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Nevada will consider adopting new regulations requiring a larger percentage of cars sold in the state to be electric, so that by 2050 will achieve zero or near-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

According to AP News, Monday, June 22, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that Nevada will consider increasing the number of electric vehicles sold in the state. Sisolak’s “Clean Cars Nevada” initiative provides that by 2025, 6-8% of cars offered by car dealers for sale will be electric.

“This kind of decisive action is the first of many steps we will be taking as part of my commitment to addressing climate change under the State of Nevada Climate Initiative,” Sisolak said in a press release.

This move supports environmental efforts to reduce exhaust emissions in Nevada and throughout the nation. It follows Attorney General Aaron Ford’s decision to sign onto two multi-state lawsuits that challenge the federal government’s ability to loosen emissions standards.

The first lawsuit alleges the automobile emissions rules the Environmental Protection Agency announced for 2021-26, which would roll back some of the federal Clean Car Standards introduced in 2010, violates the Clean Air Act and other federal legislation.

The second lawsuit challenges a 2019 EPA decision to strip California of its ability to set stricter emission standards on auto-manufacturers, which it enjoys because it began regulating emission standards before the 1963 passage of the federal Clean Air Act.

Source: irei.com

Bradley Crowell, the director of Nevada’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said the state cannot solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions without addressing transportation. The standards were part of a broader push to tackle state climate change.

“Establishing new Clean Car Standards will help address the harmful impacts of climate change stemming from vehicle tailpipe pollution, while simultaneously advancing a stronger, more resilient economy for Nevada,” he said in a press release.

Patricia Valderrama, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Nevada Policy director, emphasized that it is difficult for Nevadans to find electric cars, because only about a dozen out of 40 are sold in Las Vegas.

Fourteen states have accepted or are considering adopting similar requirements in response to the federal government’s efforts to weaken the standards for clean cars set by automakers.