Complete list of press releases

(WASHINGTON – Apr. 22, 2021) President Joseph Biden Jr. has nominated Dr. Richard Spinrad as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a key role in advancing administration-led efforts to reduce and understand climate impacts and promote healthy oceans, coasts and fisheries. The following is a statement from Eric Schwaab, Senior Vice President, Ecosystems and Oceans and a former administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service at NOAA under the Obama administration:

“I congratulate Dr. Spinrad on his nomination to be the 11^th NOAA administrator once confirmed by the Senate. President Biden knows how important this agency is to each and every business and community that depends on it for weather and climate forecasting, management of our fisheries, stewardship of our ocean and coasts, safe navigation of our seas and so much more.

“Dr. Spinrad is an internationally recognized scientist with more than 35 years of experience in government and academia. Dr. Spinrad served as NOAA chief scientist in the Obama Administration and served at the head of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the National Ocean Service.

“As the nation’s premier science and marine resource management agency, NOAA is in a critical position to help deliver on the Biden administration’s climate, conservation and economic agendas. I had the privilege to work alongside Dr. Spinrad during my time at NOAA, and I saw firsthand how dedicated he is to NOAA’s mission and its people. He understands and consistently communicates how critical NOAA is to the nation and to each citizen. After four years of neglect and denial of science, Dr. Spinrad is the perfect person to bolster the spirits of the NOAA workforce, align them around the critical work before us, and personally lead the way forward. The women and men of NOAA — the scientists and resource managers, the ship captains and airplane pilots, the disaster response experts and weather forecasters — couldn’t ask for a better leader to restore scientific integrity and honor the agency’s mission.

“All of us at EDF look forward to working with Dr. Spinrad, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and the incoming team to tackle a host of issues long ignored by the outgoing administration. We are encouraged by the selection of Karen Hyun as chief of staff and other key appointments. NOAA’s diverse responsibilities — across weather, climate, fisheries and more — make the team as important as the leadership. The coming years will be crucial for coastal communities that face serious threats from rising seas and more intense hurricanes. Strong leadership at NOAA can help ensure federal, state and community leaders have the best available science to make decisions that create a more resilient future.

“Nowhere is this more true than in the management of our critical resources like U.S. fisheries. This country has some of the best managed fisheries in the world and is poised to usher in a new era of climate resilience that will give our fishermen and women new tools to help secure their futures. We can also bring America’s fishing industry into the 21^st century by developing and implementing new technologies to capture vital data, increase communications between ships and shore, and ensure fish stocks are sustainably managed. And we can finally reach the goal of promoting sustainable aquaculture here at home, which creates healthy seafood, economic opportunity and sustainable use of the ocean.”

(Washington, D.C. – April 22, 2021) The Biden administration just took the first step toward restoring state authority to protect Americans from the harmful pollution from cars and passenger trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a proposal to rescind a Trump administration rule that wrongly declared California’s state greenhouse gas and zero emission vehicle standards to be preempted by federal law.

“Today’s proposal is a welcome step toward repealing the Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to override states’ rightful authority to protect people from harmful motor vehicle pollution,” said EDF senior attorney Alice Henderson. “California has played a time-tested role in establishing standards that reduce the harmful pollution from cars and trucks. These standards, which have longstanding bipartisan support, have helped to unlock technological advances that have had critical health and climate benefits in the state, across the country, and around the world.”

President Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office that directed EPA and NHTSA to consider publishing, by April of 2021, “a proposed rule suspending, revising, or rescinding” the Trump administration’s 2019 attack on state authority. Today’s proposal would take NHTSA’s preemption rule off the books on the grounds that issuance of the rule was improper under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. EPA is expected to soon issue a notice proposing to reinstate California’s Clean Air Act waiver for the greenhouse gas and zero-emission vehicle standards.

The Biden administration’s full restoration of traditional state authority to address motor vehicle pollution will help America address our growing climate crisis, and reduce vehicle pollution that results in more than 20,000 premature deaths each year. California and other states will be able to again implement standards that will meet these public health crises, which disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color.

California has served as a testing ground for innovation in emission control for over 50 years, with programs that have incentivized the development of technologies that have been deployed across the country and the globe. The state is now embarking on the process of setting the next generation of Advanced Clean Car standards, which have the potential to accelerate deployment of zero-emitting vehicles. EDF is also encouraging the Biden administration to move forward swiftly with federal emission standards and investments in high-quality domestic jobs to eliminate pollution from new passenger vehicles by 2035 and move the country toward a fully zero-emission transportation sector by 2050.

At the Leaders Summit on Climate today, three governments and nine leading companies announced a groundbreaking coalition to mobilize at least $1 billion this year for large-scale forest protection and sustainable development, which is designed to benefit Indigenous peoples and forest communities. Known as LEAF, for “Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance,” the global initiative represents by far the single largest private-sector investment to protect tropical forests. The first-moving participants include Airbnb, Amazon, Bayer, Boston Consulting Group, GlaxoSmithKline, McKinsey & Company, Nestle, Salesforce, and Unilever, as well as the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and Norway. More participants are expected to join in coming months. The results-based financing model used in LEAF builds on work by Environmental Defense Fund over two decades, in collaboration with Indigenous communities, forest peoples, Brazilian and U.S. NGOs, and other partners, to protect the Amazon and tropical forests globally. 
 
“The LEAF Coalition is a game-changer in the fight to save tropical forests — a new model for catalyzing finance, at a scale that is truly up to the challenge. Forests are vital to meeting the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. They sustain the livelihoods and traditions of Indigenous  peoples and forest communities. And they provide myriad other benefits, housing wondrous biodiversity and helping to regulate weather patterns on continental scales. 

“As Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Executive Director of Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education) said: ‘The power of this Coalition is the example it sets, in particular for companies, whose participation is needed to mobilize the funding needed to protect tropical forests. The LEAF Coalition sets a high standard for how companies can supplement deep cuts in their own emissions by investing in additional emission reductions from tropical and subtropical forests and also by ensuring that the rights of indigenous peoples who have and who continue to protect these forests are respected and fulfilled. These emissions reductions are not a substitute – but come in addition to – deep cuts in emissions from their own value chains in line with science-based reduction targets.’

“Tropical and subtropical countries have proven it’s possible to protect forests and grow their economies. What they need now is investment at scale to support truly sustainable development, to protect against illegal land clearing, and to benefit the Indigenous peoples and traditional communities who steward the forest.

“The companies participating are committing to reduce emissions from their own operations and supply chains in line with what the science demands. Leadership on climate must also mean companies working with partners to address their local impacts on air and water pollution that disproportionately harms the health of marginalized communities. What LEAF offers companies is the opportunity to do even more: to contribute to global emissions reductions above and beyond what they can achieve on their own, by protecting tropical and subtropical forests.

“This announcement is just the tip of the iceberg. Going forward, the new model of forest finance being pioneered by LEAF could channel tens of billions of dollars per year into ensuring sustainable livelihoods for Indigenous peoples and forest communities, advancing sustainable development in forest countries, and protecting global forests on the scale needed to address the climate crisis. 

“LEAF also represents a new step forward in social and environmental integrity. Rigorous social and environmental safeguards are at the core of the TREES standard that will be used to measure and verify emissions reductions. Those safeguards incorporate the input of experts from around the globe and reflect the success of years of Indigenous peoples’ advocacy in the UN climate negotiations for these rights and protections in forest protection policies. 

“The LEAF Coalition comes at a critical juncture. Ending tropical and subtropical forest loss by 2030 is vital to achieving global climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals as well as sustaining the well-being and cultures of Indigenous peoples and other forest communities. We are running out of time, and the fate of the world’s forests — and climate — is in the balance. It’s not a moment too soon to mobilize investment at scale.”

• Nathaniel Keohane, Senior Vice President, Climate

# # #

Background

LEAF will use rigorous criteria set by an independent standard, The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) established by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions’ (ART), to ensure emissions reductions are real and verified and that social and environmental safeguards are respected. 

The initiative is being administered by Emergent Forest Finance Accelerator, a non-profit connector of companies that want to buy credits or otherwise finance high-quality tropical forest emissions reductions and the tropical forest jurisdictions that can generate these reductions. EDF, working with partners, helped to establish ART. EDF set up Emergent in 2019, because we saw the need for a new, innovative financing facility that could catalyze transactions for high-quality tropical forest protection credits at scale.  

EDF also partnered with Emergent and the United Nations REDD Programme (UN-REDD) to launch the Green Gigaton Challenge, a global initiative to catalyze funding for one gigaton (billion tons) of high-quality emissions reductions from tropical forests by 2025. Nathaniel Keohane, EDF’s Senior Vice President for Climate, serves on the board of Emergent, and Ruben Lubowski, EDF’s Associate Vice President for Forests and Climate and Chief Natural Resource Economist, is a senior operating advisor for Emergent.

For more information on the LEAF Coalition, visit www.leafcoalition.org.
 

Today, the Biden administration announced an ambitious and credible emissions target under the Paris Agreement, called a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030.

“By announcing a bold target of cutting emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade, President Biden has met the moment and the urgency that the climate crisis demands. The message from the White House is clear: The United States is ready to go all-in to beat the climate crisis. This target aligns with what the science says is necessary to put the world on the path to a safer climate, and vaults the U.S. into the top tier of world leaders on climate ambition. And it’s backed up by numerous analyses demonstrating that it can be met through multiple pathways using existing technologies.

“For four years, the world wondered what’s going on with the United States. Now they’re going to have to race to keep up. With this ambitious and credible target, the U.S. has joined the European Union and UK at the top of the global league table, recaptured a leadership role on climate — and positioned itself to push for greater global ambition in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow. Now it’s time for other major emitters to follow suit and commit to deeper reductions in their own emissions over this next decisive decade.

“Going bold on climate will help America create the jobs of the future. By taking swift action to invest in clean industries and technologies, the United States can supercharge its competitiveness in the global clean energy economy. Leading businesses and investors already know this: That’s why over 400 of them called on the administration to cut emissions at least 50% by 2030.

“With this target in place, there’s not a moment to lose to start achieving it with a whole-of-government approach that leverages action from the White House and Congress. The Biden administration can jumpstart progress by putting in place critical clean air and climate protections under existing law and by working with Congress to enact transformative investments in the American Jobs Plan. These measures can support millions of good-paying union jobs and improve air quality for low-income communities and communities of color that have borne and continue to bear a disproportionate share of harmful pollution. 

“Critical near-term actions are available in three sectors: power, transportation, and methane from oil and gas. A key step toward meeting the 2030 target is an enforceable Clean Electricity Standard for the power sector that ensures reductions of 80% below 2005 by the end of the decade. With transportation as the largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. as well as a significant source of air pollution, electrifying cars, trucks and buses will be essential. And as the administration takes aggressive action to cut carbon emissions, it must also double down on actions to reduce methane — the most immediate opportunity the world has to reduce warming now. As the world’s largest oil and gas producer, the U.S. has both an opportunity and responsibility to take swift action to reduce oil and gas methane pollution here at home and be a leader in catalyzing international action on this global problem.

“As the administration implements a whole-of-government approach to meet this target, it should ensure that policies expand access to economic opportunity, reduce exposure to harmful air pollution and empower American workers in every community. 

“We look forward to working with the administration, Congress, state and local leaders, businesses and advocates to help turn this bold commitment into strong policy action that delivers.”

• Nathaniel Keohane, Senior Vice President for Climate at EDF

“All children deserve a healthy environment and that includes a clean commute to school. As students in the United States transition back to in-person schooling, this is a critical time to accelerate the shift of our school bus fleets from polluting diesel to clean electric buses. That’s why we are grateful to Senators Padilla (D-CA) and Warnock (D-GA) and Representatives Hayes (D-CT) and Cardenas (D-CA) for introducing the Clean Commute for Kids Act, ensuring that the transition to a clean transportation future includes every person in the United States, even those too young to drive. 

“Clean school buses are a vital part of ensuring climate pollution reductions and improving the health of students, one of the populations most affected by climate impacts and poor air quality in the United States. This bill will increase deployment of electric school buses and supporting infrastructure throughout the United States, especially in low-income school districts. It will also help scale up the ability of electric school buses to provide critical grid services which increases resiliency and can provide new economic opportunities for local communities.”

• Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President, Political Affairs

The Clean Commute for Kids Act creates a grant program in the EPA to reauthorize the clean school bus authority and provide $25 billion over ten years to fund zero emission school buses. It also calls for the EPA to coordinate with the Department of Energy to explore advanced capabilities for electric buses, including their ability to increase grid resiliency and provide new economic opportunities through vehicle-to-grid technology.

(SACRAMENTO, CA – April 21, 2021) After two straight years of dry winters in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation today that declared a drought emergency in two counties and ordered additional steps to encourage water conservation across the state.

Even before the proclamation, the California Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reduced their delivery forecasts to farmers and cities last month. Urban water agencies also are starting to require customers to cut water use.

“EDF applauds Gov. Newsom for setting the wheels in motion for coordinated activities among several state agencies to accelerate both short-term targeted emergency actions where drought impacts are most severe and long-term preparedness for more extreme swings in weather caused by climate change. With climate change, even in the dry years, we have to assume the next year may be even worse,” said Ann Hayden, Senior Director, Western Water and Resilient Landscapes, Environmental Defense Fund.

“One immediate priority should be protecting drinking water for lower-income communities who have historically been overlooked and in some areas actually saw their wells dry up during the last drought. And we must be vigilant about protecting our environment, which is stressed even in moderate years and has fewer options for adjusting in drought. Additional support and new approaches also must be developed to help California’s farmers and ranchers over the long term — not just in a drought year — given their crucial role in providing food for our entire country. More funding, better information for decision-making, and innovative new water and land use strategies are critical to ensuring the resilience of California in the face of climate change.”

EDF is working on several fronts to help address both short-term and long-term water scarcity challenges in California, including:

• OpenET: A new online platform that that will make satellite-based water data widely accessible and actionable in 17 western states. OpenET will go live this summer and will enable a wide range of water conservation tools.
   
• AB 252: A bill sponsored by EDF and introduced by Assemblymembers Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) to create a new program to provide incentive payments to landowners who voluntarily and strategically repurpose at least some portion of their agricultural land to other less water-intensive uses for at least 10 years. The bill is designed to help communities transition to balancing groundwater supply and demand under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The bill passed unanimously out of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife April 8 and goes next to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
   
• Additional SGMA guidance and tools are available at edf.org/sgma, including the new guide Advancing Strategic Land Repurposing and Groundwater Sustainability in California.

(Washington, DC - April 21, 2021) Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), today introduced the Clean Energy for America Act, a bill that would create an emissions-based incentive program to spur unprecedented growth in clean power, clean transportation and energy efficiency.  

“Senator Wyden’s plan provides economic certainty for clean energy producers and consumers, which is key as we transition to a healthier future,” said Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp. “By making the tax code smarter to reward investment in clean energy while removing incentives for fossil fuels, the measure will unleash the innovation needed to slash climate pollution in our power, transportation and buildings sectors.” 

This tax framework is technology-neutral and would allow power producers to qualify for either a production tax credit or an investment tax credit for facilities with zero or net negative carbon emissions. It also allows homeowners to qualify for an investment tax credit to install onsite carbon-free generation.  

Additionally, the measure provides a 30% investment tax credit for qualifying grid improvements like energy storage and transmission, which will enable the deployment of additional zero emission power and improve grid stability and resilience. Investments in zero emission renewable electricity or energy storage in qualifying low-income areas would receive even higher incentives.  

On transportation, the measure ramps up consumer incentives for electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure – helping to address two critical elements to wide-spread deployment, price and range anxiety. Commercial vehicles will now have access to a tax credit worth 30% of the vehicle’s purchase price. This will lower prices, especially for heavy and medium-duty vehicles. The bill also provides incentives for fuels with lifecycle carbon emissions at least 25% cleaner than the current U.S. nationwide average. 

Finally, it would provide performance-based incentives to increase energy efficiency in new and existing homes and commercial buildings.

“George Floyd’s name has been chanted by people around the world and will never be forgotten. It is fitting that with today’s verdict, the jury has held his murderer, Derek Chauvin, fully accountable for the crime. Our thoughts are with the Floyd family and all of those affected by this murder.

“The jury’s decision does not release us from the need to work for change. Even as the trial was in progress, we saw the police killing of Daunte Wright, an innocent Black man, and so many others. As The New York Times reports, ‘since testimony began on March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement nationwide, with Black and Latino people representing more than half of the dead. As of Saturday, the average was more than three killings a day.’ It is the responsibility of all Americans to do all we can to fundamentally change the status quo. The racism that remains in our legal system must be rooted out.

“EDF will continue to speak out on these issues, and we will continue to deepen our work to promote equity – both within EDF and in the ways that environmental benefits and harms are experienced in our communities. This cannot be a moment for America to drift back into complacency. We must – and at EDF, we will – continue our work toward being a better organization, a better ally, and a force for good.”

- Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund

(Olympia, WA – April 20, 2021) Today, the Washington House took the next step toward reducing harmful climate and air pollution by passing Senate Bill 5126, the Climate Commitment Act out of the House Appropriations Committee. The legislation would create a cap-and-invest program that – through a binding limit across all major sectors of the economy – will aggressively slash carbon emissions giving Washington a powerful tool to meet the state’s 2030, 2040 and 2050 goals. The bill includes crucial and innovative measures designed to reduce local pollution in historically overburdened communities alongside greenhouse gas emissions. This important legislation will next be considered by the full House of Representatives.

“Washington’s elected leaders are modeling for other states what strong climate action looks like. By capping emissions from all major sectors of the economy, requiring emissions reductions that can meet its ambitious goals, and designing their climate program to simultaneously make progress  addressing air pollution in local communities, this bill provides strong solutions that match the ambition needed from states on the climate crisis. The Climate Commitment Act can play an essential role in ensuring that Washington can transition to a clean energy economy while investing in communities across state. We are excited to see it continue to move through the House and quickly to Governor Inslee’s desk.”

• Katelyn Roedner Sutter, Senior Manager for U.S. Climate

Read more about how the Climate Commitment Act could provide a model for other states to follow in this EDF blog.

(WASHINGTON, DC) The Growing Climate Solutions Act was today reintroduced in the Senate by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mike Braun (R-IN) and a bipartisan group of 34 other senators.

“The Growing Climate Solutions Act is the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to help ensure farmers, ranchers and foresters benefit from reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience. With widespread support on both sides of the aisle, from environmentalists and agriculture groups, it has a real chance of becoming law this Congress.

“Agricultural carbon markets have been rapidly proliferating over the past few years, presenting big opportunities for farmers. This bill asks the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set the rules of the road and ensure carbon mitigation and sequestration claims are verified by the best available science. That’s a great role for USDA to play, while still allowing for private sector innovation.

“When implementing the bill, USDA should take the lead on ensuring that market access and revenue benefits are equitable, particularly for Black farmers and farmers of color who have faced discrimination by the agency, and for farmers who rent their land or manage smaller acreage operations who can have a harder time participating in carbon markets.

“Agriculture has a great opportunity to measurably contribute to climate solutions, from cutting emissions of nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide, to storing carbon. EDF commends the bill’s co-sponsors for seeing this potential and paving the way for farmers to benefit from providing climate solutions.”  

EPA’s Office of the Inspector General issued a report today confirming the Trump administration violated transparency, record-keeping, and other procedural requirements during the rulemaking process for the rollback of the federal Clean Car standards.

“This report confirms what we have long known – that this deeply flawed rollback was not only legally unsound in its substance, but so mired in procedural deficiencies that the administration’s own Office of Management and Budget raised concerns about its legality,” said Environmental Defense Fund senior attorney Alice Henderson. “Today’s findings underscore how important it is for EPA to reclaim its role in reducing harmful vehicle air pollution, and to move swiftly to create multipollutant vehicle standards that will fulfill the agency’s duty to protect public health and welfare.”

The Inspector General’s audit found that NHTSA alone “performed all major technical assessments for the rule,” and that “EPA did not follow its established process for developing regulatory actions,” including a failure to “conduct analysis related to executive orders on the impacts of modified GHG standards on vulnerable populations.” Many of the rule’s violations were also highlighted in a February 2020 memo from Senator Tom Carper to the EPA Inspector General.

“EPA must step up to its statutory role and responsibility to protect human health and the environment from climate and air pollution and, consistent with the recommendations in the report, immediately release all interagency documents related to the rollback,” said Henderson. “With the transportation sector poised for transformation, the Biden administration must now seize the opportunity to implement pollution standards and make needed investments in domestic manufacturing and jobs. That will help us eliminate tailpipe pollution from new passenger vehicles by 2035, putting us on the path to a clean transportation sector by 2050.”

(Washington, D.C. – April 20, 2021) U.S. and global markets for electric cars, freight trucks and buses grew last year in spite of the pandemic – one of many signs of robust enthusiasm for zero-emission vehicles, according to a new report commissioned by Environmental Defense Fund.

M.J. Bradley and Associates released the fourth update of its Electric Vehicle Market Status Report today.

“Manufacturers, consumers, and major fleets are continuing to embrace zero-emission cars, freight trucks and buses, even in an intensely difficult year, said EDF Associate Vice President of Clean Air Strategies Peter Zalzal. “Zero emitting vehicles are clearly the future of transportation. Today’s strong markets and rapid innovation, combined with protective standards for both cars and freight trucks and buses, will allow us to cut climate and health-harming pollution, create new jobs, and save American families money.”

EDF began commissioning the reports in May 2019 to track the current status and projected growth of the electric vehicle industry. The latest update finds that despite the pandemic, sales of electric vehicles grew from 2019 to 2020 in many places around the world while car sales shrank overall:

• In the U.S., electric vehicle sales grew 4 percent while overall car sales decreased 15 percent
• In Europe, electric vehicle sales increased 135 percent while overall car sales decreased 24 percent
• Overall, global electric vehicle sales increased 46 percent

Other key developments for zero-emission vehicle markets since the last update in January include:

• President Biden’s newly-released American Jobs Plan calls on Congress to invest $621 billion in transportation infrastructure and resilience, including a $174 billion investment to “win the EV market.”
• Virginia became the thirteenth state and the first in the South to adopt California’s low-emissions vehicle and zero-emissions vehicle standards.
• Ford announced it would commit $22 billion to electrification – almost twice its previous pledge – and said its entire European passenger vehicle line would be electric or hybrid in five years, by mid-2026.
• General Motors set a goal to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new cars by 2035. GM also announced that Chevy will produce an electric Silverado pickup at its Detroit plant.
• Volvo announced it would be a fully electric car company by 2030, and would phase out any car in its global portfolio with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids.
• LG Energy Solution announced it will invest more than $4.5 billion by the end of 2025 to expand its battery production in the U.S. That could create as many as 10,000 new jobs.
• The Montgomery County Public School district in Maryland – one of the largest in the country, with 160,000 students – committed to electrify its 1,400 school buses.
• FedEx announced that its entire parcel pickup and delivery fleet will be zero–emission electric vehicles by 2040.

You can read the full report here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Washington, D.C.- April 20, 2021) Today, Environmental Defense Fund launched a national campaign to counter long-running efforts by oil industry lobbyists and their allies to undermine progress on clean transportation. The campaign, including TV and online advertising, social media, and grassroots activities will begin in five states (Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Pennsylvania) and Washington, D.C. this week.President Biden’s American Jobs Plan includes $174 billion to spur the electric vehicle market to transition away from polluting vehicles. The plan is a direct threat to the profits of the oil industry and it has already signaled it will seek to undermine pro-clean vehicles policies. Those attacks, often misleading, are not something the environmental community will take lying down.

“The oil industry profits by keeping us addicted to the gas pump, so its lobbyists will fight against anything that threatens to break that dependence. President Biden’s plan to move the United States to clean cars, trucks and buses, will mean healthier communities, cleaner air, a safer climate — and getting the oil industry’s hands off our wallets,” said Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President, Political Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund.

“Even as we see some responsible energy companies moving toward a cleaner future, we know the industry’s Washington lobbyists have a long and documented history of fighting clean transportation,” continued Gore. “We need to boost clean electric vehicles not only to help American consumers, but so we don’t lose these jobs to Europe and China — who are set to outcompete us as their governments lean in to EV development.”

EDF’s ad campaign calls out the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to slow the growth of the U.S. clean transportation industry and prolong the average American’s $175-a-month gasoline habit. The oil industry lobby has been using front groups like the Transportation Fairness Alliance and others to undermine clean transportation progress.

In fact, it needs to hide behind front groups because the majority of Americans don’t trust what the industry has to say about electric vehicles. A new EDF Action poll conducted by Morning Consult shows that fewer than 1 in 3 adults in the United States trust what the oil industry has to say about electric vehicles. Even among oil industry-friendly audiences, including conservatives, there is more mistrust of oil companies talking about electric vehicles than there is of environmental organizations.

Transitioning the U.S. transportation industry to clean cars, trucks and buses will create much needed jobs at home, improve air quality and health and promote a more equitable economy. Here are eleven facts about clean vehicles that counter misinformation disseminated by the oil lobby.

This new campaign builds upon EDF’s ongoing actions and significant investments to support clean energy and transportation including recent ads countering false claims that wind power outages in Texas caused massive power failures, and a series of targeted ads on the benefits of investing in clean energy and transportation. See additional materials from the ongoing efforts here.

See the ads here: 15 second ad, 30 second ad, banner ad.

See documentation of the industry’s history of attacking clean transportation here.

Today, RMI and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) launched the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) supported by founding companies Boeing, BCG, Deloitte, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Netflix, and Salesforce. SABA’s mission is to accelerate the path to net zero aviation by driving investment in high quality sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), catalyzing new SAF production and technological innovation, and supporting member engagement in policy-making.

Despite a temporary setback in global air travel due to COVID, aviation’s contribution to climate change is expected to grow in the coming years. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, demand for jet fuel could reach double pre-pandemic levels by 2050.

“The Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance adds momentum to existing airline-company partnerships that support the purchase of sustainable aviation fuels,” said Kelley Kizzier, Vice President of the Global Climate program at EDF. “SABA will build on the work of these early movers, many of whom seek a more scalable, standardized approach, by establishing a SAF certificate system with robust environmental criteria. Working with sustainability certification schemes, this system will verify and track emission reductions from SAF so that companies, organizations and even individual travelers can achieve their ambitious climate goals.”  

SABA is one piece of a much broader global effort to decarbonize aviation. The environmental community and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its members have been championing the role of SAF for over a decade. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition incubated many of the concepts SABA now takes forward to implementation.  

“We are excited to work with the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance and like-minded initiatives to develop the SAF certificate registry system, which will help make robust SAF certificates a reality for the broader community Clean Skies has worked so hard to build,” said Christoph Wolff, Global Head of Mobility at the World Economic Forum.

“SABA will build on the strong foundation of these global efforts, and develop a system that enables SAF to grow at the same pace and scale that renewable electricity grew over the last decade,” said Ned Harvey, Managing Director, Climate Intelligence, RMI. “The benefits of investing in SAF will go beyond the aviation sector, creating vast new clean energy jobs and new, sustainable revenue sources for farmers and tech innovators.”

Key aspects of SABA’s work will include:

• Education and Policy Support: SABA will help members navigate the technical aspects of SAF and the SAF market, aviation emissions accounting, and the SAF policy landscape.
• Technology Innovation: SABA will assess emerging SAF technologies and work with like-minded organizations to help address barriers to scale and cost reduction. 
• Investment Opportunity: SABA will establish a rigorous, transparent SAF certificate system enabling air transport customers – not only aircraft operators – to invest in high quality SAF to meet their ambitious climate goals. 

“The time is ripe to launch SABA now, as we begin to return to the skies and gather to celebrate Earth Day and support the U.S. Climate Summit,” said SABA Secretariat lead Kim Carnahan, former U.S. Chief Negotiator for Climate Change and Director of Disruption Technologies at ENGIE Impact.  “Today is just the beginning for SABA. We will announce additional founding companies soon and plan to open for broad membership at the COP26 climate conference in November 2021.”  

Visit business.edf.org/saba for more information. A recording of the webinar held today with the founding companies is available here. 

Company Quotes: 

Boeing

“Boeing has been a pioneer in making sustainable aviation fuels a reality, and we recently set the ambitious goal to make our commercial airplanes capable and certified to fly on 100% SAF by 2030. SABA provides us with the opportunity to reduce our business travel emissions through SAF certificates, while incentivizing more sustainable fuel production that will allow access for others, as well,” said Sheila Remes, Boeing Vice President of Environmental Sustainability.

BCG

“We are proud to be a founding member of the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance. BCG has set a bold ambition to achieve net-zero climate impact by 2030 and we support efforts to scale the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels and decarbonize air travel,” said Rich Lesser, CEO, BCG.

Deloitte

“We are proud to be a founding member of SABA and support its efforts to aggregate and increase demand for lower-carbon aviation fuel,” said Scott Corwin, Deloitte U.S. Leader for Sustainability and Climate Change. “Efforts such as SABA are important to harnessing the power of the market to set in motion and sustain the innovations needed to create a zero-carbon future.”

JPMorgan Chase

“We’re committed to advancing the development of new innovations that enable the transition to a lower-carbon world,” said Marisa Buchanan, Global Head of Sustainability, JPMorgan Chase. “As part of JPMorgan Chase’s efforts to help our clients reduce carbon emissions, and also achieve carbon neutrality within our own operational footprint, we’re excited to join the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance to help accelerate the path to net zero air transport.” 

Microsoft

“Microsoft has a bold commitment to become carbon negative by 2030 and this requires us to create innovative new solutions and partnerships,” said Elizabeth Willmott, Carbon Program Manager, Microsoft. “As a corporate buyer and vocal supporter of high quality SAF, we’re pleased to join together with companies leading on climate action to support SABA’s mission to decarbonize aviation and ultimately, increase SAF production and adoption.” 

Netflix 

“It’s impossible to stabilize the climate without decarbonizing aviation emissions. Air travel plays an important role in how Netflix entertains the world — we can’t produce films, TV series and nature documentaries without it. We’re co-founding the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance to build a future where climate-friendly air travel is possible, and invite other companies to join the charge,” said Emma Stewart, Ph.D., Netflix Sustainability Officer 

Salesforce

“At Salesforce, the environment is one of our key stakeholders. Over this past year, the way we live and work has changed dramatically, and now, more than ever, we must reimagine sustainable business travel and decarbonize aviation. As with all of climate action, we need an all of the above approach — to rethink when and how much we travel, about moving to digital wherever possible, and that long term we need Sustainable Aviation Fuel to play a critical role in driving air emissions to net zero,” said Patrick Flynn, VP of Sustainability at Salesforce. “We are proud to join SABA and help to accelerate the path to net zero air transport. Together, we can build a more equitable and sustainable world.”
 

(April 19, 2021) Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mike Braun (R-IN) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the bipartisan Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act in the Senate.

“Research has always been the backbone of agricultural innovation, but over the past few decades, federal research dollars haven’t kept up with the growing need.

“As climate change increases the pressures on agriculture, farmers and their advisers will need to call upon the latest research to help them build climate resilience and maintain productivity.

“This bill would help close the research funding gap by creating a competitive grant program for land-grant universities to study climate-smart agriculture and deploy that information through the Cooperative Extension System.

“The grant program would be open to all land-grant universities, including historically Black universities and tribal colleges and universities. This is an important callout in the bill to make the grant program and the solutions it generates more inclusive.

“Environmental Defense Fund looks forward to working with Congress to advance this and other bills to enhance equitable agricultural climate resilience solutions that benefit all.”