Report: EV rules will help Vermont make headway toward 2030 climate targets

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - According to an Energy Action Network report, Vermont is not on track to meet the first mark of our climate requirements by 2030. But with a suite of new rule changes coming around electric vehicles, the state is projected to make a dent.

The rule changes around electric vehicles that passed the Vermont legislative committee on rulemaking last week will get us to one-third of our emissions reductions in the transportation sector by 2030.

Those rules include requirements by car manufacturers to increase the percentage of EVs coming to Vermont each year until we are at 100% in 2035.

Jane Lazorchak of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources says because the rule changes don’t start impacting car manufacturers until 2026, the impacts take a bit to set in. But Lazorchak says the rules will make a huge impact on our emissions requirements by 2050.

“We expect by themselves these rules could get us all of our emissions reductions targets by 2050, we just have to implement them, but they will not be enough by 2030; we will need complementary policies and programs,” Lazorchak said.

Those programs and policies in the transportation sector include purchase incentives for EVs.

These rule changes do not require consumers to purchase EVs.

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