Regional Leaders Supporting Bipartisan Electrification Legislation

WASHINGTON, July 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –The Electrification Coalition (EC)
today released letters from the mayors of Houston, Indianapolis, Portland
(Oregon), and the Bay Area cities of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland,
strongly supporting the bipartisan, bicameral electrification legislation
introduced in May.

“The forefront of policy innovation in this country has long been at the local
level, and it will be no different with electrification of transportation,” EC
President Robbie Diamond said. “Outside of the Washington Beltway, the American
people are supporting electrification, and the leaders of the regions that will
compete to be electrification deployment communities are eager and ready to move
forward. This is just the start; we expect more and more local leaders to make
their voices heard. Cities are doing their part for electrification, as are the
companies across America that are already producing the vehicles, components,
and infrastructure; now it is time for federal policymakers to step up to the
plate.”

The letters can be found via the following links:

Houston Mayor Annise D. Parker:

http://electrificationcoalition.org/Houston_Support.pdf

Indianapolis Mayor Gregory A. Ballard:

http://electrificationcoalition.org/Indianapolis_Support.pdf

Portland Mayor Sam Adams:

http://electrificationcoalition.org/Portland_Support.pdf

Bay Area Mayors Chuck Reed (San Jose), Gavin Newsom (San Francisco), and Ronald
Dellums (Oakland): http://electrificationcoalition.org/Bay_Area_Support.pdf

On May 27, Republicans and Democrats in both the House and the Senate introduced
legislation designed to advance the wide-scale deployment of electric vehicles
and to develop the infrastructure needed to support them. The Senate bill,
entitled the “Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010″ was introduced by
Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
The House legislation, entitled the “Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of
2010,” was cosponsored by House Select Committee on Energy Independence and
Global Warming Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), Rep. Anna
Eshoo (D-CA), and Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA).

The legislation echoes recommendations put forward by the Electrification
Coalition, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders committed to
promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric
vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and
national security dangers caused by our nation’s dependence on petroleum. The
EC’s Electrification Roadmap,released in November 2009, proposed a set of
policies in which geographic areas would compete to be selected as
electrification deployment communities: specific areas in which targeted,
temporary financial incentives are employed so that all of the elements of an
electrified transportation system are deployed simultaneously.

SOURCE Electrification Coalition