People shouted “Save our jobs” and “don’t ban our cars” outside the State House Tuesday as they rallied against a new rule that would gradually phase out sales of cars solely powered by gasoline before 2035.
The large crowd, which included union members, mayors, assemblymen and state senators, advocated against the rule, which will require car companies to sell more zero-emission vehicles in New Jersey.
“These regulations threaten jobs and the traditional automotive, manufacturing and maintenance across our state,” said Linden Mayor Derek Armstead.
“We support rational market-based strategies to transition to a zero-emission future,” said Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, “but we don’t support government mandates that restrict consumer choice or that will make the purchase of a new car virtually unaffordable.”
Supporters of the new mandate argued that the protest’s message was misleading.
“These mandates are not bans,” said Pam Frank, CEO of the not-for-profit group ChargEVC. “The opposition likes to call them bans because that gets people crazy and excited.”
“No one is saying you have to buy an EV today or next year. What these regulations are doing is putting a thumb on the scale to move the market towards more electric vehicles,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey.
