September 1, 2023
San Rafael City Council
1400 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
RE: Electric Vehicle Strategy (item 6.b)
Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers,
Central to meeting San Rafael's Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) climate goals is accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles to replace the gas cars and trucks responsible for 66% of the community's remaining GHG emissions. With a
reduction of at least another 78,000 tons of GHG needed by 2030, we applaud the City for incorporating much of the countywide EV Acceleration Strategy into its own strategy.
This response should serve as a model for other jurisdictions.
Of the actions recommended, we would emphasize the
primary importance of the following:
• EV marketing campaigns in conjunction with other
towns and cities need additional effort and funding to
build wide momentum for EV adoption (OE-2).
• Highly effective ride & drives and similar targeted
outreach should be a regular part of introducing EVs
to San Rafael residents in a hands-on manner (OE-3).
• A 100% ZEV public fleet can serve as a model for
residents to move to EVs (MF-2). This needs to be
backed by a Fleet Replacement Plan implemented by
a dedicated fleet manager (MF-3).
• Increased public EV charging infrastructure,
tapping all available funding sources and included in
the City's capital improvement budget (PC-1 & 3).
• Support for EVs in underserved communities (PL1), including charging infrastructure for multi-unit developments and large employers (PC-10).
This summer has shown us that the planet is rapidly
overheating, resulting in intensifying wildfire, smoke events, storms, floods, and deadly heat waves. It's shown us what scientists have been telling us: we've got to cut our fossil fuel emissions by half by 2030, and then to net zero emissions by 2045. EVs are the road to that necessary near-term future.
Thank you for putting San Rafael on that road forward.
Sincerely,
William Carney,
President
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
William Carney, President
Linda Jackson, Vice President
Stuart Siegel, Secretary
Greg Brockbank
Kay Karchevski
Kiki La Porta
Annika Osborn
Howard Schwartz
Miles Smith
415.302.0110