Important progress to establish the first clean transportation standard (CTS) program in the Midwest continues, with Minnesota and Illinois currently taking the lead. In both states, legislative committees recently held hearings to discuss CTS bills. Here is what you need to know:
- The Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee heard Senate File 2584 on March 4.
- The Illinois Energy and Public Utilities Committee heard Senate Bill 1556 on March 22.
- Both hearings were informational, meaning no official action was taken, and drew testimony from proponents and opponents.
Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard
During the 2023 legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature established a Clean Transportation Standard Working Group to investigate the opportunities and challenges surrounding a CTS for the state. The working group comprised a diverse membership, including representatives from conservation organizations, agricultural commodity groups, automotive manufacturers, tribal governments, and others.
The group met between July 2023 and January 2024 and examined the results of a compliance scenario analysis conducted by ICF, which sought to understand the feasibility of different carbon intensity reduction levels under a CTS. The working group submitted a report to the legislature on February 1 and concluded that “a CTS would work in tandem with other policies … to help the state achieve the economy-wide, multi-sector goal of 80% GHG emission reductions by 2040. Without a CTS, only a 30% carbon intensity reduction by 2050 is possible.” (see pages 13 and 23 of the working group report, downloadable here).
On March 4, 2024, the Minnesota clean transportation standard bill, Senate File 2584, authored by Senator Scott Dibble (DFL), received a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee. That bill drew testimony from a number of proponents and opponents at a committee hearing that went well over three hours.
Advocates emphasized the benefits of the policy, including greenhouse gas reductions, economic benefits, and air quality and environmental improvements. Some opponents focused on concerns over the bill’s potential price impacts at the pump, despite evidence that those concerns are inflated at best, while others emphasized the need to put up guardrails against unintended environmental consequences.
With a clear interest in further discussions on the bill, SF2584 was laid over in the Senate Transportation Committee.
Illinois Clean Transportation Standard
Following Minnesota closely, Senator David Koehler introduced Illinois’s CTS bill, Senate Bill 1556, on February 8, 2023, and the bill received a hearing in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee this spring on March 22 2024.
Senator Koehler introduced the bill, enumerating its benefits and stressing the importance of action to achieve the state’s decarbonization goals.
Up next, proponents of the bill asserted their support, including environmental justice advocates, automotive manufacturers, and biofuel producers.
Finally, opponents—largely representing the trucking industry—expressed concerns over fuel prices at the pump. However, a recent analysis conducted by Horizon Climate Group and commissioned by the Great Plains Institute refutes those arguments.
The study sought to estimate the impacts of a CTS in Michigan on a variety of sectors and found that a 35% carbon intensity standard would benefit the trucking industry in Michigan by $524 million between 2023 and 2035. SB1556 was heard on a subject matter basis and did not receive a hearing.
Looking ahead
Which Midwestern state passes the first CTS in the region remains to be seen, but beyond Minnesota and Illinois, clean transportation standard bills are picking up steam across the country in states like Michigan, New York, and Vermont. Stakeholders in states that have introduced CTS bills are pushing for hearings and passage, and others are watching closely.
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