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