June 28th 2022
To Whom It May Concern,
Good morning. My name is Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition (GWRCCC). Our Coalition is one of the 90+ Clean Cities Coalitions around the country supported by the US Department of Energy. We are a public-private partnership composed of representatives of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the District government, regional governments, national trade associations, public and private companies and public utility companies including Washington Gas. We are headquartered in the District of Columbia and have programmatic responsibility for the region including District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Maryland.
The mission of our Coalition is to promote the use of clean domestic fuels to assure our nation’s and region’s climate security, energy independence and clean air by reducing our dependence on gasoline and diesel transportation fuels.
I personally have been engaged in the clean transportation work for more than 20 years, including being a New York State Senator and the former chair of the NY Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation championing green initiatives, climate justice, and expanding access to and investments in public transit.
I am writing in strong support of the recently passed Lower Food and Costs Act (H.R. 7060).
GWRCCC strives to ensure a just and equitable clean energy transition which aligns with the Distribution System planning process to be done in an equitable way to produce reliable, future-oriented energy infrastructure.
The bill includes an amending of the Clean Air Act to allow for sales of gasoline with up to 15% ethanol as well as the necessary infrastructure grants to implement the change at the pump. Therefore, as an advocate for the increased use of cleaner alternative fuels such as E15, I offer my full endorsement. Beyond just promoting an expanded platform for cleaner alternative fuels, which invariably reduce existing emission levels and lower costs, H.R. 7060 also provides the required funding to modernize our fuel grid to better facilitate the transition to alternative fuel sources.
It is imperative that H.R. 7060 is signed into law and implemented immediately. Given the unprecedented cost of gas prices, this bill carries a sense of urgency for Congress and the president. Gas prices have had a devastating effect on working class families across the nation, who have often had to choose between the ability to go to work and paying for food or medicine. This bill takes a major step forward towards reducing fuel costs, and thus should be enacted with speed.
Sincerely,
Antoine M. Thompson
Executive Director
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