California has an impressive history of achieving ambitious infrastructure projects. From the Golden Gate bridge to the networks of freeways, our state has demonstrated the capability to boldly address infrastructure challenges head-on.
As we look to make the cars and trucks that drive on these roads pollution-free, we are faced with a new infrastructure challenge — creating a network of charging stations to power hundreds of thousands of new electric cars and trucks.
Thanks to the California Air Resources Board’s commitment to cleaning up tailpipe pollution, we’ve seen a surge in demand for electric vehicles across the state. EVs are not only exciting to drive with increased range, but they also cut air pollution — making it easier to breathe in some of the most polluted cities in the nation.
Now, California is leading the charge on electrifying the most deadly vehicles on our roads — the diesel delivery and big-rig trucks that spew cancer-causing soot and smog. While these trucks make up only 7% of the total vehicles on our roads, they’re responsible for more than 50% of the smog and soot in our air. Electrifying these trucks will save lives, especially in low-income communities and communities of color where they’re disproportionally exposed to more diesel truck pollution.
The Advanced Clean Fleets standard, which will be adopted by CARB this month, will greatly reduce diesel fleet pollution by gradually transitioning them to pollution-free trucks. This will create certainty in the market for electric truck technologies and infrastructure, which means new opportunities for workers.
I am a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — the nationally recognized electrical workers union — and we are ready to install vital EV charging infrastructure that will make a 100% pollution-free, life-saving EV truck fleet possible. We’re trained and prepared to work on the next generation of job-creating, job-protecting infrastructure projects.
No project is too big. We’re already installing charging infrastructure for massive pollution-free freight projects like the one at the Port of San Diego that fulfills their zero-emissions cargo terminal plans. We can replicate infrastructure efforts like this across the state with a robust and growing workforce of talented, qualified electricians. There are about 3,000 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certified electricians in the state right now with hundreds more being certified annually.
In addition to protecting and expanding opportunities for a skilled workforce, deploying infrastructure that connects heavy-duty electric vehicles to California’s clean energy grid can save fleets and average electricity consumers money on their fuel and energy bills. It can also help keep the lights on when we employ new technologies that create a two-way flow of energy that allows these vehicles to store and put electricity back into the grid when demand is greatest.
And we will help make the electricity we use cleaner, as this same two-way technology will allow the storage and release of clean, renewable energy when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Billions of state, federal and private dollars are being invested to make these benefits a reality.
We’re ready to work on major freight hubs and truck stops that will electrify fleets now and save lives. We have the experience to make the trucking fleet pollution-free targets a reality. It’s time to go big and bold on California’s next game-changing infrastructure project — let’s build the infrastructure for zero-emissions transportation now and secure a cleaner future for all.
Cristina Marquez is the environmental organizer at IBEW Local 569 in San Diego.