Electrify Pennsylvania

Here’s how the state should spend its share of the Volkswagen settlement

When Volk-swagen engi-neered cars to cheat U.S. emissions tests, the automaker didn’t just disappoint customers who had purchased the ve-hicles because they wanted to reduce their environ-mental footprint. The com-pany’ s actions had public-health implications for all of us, because these Volk-swagen s were worsening our air quality until the de-ception was uncovered.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environ-mental Protection soon will begin recommending proj-ects to receive funding from the state’ s settlement alloca-tion( nearly $120 million) to help right this wrong and offset the vehicles’ addi-tional pollution. State lead-ers should select projects that achieve long-term emissions reduction sand help focus our transporta-tion sector on building in-frastructure for clean elec-tric vehicles.

Pennsylvania is receiv-ing a large share of the Volkswagen settlement be-cause a significant number of the doctored diesel vehi-cles were purchased in our state (23,000). As a benefi-ciary of this“Environmen-tal Mitigation Trust Agree-ment ,” Pennsylvania will have additional resources to reduce nitrogen-oxide pollution. Nitrogen oxide contribute stop article and ozone pollution that can ex-acerbate heart and lung dis-ease and lead to emergency room visits, strokes, heart attacks and even premature death. Children, senior sand those with respiratory disease are the most vulner-able.

When choosing projects to recommend for funding, the DEP should not just green light any submissions that qualify under the set-tlement guidelines. For in-stance, simply swapping old diesel engines with new die-sel or natural-gas engines would just perpetuate fossil-fuel dependency and kick the can down the road. Why just retrofit when we can re-vitalize and reduce our de-pendence on fossil fuels? The wise st choices are those that would stimulate innovation and create a leg-acy of lasting public-health benefits.

One significant step would be forth eDE P to allo-cate 15 percent of its settle-mental location toward building infrastructure, the maximum allowed, for light-duty electric-vehicle charg-ing stations. Electric-vehicles a les across the country are on the rise. Improved access to EV charging stations would both satisfy and height en demand. This in-vestment would help ramp up the deployment of electric vehicles, which could lower fuel costs for consumers and mitigate vehicle emissions.

Another smart and trans-formative choice for settle-ment funds would bet ore-place school and transit buses with zero-emission al-ternatives. These buses sig-nificantly contribute to harmful vehicle emissions, and they especially affect school children and people in lower-income communi-ties. Funding the develop-ment of electric school and transit buses would be a worthwhile investment in public health, while saving money for school districts and municipalities. Oppor-tunities to encourage the deployment of more electric trucks also should be strongly supported.

Local governments, such as the city of Pittsburgh, al-ready are shifting toward electric vehicles. Mayor Bill Peduto has committed to making the city fleet free of fossil fuels by 2030, with some of the first electric ve-hicles due to hit Pittsburgh streets very soon.

Pittsburgh-based utility Duquesne Light also is look-ing to add electric vehicles to its fleet. Carnegie Mellon University has an entire“Vehicle Electrification Group” dedicated to study-ing hybrid and plug-in elec-tric vehicles. Pittsburgh ex-emplifies how the transpor-tation sector can help se-cure our clean-energy fu-ture.

The silver lining to the Volkswagen scandal, if there is one, is that the set-tlement funding we obtain will provide an opportunity to make smart investments that will benefit Pennsylva-nia residents for genera-tions to come. Pennsylva-nia leaders must not squan-der the opportunity to build a sustainable electric- vehi-cle infrastructure that will create jobs and invigorate a clean-transportation sector. In the end, this will make communities across the commonwealth healthier and safer.