TRENTON, NJ (OP-ED) – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wants to outlaw the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 if you haven’t heard the news.
The Governor’s adoption of the California-based Clean Cars II initiative shocked many, just months after Murphy upgraded his own cabinet’s fleet of gas-guzzling suburban SUVs that speed through towns across the state regularly.
While New Jersey hasn’t announced any exemptions except for heavy-duty trucks, like the ones you would find in Murphy’s entourage, inside a municipal garage or department of Public Works, it is modeled after a California law.
That law gives New Jerseyans insight into who will have to ditch their gasoline-powered cars and who will not.
In a nutshell, while New Jerseyans will be banned from buying gasoline-powered cars shortly since they will be illegal to sell in the state, the government will continue using them for decades.
Among the exemptions in the California Clean Cars II law are disaster relief vehicles. That means any vehicle owned by a municipal, county, state, or federal government assigned to various OEM and disaster relief units will be exempt. Not just large diesel vehicles, but all vehicles in those departments.
Firefighters will be exempt from the gasoline-powered ban, not just the engines and tankers. Chief vehicles, support vehicles, SUVs, etc. will all be exempted. In fact, according to California’s law, any vehicle operated by a fire department will be exempt.
Police departments will be exempt from the gasoline-powered vehicle ban, including first aid vehicles such as ambulances and rescue units.
And if Governor Murphy’s hypocrisy in purchasing a fleet of gas-guzzling SUVs is any indication, government vehicles from state-operated cars to municipal vehicles, could also be exempt.
In the end, the only people forced by electric vehicles in New Jersey will be ordinary citizens. As you drive down the road, hoping your EV gets you to and from work, you’ll be surrounded by government vehicles powered by, you guessed it, gasoline.