Editorial: Cooper's order will position N.C. to be a clean energy economy leader

CBC Editorial: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022; editorial #8800
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company

Gov. Roy Cooper recently announced push to get more electric buses, trucks and vans onto North Carolina roads. It is a timely move and positions North Carolina to exploit and benefit from change rather than reacting in desperation.

You don’t have to look far to recognize the vision in Cooper’s proposal. It’s as close as a school bus.

When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the worldwide fuel expenses to spike, the costs to run North Carolina’s iconic yellow school buses caused officials to see red.

The $2.30 per gallon budgeted wasn’t nearly enough to keep the state’s 14,000 buses -- that travel 180 million miles a year to get 800,000 students to school—on the road. The situation became so dire this spring, education officials asked the legislature for $32 million so local schools could cover the shortfall.

With more than $30 million from the Volkswagen Emissions Settlement, local schools will be able to purchase electric school buses. Federal dollars, from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is also providing about $12 million to the state through the Environmental Protections Agency’s Clean Bus Program, in rebates for the purchase of electric buses.

These school buses -- which cost 40% to 75% less to operate and maintain than conventional diesel buses and are far less polluting -- are just the most visible examples of the kind of benefits to be gained by Democratic Gov. Cooper’s latest effort to put more electric vehicles on North Carolina’s highways.

North Carolina is emerging as a hub for electric vehicle and parts manufacturing. Developing rules and regulations – as this latest executive order calls for – will make more electric vehicles available for sale in the state coupled with the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations and other related infrastructure around North Carolina.

The state is inline to receive $109 million over the next five years – also a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – to install a network of charging stations at 50-mile intervals along the state’s transportation corridors.

These are moves that go beyond the very worthy and significant objectives of saving money and gaining a cleaner environment. They are critical to our state and nation’s goals of energy independence.

They are NOT “expansive, burdensome mandates,” as Republican House Speaker Tim Moore dismissively characterized them. Moore’s reflexively partisan reaction was both ill-informed and unfortunate.

Cooper’s order will promote new and expanding North Carolina businesses and industries and the jobs they are creating as well as work to control prices and the expenses families face. And the state’s business leaders agree.

“North Carolina is putting itself in a position of leadership,” said Chris Nordh, a top executive with ABB, the Swiss-based producer of electric vehicle charters with a U.S. headquarters in Cary. “Electrifying trucks and fleets will create jobs, save truck owners and operators money, and mitigate climate change – all things that benefit North Carolinians.”

John DeBoer, head of Siemens e-Mobility North America, said more companies are making the shift to electric fleets and seek policies to make the transition easier. “At Siemens, we have a goal to electrify our 10,000-vehicle fleet and achieve our net zero vision by 2030,” DeBoer said. Cooper’s latest executive order “will expand the market and help get a more diverse array of electric vehicles on our nation’s roads.”

Cooper’s actions will put North Carolina in the forefront of emerging technologies as well as ahead of inevitable shifts that will alter markets and ways of doing business.

Cooper’s vision puts North Carolina in a position to grow and exploit from change rather than just waiting and left to struggle, react in desperation.

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