Gina McCarthy, the White House National Climate Adviser, serving under US President Joe Biden, has made a video address on World EV Day. During the video Gina celebrates World EV Day as a day of change, driving electric vehicle (EV) adoption and the United States’ commitment to electric vehicles.
World EV Day highlights and promotes the role of electric vehicles (EVs) in the move to net-zero and decarbonisation. It’s the brainchild of Ade Thomas and his team at green.tv who also deliver the hugely successful EV Summit.
The UK Cabinet Office will also be using World EV Day as a way of communicating their commitment to the COP26 climate goals and will be sharing the White House address.
Gina McCarthy, who was the 13th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013 to 2017, helped to spearhead policy actions like Clean Power Plan and the US’ first agreement to join the Paris Climate Agreement.
During the discussion, Gina enthuses about all things regarding electric vehicles. She talks about the importance of investing in, and capturing the future of the auto industry, to make a cleaner more sustainable future for generations to come.
Gina McCarthy, US National Climate Adviser, said: “I hope everyone is enjoying World EV Day. Let’s celebrate the fact that we have these terrific vehicles and the most exciting part of this is that these vehicles are so high performing. They make so much sense and do so much good for our air quality, as well as our climate challenge. This is hugely exciting. We know the future of vehicles is electric.
“We can see climate change happening in front of ours eyes but the great thing is we have solutions.” – Gina McCarthy
“Transportation is a significant focus of attention for a number of reasons. One of them is the fact it’s so important to our climate but it’s also a health concern. President Biden has been solid on this, looking at every opportunity to tackle the challenge of climate, recognising that it’s not just a planetary issue but is essentially an equity question.
“We know the communities that are left behind. We know those most vulnerable, the kids with asthma attacks and how many more we see in kids of colour. We know they’re facing significant air pollution much of which is related from the burning of fossil fuels in our vehicles.”
The address from the US National Climate Adviser is held in conversation with Ben Prochazka from the Electrification Coalition, who are one of World EV Day’s partners. The Electrification Coalition develops and implements a broad set of strategies to facilitate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
These strategies include policy development, advocacy campaigns, consumer education, fleet electrification, cultivation of bipartisan support, community electrification planning, EV supply chain development, and coalition building.
The Electrification Coalition are working to electrify the way we move through projects and programs like the American Cities Climate Challenge, State EV Policy Accelerator, Electrification Coalition Business Council, Freight Electrification Project and Climate Mayors EV Purchasing Collaborative.
“We know the future of vehicles is electric.” – Gina McCarthy
Ben Prochazka, Electrification Coalition executive director, said: “The Electrification Coalition is a national organisation that’s working at accelerating the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles across the US. We work at the intersection of policy and implementation at the local, state and federal level.
“We’re honoured to work with groups like NRDC (National Research Development Corporation). As part of the American Cities Climate Challenge, we helped to coordinate and lead the Smart City Challenge. We continue to work with a whole slew of policy and implementation actions across the country.
“When I choose to plug into the issue I had no idea how critical and important this was going to be in ending oil dependency and tackling climate change.”
Gina and Ben go on to discuss how important electric vehicles will be in the rebuilding of many communities, especially those that have been left behind. EVs will play a key role in providing jobs and helping to reconstruct these locations into profitable and clean communities.
“It’s time to celebrate the future because it’s now. We can make things happen and grow jobs. It’s not a sacrifice, it’s pure opportunity.” – Gina McCarthy
Gina McCarthy, US National Climate Adviser, added: “President Biden right out the gate didn’t just join the Paris Agreement, he also made a commitment with the climate and clean energy investments that we were going to make, and as you can see from $170 billion price tag just in the EV market place, it’s significant.
“We know there are communities that have been disinvested in. Those communities face disproportionate environmental impacts, not just from climate but traditional pollutants.
“We are going to make sure we go first and foremost to those communities and bring them the kind of vehicles that allows them to get out, bring the kind of jobs that allows them to participate in this new revolution and the future that we’re creating together.
“Hopefully, that will show them that America is back, not just for the wealthy but to rebuild our democracy from the middle out. We’re going to look for this union and high paying jobs. We’re going to look at investing in manufacturing, put people back to work and get them around in the cleanest vehicles ever.”
