SACRAMENTO – Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an executive order requiring all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035, setting the path for more electric and other cleaner vehicles in California.
Following is a statement from Bob Keefe, executive director of the national nonpartisan business group E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs):
“This is good news for our environment but also good news for our economy.
“Companies that make electric and other zero-emission vehicles employed early 266,000 Americans at the end of last year – including nearly 41,000 Californians. Leadership like this will create even more jobs, while also addressing climate change and the economic costs that come with it.”
According to E2 research:
• 266,368 Americans worked in clean vehicles jobs nationwide at the end of 2019
• 40,627 Californians worked in clean vehicles jobs in California at the end of 2019
• 35,116 clean vehicles jobs were lost nationwide between March-August due to the COVID-19 economic meltdown
• In 2019, electric vehicles were CA’s 2nd most valuable export, worth over $7 billion in revenue
E2 got its start in California 20 years ago when a group of business leaders banded together to support California’s groundbreaking clean cars standard – the world’s first greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions legislation. The state’s shift to phase out all gas-powered vehicles is a logical next step, according to Keefe.
Additional Information:
Clean Jobs America 2020
Clean Jobs California 2020
Clean Energy Jobs and COVID-19 – August report