery electric vehicles (BEVs) can help reduce emissions; eliminating gasoline and tailpipes in favor of increasingly clean electricity helps limit both climate change and air pollution. Plug-in hybrids are a bit more complicated. BEV or PHEV?

Electricity 325

Electricity Air Pollution Regulations 2019 325

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 2, 2024

Air pollution from ports comes from many sources: ships, trains, tugboats, cargo equipment, and – quite importantly – the trucks that move cargo containers to and from ports. A Volvo VNR electric truck used for drayage in Southern California. Volvo Trucks.

Air Pollution 226

Air Pollution Nitrogen Oxides Electricity Climate Change 226

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 22, 2022

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Most Minnesotans are familiar with their local electricity utility, since that’s who bills them for electricity they provide.

Renewable Energy 363

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Electricity 363

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

And, as it turns out, the infrastructure used to produce, store, distribute, transmit, and burn gas leaks like a sieve , making gas as bad as coal for the climate. Gas, which now generates 40 percent of US electricity, is considered by some to be critical to maintain grid reliability. First, there’s air pollution.

Clean Energy 356

Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides Fossil Fuels Electricity 356

Legal Planet

JANUARY 4, 2023

The City of Los Angeles is going into the new year with a big new building-decarbonization ordinance : starting this year, nearly all new buildings in the city will have to be entirely electric. All-electric as the new normal. And getting buildings to use electric appliances isn’t enough.

Fossil Fuels 246

Fossil Fuels Electricity Climate Change Natural Gas 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Replacing petroleum with renewable electricity as the primary source of transportation energy will leave us all much better off. The impacts of climate change are upon us, a consequence of over a century of global warming emissions from human activity. An average global temperature change greater than 1.5

Electricity 290

Electricity Biofuels Technology Technology 290

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Yet in 2023, China accounted for about 60% of the world’s new renewables and electric vehicles. Will that change? accounting for over 10% of China’s electricity. Chinese government support for manufacturing of clean technologies may be partly due to concern about climate change and urban air pollution.

Clean Energy 277

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy 2009 277

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 13, 2024

As electric vehicle charging stations sprout like mushrooms along our roads and clusters of new wind turbines come online, these two clean energy solutions to the climate crisis are becoming more commonplace. Also more commonplace are the obvious , dangerous , and destructive effects of climate change on people and communities.

Fossil Fuels 275

Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Electricity Climate Change 275

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 3, 2023

According to the California Energy Commission, more than one in five of all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state at the start of this year was a zero-emission vehicle, which includes plug-in hybrids, battery electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles. More than 16 percent of new cars sold this year are fully electric plug-ins.

Electricity 278

Electricity Regulations 2026 Air Pollution 278

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

When thinking about global emissions, don’t picture an individual—point your finger at powerful corporations, specifically the 88 companies that are largely responsible for climate change. The study focused on the member states of the United States Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Fossil Fuels 321

Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 321

Legal Planet

JUNE 28, 2024

Among the bases for that challenge is an argument that EPA lacks statutory authority under the Clean Air Act to grant a waiver for ACT because it cannot itself mandate electric vehicle adoption, and so cannot grant a waiver to California to set such a mandate.

Clean Air Act 304

Clean Air Act Regulations Climate Change Air Pollution 304

Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Another is that the costs of renewable energy and electric vehicles have declined so greatly in the past ten years, making them more or less competitive with their fossil-fuel alternatives. They also reduce air pollution and benefit public health. In short, maybe we can have our cake and eat it too.

Carbon Emissions 246

Carbon Emissions Fossil Fuels 2007 Air Pollution 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 24, 2023

Over the past several years, the USPS worked to plan the replacement of its aging delivery truck fleet with a mix of both electric and combustion vehicles. If electric delivery vehicle deployment is maximized, this transition could have significant positive impacts on both air quality and the larger adoption of commercial electric vehicles.

Air Pollution 238

Air Pollution Electricity 2026 2022 238

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 19, 2022

The science is clear: Limiting the adverse effects of climate change requires rapid reductions in emissions now. A recent Union of Concerned Scientists analysis found that Minnesota could meet its electricity demands with 100-percent renewable energy by 2035, which would provide significant economic and health benefits.

Clean Energy 263

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Electricity 263

Legal Planet

MARCH 7, 2025

Lets fast forward to today; more than half a century of government housing policy favoring sprawling, car-dependent development has spawned long commutes, increased exposure to air pollution, and segregated communities. And across the United States, the transportation sector is now the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Nitrogen Oxides 130

Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution Government 2013 130

Legal Planet

JUNE 13, 2022

The national electricity plan projected that renewables will exceed coal in 2027. Much of the shift may have been due to recognition that renewables would provide more energy independence and would help get India’s crippling urban air pollution under control. Natural gas, oil, and nuclear are minor players. As in the U.S.,

2030 246

2030 Carbon Emissions Sea Level 2027 246

Law Columbia

JUNE 4, 2024

Can the new advisory opinion interpreting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) move us beyond the lethargy of unmet climate change policy needs ? By accepting the COSIS request, ITLOS boldly advanced the international law of climate change to take full account of its harmful impacts on the marine environment.

Climate Change 136

Climate Change Ocean Paris Agreement Carbon Dioxide 136

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 18, 2022

The US Supreme Court’s recent decision dramatically limiting EPA’s ability to curb carbon emissions is bad news for our fight against climate change. Accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption. For that final package, what we’re looking for from the conference committee is ambition.

Clean Energy 264

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Electricity 264

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 7, 2024

2023 was a milestone year for electric car sales in the US. That is A LOT of EVs and A LOT less oil use, air pollution and climate emissions. But it shouldn’t be surprising that the transition to electric vehicles might not be a straight line up, up and up. The stakes frankly have never been higher.

Electricity 363

Electricity Climate Change 2023 Environmental Protection 363

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Interest in electric vehicles (EVs) is strong among U.S. That’s great news because swapping gasoline and diesel vehicles for EVs is an essential strategy to reduce local air pollution and climate change emissions from transportation. Are electric vehicles practical in rural areas?

Electricity 274

Electricity Air Pollution Climate Change Government 274

PA Environment Daily

MAY 17, 2024

PennFuture celebrated 25 years of fighting climate change and industrial pollution by holding anniversary celebrations in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to honor seven Pennsylvanians for their contributions to restoring and protecting the environment. In 2011, Kraybill purchased his first electric car, a Chevy Volt.

Climate Change 120

Climate Change Fossil Fuels Clean Energy 2006 120

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 21, 2022

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is currently considering one of the most critical rules for air quality and climate change in many, many years. CARB must account for the varying levels of pollution of the different trucks and a lower fleet threshold for tractor trucks is the most effective way to do this.

Nitrogen Oxides 203

Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution Regulations Climate Change 203

Legal Planet

MARCH 3, 2022

They are also disproportionate sources of air pollution. We need to make this a national goal, with the ultimate goal of shifting entirely to electric trucks for short-haul shipping. At least with present technology, electric batteries do not seem to be a viable solution for long-haul trucking.

Biofuels 246

Biofuels Carbon Emissions Air Pollution Electricity 246

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 11, 2022

The Public Utility Commission is inviting comments on a petition from ChargEVC-PA requesting the Commission to issue a Policy Statement on electric utility rate design for electric vehicle charging in PA. The burning of transportation fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, is a substantial source of air pollution.

Electricity 98

Electricity Air Pollution Ozone Fossil Fuels 98

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Like many other public-serving institutions throughout society, electricity and gas utilities are facing calls to be more equitable in their operations, planning, and treatment of customers. For example, think of how unequal burdens manifest themselves amid Danger Season , when a range of climate impacts hit increasingly hard.

Electricity 303

Electricity Fossil Fuels Air Pollution Renewable Energy 303