Should NJ mandate automakers sell only EVs and plug-in hybrids?

TRENTON — A group of politicians and refinery workers are pushing back on state and federal policies aimed at expanding the sales of electric vehicles, policies that would also limit sales of higher emission gas-powered vehicles.

On Tuesday morning, dozens of protestors and elected officials gathered outside of New Jersey Statehouse, where opponents of the electric vehicle policies carried signs that read "Save Our Jobs" and "Don't ban our cars." Others wore T-shirts printed with "I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning."

The protesters targeted a 2023 New Jersey initiative that mandates that all new passenger vehicle sales in the state – at least all those that weigh less than 8,500 pounds – be electric or plug-in electric hybrid by 2035.

While the rule does not force consumers to buy electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles, it affects manufacturers who sell cars in the state.

State as well as federal mandates also requires light- and medium-duty vehicles manufactured in 2027 and later to meet more stringent emissions standards.

New Jersey Business and Industry Association President Michele Siekerka said the mandates effectively ban future sales of gas-powered cars and trucks. She said the rules threaten jobs for workers across the nation as well as the freedom of choice for consumers.

"Should the government mandate you to buy anything? Should they mandate you to buy electric cars?" Assemblyman Gregory Myhre, the former mayor of Stafford, asked the crowd gathered outside the Statehouse. The crowd responded in one word: "no."

"We believe in freedom of choice," said Myhre, who represents central and southern Ocean County in Trenton. "The free market is what made cars a viable transportation option in the first place. In fact, the only thing the government has any responsibility (to do) with our cars is to ensure that they are roadworthy."

The rally included elected officials from across the region, union representatives from various trades and manufacturing groups, and refinery workers from New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, who worried about their future job prospects under the new rules.

Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said oil and refinery jobs have employed New Jersey families for generations, and those jobs are now at risk.

"My first real job was in a refinery, so I can't begin to tell you how important these jobs are," he said. "It's time we stand up to government and tell them we don't need them to be our parents and take our choices away… If we want gas, diesel, hybrid or electric vehicles, that should be our choice and our choice alone."

State Sen. Carmen Amato Jr., the former mayor of Berkeley Township who represents central and southern Ocean County in Trenton, said the mandate will be unaffordable and impractical for many middle- and lower-income drivers.

"We do not have the roadside infrastructure or grid power to allow most drivers to have an electric vehicle," said Amato. "We don't have a local on-the-street and in-the-driveway infrastructure for everyone to have one."

Ride sharing, mass transit and bicycles are not realistic alternates for many residents, he said.

While electric vehicles often have higher sticker prices than their gas-powered counterparts, state and federal incentives can make purchasing an EV more comparable.

For example, New Jersey has allocated $90 million in vehicle purchase incentives and another $3 million toward charger installation programs, according to the state Board of Public Utilities. Some EV buyers may also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax rebate on their purchase.

In addition, EVs come without the expense of gasoline, oil changes, and other sorts of maintenance required on combustion engines, said Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group.

Potosnak called Tuesday's Trenton protest a "pro-pollution, anti-children, pro-cancer, anti-clean air rally."

Transportation accounts for nearly half of New Jersey's greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

"Year after year, we have seen record-breaking annual temperatures," said Potosnak. "The heat wave is a reminder that this is going to be our new normal, and if we don't act now, it's only going to be worse."

The EV rules will be particularly helpful in New Jersey, not just to lower greenhouse gas emissions, but to help protect human health, said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, one of the state's largest environmental organizations. Exhaust from gas-powered vehicles leads to air pollution, like ground level ozone and particulate pollution, around some of the state's busiest highways and cities, she said. Such pollution can harm people with asthma, children, pregnant people and older adults, according to the American Lung Association.

"Even with really modern cars, right with… all the technologies to try to tone down the emissions from the cars, it's still making us sick," Ramos-Busot said.

The pollution is most heavily concentrated in lower-income communities and communities of color, she said.

To reduce this pollution and protect human health, the answer is to incentivize the manufacturing and purchase of electric vehicles and to quickly steer car makers away from fossil-fuel powered engines, Ramos-Busot said.

"How you do that is with very clear policy, regulations and pieces of law," she said. "The technology is here. It's effective. It's efficient."

In addition to New Jersey, 16 other states have adopted all or parts of policies included in what is known as the Advanced Clean Cars II program, a collection of vehicle and emissions standards first adopted in California. As a result of the widespread program adoption, 35% of new light-duty car and truck sales across the nation will meet zero emissions standards by 2035, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 15 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, [email protected] or 732-557-5701.