Our land, our air, our water, our children’s future. Minnesota is leading in pushing for innovative solutions to the climate crisis, including implementing clean car stands — requiring car manufacturers to provide more clean car options in Minnesota. Clean car standards will protect our environment and our health, increase consumer choice and save Minnesotans money, and help grow our economy.

Minnesotans for Clean Cars is a coalition of Minnesota-based organizations that believe that adopting clean car standards in our state is a smart solution to reducing climate pollution, is consumer friendly, and will benefit Minnesotans’ bottom line.

Car buyers in clean car states have a lot more clean car models to choose from – including crossovers and SUVs – and Minnesota should have all those options available here. A recent study found that 6 in every 10 prospective car buyers in Minnesota has interest in electric cars, trucks and SUVs. The survey also found that 66 percent of prospective Minnesota car buyers want automakers to provide more types of electric vehicles. Adopting the clean car program would help ensure Minnesotans can find these kinds of electric vehicles in the coming years.

As a fuel source, electricity is less expensive, and the pricing is more stable than gasoline, and electric vehicles are also 3–4 times more efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles. Maintenance and repair costs can be 60% lower for electric vehicles due to simpler mechanics. A recent study found that by adopting the Clean Cars Standard Minnesota drivers could save nearly $9 billion over 15 years.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia – representing over 35% of new vehicles sales in the nation – have adopted such standards. As a result, construction of public charging infrastructure and the automakers themselves have focused their investments in those states. Minnesota should be one of the places these companies are investing.

With clean cars, Minnesota can leverage its entrepreneurial identity and be an innovation leader in the rapid modernization of our transportation infrastructure. Minnesota should tap into a larger share of the nearly 300,000 workers in 48 states who are building the components, materials and technology needed to make vehicles more fuel efficient. A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that with the money Minnesota families save and pumped back into the economy we can expect nearly 13,000 new jobs.