A zero-emission vehicle electric U.S. Postal Service truck delivered on Sept. 6, 2000, more than 50,000 letters to Gov. Gray Davis, signaling a broad base of support from California consumers, local governments, businesses, labor unions, and public interest groups for the California Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Program.
Through these letters, Californians have told the governor that they want to clean California’s air by protecting the California ZEV Program, says Dan Jacobson of the California Public Interest Research Group.
Adopted in 1990, the California ZEV Program requires the six major automakers to produce 10 percent ZEVs starting in 2003, with 4 percent pure ZEVs and 6 percent near-zero-emission vehicles that receive partial ZEV credit.
Approximately 20,000 additional consumers have signed the Clean Car Pledge, with which they affirmed their support for the ZEV Program and pledged to buy the greenest vehicle available for their next car.