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Overcast Suozzi touts funding for charge stations
Suozzi promotes ecofriendly economy
The future of New York’s transportation is electric, as policymakers continue to push for a greener economy. At a news conference in front of a charging station in Glen Cove’s municipal parking lot on Monday, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi an-nounced that the state was set to receive $26 million in federal funding this year, as well as an additional $175 million over the following five years, to build more charging stations for electric vehicles.
“Here in New York, we have seen a growth of electric vehicles on a regular basis,” Suozzi said. “Last year there were over 300,000 electric vehicles purchased in the United States of America. That number is supposed to go up dramatically over the next eight years.”
The funding was included in the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, which was approved by Congress last November. Suozzi was one of the lead negotiators for the bill, which will help rebuild roads and bridges, expand access to cleaner water, address climate change and invest in underserved communities.
“Thirty percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said.
The initiative coincides with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s legislation last September banning manufacturers from selling new gasoline-powered cars, light-duty trucks, off-road vehicles, and equipment by 2035, with the goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the state’s transportation sector by 85 percent by 2050.
“Cars pollute carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and fine particulate matter,” Esposito said.
“All of that increases asthma, increases heart disease, it increases death because of heart attacks.”
The transition to battery-powered electric vehicles is expected to create well-paid union jobs in New York and across the country. A report released in September by the Economic Policy Institute stated that if electric auto sales increase by 50 percent by 2030, if there are major investments in technology, workers and advanced manufacturing capacity, and if policymakers pursue better trade agreements, about 150,000 new jobs could be created. If there is a lack of policy action, however, an estimated 75,000 jobs could be lost.
So-called range anxiety — a driver’s fear of running out of power and not being able to find a station to recharge — has been a common theme in the ongoing public discussion of electric automobiles, because it requires a change in daily habits from refueling to recharging. An increase in charging stations is expected to help bolster manufacturing and sales, make electric vehicles more affordability and make it easier for drivers to switch from their gas-powered cars.
Suozzi and Esposito said the initiative would help reduce range anxiety. “The more charging stations that are available, in places that people see them on a regular basis, the more they’ll feel comfortable getting an electric vehicle,” Suozzi said.
“The goal is to have 1 million electrical vehicles by the year 2035,” Esposito said. “That means we have to make electric vehicles affordable, reliable and easily charged, and that is exactly what the federal funding that … Tom Suozzi has secured will do.”
As technology continues to advance, there is the likelihood that battery charging time can be reduced as well. “Technology is evolving,” Esposito said, “and funding is going to help us do that as well.”
