Updated on February 13th, 2023.

Electric car charging station at Byrd Visitor Center, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Photo by Daniel White, The Nature Conservancy

The transportation sector is Virginia’s largest source of carbon pollution. However, Federal law prohibits Virginia from writing its own regulations on tailpipe emissions. Under the Clean Air Act, Virginia can use the federal Environmental Protection Agency standards, or can choose to adopt the more protective Clean Car Standards developed by California, which was granted an exception to adopting more stringent rules to address smog issues, and is currently being used by 17 other states.

“Transportation is Virginia’s largest source of carbon dioxide pollution. In fact, nearly half of Virginia’s carbon emissions (48%) come from the transportation sector. And 70% of that comes from personal-use vehicles, such as cars, SUVs and light-duty trucks. This means that nearly 34% of Virginia’s carbon emissions come from personal-use vehicles, compared to 29% coming from the entire power sector.” – Lena Lewis, The Nature Conservancy

In 2021, the General Assembly took an important step forward to reduce vehicle pollution by adopting the Clean Cars Standards (HB1965; Bagby). The Clean Cars standards ramp up protections over more than a decade and will bring both cleaner gas-powered vehicles and a greater variety of electric vehicles to the Commonwealth.

These standards are one of the best tools available to curb transportation emissions such as carbon pollution and toxic air emissions, and they will provide many other benefits—including improved public health, expanded consumer choice, and economic growth.

Clean Car Standards Reduce Pollution

• The transportation sector accounts for 53% of Virginia’s carbon dioxide emissions, and is a major source of other air pollutants
• Personal vehicles cause 70% of transportation carbon emissions (34% of total emissions).
• Based on Virginia’s current electricity sources, carbon emissions are about 75% lower for EVs than for the average conventional car.
• EVs are essential to swiftly reduce transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reach our climate goals.
• Nitrogen pollution from tailpipes is a major source of pollution for the Bay watershed.

Clean Car Standards Protect Public Health

• Vehicular particulate matter (PM2.5) alone accounts for 92 deaths, 2,600 cases of exacerbated asthma, and 10,000 lost workdays in Virginia each year. 
• When considering transportation emissions in their entirety, these emissions led to 750 premature deaths in Virginia in 2016.
• These emissions disproportionately affect low-income populations and communities of color, who breathe 66% more vehicular air pollution than white residents on average.

Clean Car Standards Increase Consumer Choice and EV Affordability

• Between a third and a half of Virginians are considering an EV for their next car.
• Manufacturers are primarily sending EVs to states that have adopted Clean Car Standards, so Virginians wouldn’t have access to the array of nearly 100 electric car and truck models coming to the market by 2025 without the Clean Car Standards.
• Owning an electric vehicle already saves the typical driver up to $10,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle compared to a gas car due to reduced fuel and maintenance costs, and reduced reliance on imported oil can help secure Virginia’s energy future.

A series of bills would repeal the Clean Cars standards and eliminate the Air Board’s authority to adopt tailpipe emissions standards. Repeal proponents claim Virginia should set its own emissions standards, but it has no legal authority to do so. As a result, these bills would significantly hamper Virginia’s ability to control transportation pollution and benefit from cleaner vehicles.

VCN and our Network Partners opposed and successfully defeated the series of bills that would repeal or undermine the Clean Car Standards:

Thank you to our many partners who are actively defending Clean Car Standards, including Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Southern Environmental Law Center, and The Nature Conservancy.