The Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Energy Subcommittee is marking up H.R. 5518, legislation from Congressman A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., to authorize the Department of Energy Clean Cities Program.
Part of DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, the Clean Cities Program develops partnerships with local Clean Cities coalitions to leverage federal assistance to advance the deployment of alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure, education programs, and other activities to reduce petroleum.
McEachin introduced H.R. 5518 in December.
“The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution – contaminating our air and harming public health and our communities. Through sustainable transportation and energy efforts, the Clean Cities Program has enhanced the quality of life for residents of the Commonwealth and people across our country,” McEachin said. “From helping municipalities transition to cleaner vehicles to installing electric vehicle charging stations, Clean Cities coalitions play an important role in green infrastructure development. My legislation will ensure that their good work continues and today’s markup reinforces our shared support for a clean transportation future. Our climate crisis demands that we act now to clean our air and invest in the deployment of clean fuels and vehicles.”
“By advancing markets for cleaner fuels and vehicles, the Department of Energy Clean Cities Program has been one of the nation’s most effective tools in reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, cutting harmful air emissions, and demonstrating innovative advanced vehicle technologies,” stated Alleyn Harned, executive director of the Virginia Clean Cities Coalition and president of Transportation Energy Partners, a national, non-profit organization that brings the nation’s 90 Clean Cities coalitions together with the clean transportation industry to achieve energy independence by promoting policies that advance markets for cleaner fuels and vehicles.
“Here in Virginia, in 2018 alone, the Clean Cities Program helped us reduce consumption of 33 million gallons of gasoline and decrease 175,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” Harned said. “Congressman McEachin’s legislation to authorize the Clean Cities Program will institutionalize this successful program that has provided tremendous benefits to communities across the country.”
The DOE established the Clean Cities Program in 1993 as a partnership between public and private entities to help implement the Energy Policy Act of 1992. There are now about 90 coalitions in 45 states working with more than 15,000 stakeholders in the alternative fuels industry.
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