This month marks Minnesota’s first anniversary of the historic passage of the 100% clean energy law. This bold action taken by our governor and Legislature sets forth ambitious clean energy goals and directs future investments and policy for our electricity sector — but to meet our economy-wide goals, we can’t slow down now. An essential step to get to scale is to address the significant emissions within our transportation sector and set a Clean Transportation Standard.
The bulk of Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation and agriculture sectors, and this session the Legislature has the opportunity to address this problem head-on. They can do this by passing a Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard that will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in both the transportation and agriculture sectors, increase rural economic opportunities, improve soil health and water quality, and result in a more efficient and just energy transition for these highest emitting sectors.
The transportation sector is changing — and so too must our policies. That’s what makes a Clean Transportation Standard developed specifically for Minnesota so exciting. It’s a market-based solution customized to our state that will steer the transportation sector in the right direction while driving the adoption of new crops that improve soil health and water quality.
The cars and trucks we drive are entering a period of profound transformation. A Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard would provide unprecedented support to accelerate a clean and equitable transition in our transportation sector.
As more Minnesota consumers and businesses adopt electric vehicles, they will increasingly replace gasoline-powered cars and trucks on the road. As this happens, gasoline use will decline together with the ethanol that is blended into it.
Fresh Energy, Conservation Minnesota, and Friends of the Mississippi River all engage in robust policy work in this field. We are appointees on the state’s Clean Transportation Standard Work Group, and we are committed to ensuring the economic, greenhouse gas reduction, and water quality benefits our state can seize through a Clean Transportation Standard.
Under the proposed Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard, Minnesota could see up to an estimated $134 million to $268 million annually by 2030. Our state could use this new funding source to make critical investments in statewide charging infrastructure and incentives for electric vehicle buyers.
Expert modeling done for the Clean Transportation Standard Working Group forecasts that ethanol use will decline in year one of the program and continue thereafter. We can also look to other states with long-lived clean transportation programs to further reinforce that this policy does not increase the production of corn ethanol.
Rest assured, the Clean Transportation Standard will be tailored to the needs of our state, accelerating the transition to electric vehicles with dedicated support for communities overburdened by pollution and under-served communities throughout greater Minnesota. The Clean Transportation Standard could also boost the rural economy by creating market demand for the transition to lower-carbon farming by supporting cropping choices and practices that improve soil health and water quality while reducing on-farm emissions.
At its core, the Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard is a commonsense strategy built for Minnesota. The data shows that it will drive down fuel use, accelerate the electrification of our vehicles, and provide a significant source of new funding dedicated to equitably advancing electric vehicle adoption in under-served and under-resourced communities most impacted by climate change.
By passing this bill, the Legislature can drive historic economic development opportunities while taking our most significant step ever in reducing climate change emissions from two of our state’s most challenging sectors.
Margaret Cherne-Hendrick, Ph.D., is Senior Lead, Innovation and Impact at Fresh Energy; Paul Austin is the Executive Director of Conservation Minnesota; and Ellen Anderson is a climate policy advocate at Friends of the Mississippi River.
