For people who care about the planet, it seems beyond comprehension that an estimated 60 percent of Americans don’t know anything about electric vehicles (EVs) as we celebrate Earth Day 2017. That’s unfortunate, given how good they can be for the environment in reducing carbon emissions. It is alarming that at this critical time in our planet’s history the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently planning to recommend rolling back some of the current fuel economy requirements that would discourage automakers from making a faster transition from gasoline powered vehicles to EVs in greater volume. Former senior EPA official and author of “Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change With Cleaner, Smarter Cars” Margo T. Oge told the New York Times: “The rest of the world is moving forward with electric cars. If the Trump administration goes backward, the U.S. won’t be able to compete globally.”
That’s where people like you come in. You can join thousands of people at Change.org who are petitioning global car manufacturers to end the use of diesel to encourage EV adoption. Sometimes people wonder whether petitions make a difference — we see that they do, all the time like this victory related to DC fast chargers in California.
You can also support companies like Bollinger Motors, a new electric vehicle startup company based in New York, which will be debuting its first production electric truck in July at a hosted media event in New York City.
But the first step in helping to change the lack of awareness about electric vehicles is to learn more about them. You can learn more by reading some of these resources:
Bollinger, like Tesla, is winning the hearts and minds of those who want to mitigate climate change before it’s too late and Change.org is proud to work alongside Bollinger Motors as we think about concrete ways we can empower people to be the change they want to see in the world.