Submission Number: 8242
Submission ID: 57086
Submission UUID: 99a2449a-7958-4545-abec-0e6e70f4648e

Created: Mon, 01/19/2026 - 21:36
Completed: Mon, 01/19/2026 - 21:36
Changed: Tue, 01/20/2026 - 09:45

Remote IP address: 50.213.6.226
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No

Flagged: Yes


Submitted Comment
Heather MacLeod
First Unitarian Church of Oakland Environmental Justice Advocates
don't cave in on appliance standard proposal for water and space heating.

Dear CARB,

Can you imagine what CA emissions would be if electric cars had been required in the mid 1990s, and if people had started transitioning to electric vehicles then? Actually, CARB did require that electric vehicles be sold in the mid-1990s, and they were popular among some groups of people - but then a couple years later CARB caved in to pressure and nonsense about how hydrogen fuel cells would be so much better for the environment. Chevrolet not only took all the electric cars off the road, they SMASHED them all. (I'm sorry, but I'm from Southern California and I have a Southern Californian's perspective on the sacredness of cars - I still can't believe they just smashed those beautiful cars flat.)

Every time you make an important decision, I remember the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car." My heart breaks when I imagine what would have happened if we hadn't lost that 15 years of head start California had on electric vehicles. Can you imagine the difference between the fight we'll have in 2035 when no new ICE cars are supposed to be sold - and what that fight would have been if electric vehicles had been selling steadily in CA for the past 30 years?

For that reason, I want to encourage you to remember you how important you are, and the big difference you can make for the better - or for worse, in the case of electric vehicles.

I can't imagine how much pressure you must face, although I've read some of the comments on your lists about how people's lives will be ruined if they have to stop using gas. But YOU know the facts about global warming, YOU know what is needed for emissions, and your job is to protect our air and climate.

As you already know, your appliance standard proposal will not nearly reduce GHG emissions enough as required by 2022 Scoping Plan. It falls far short of eliminating air pollution as needed to match targets of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) And CARB's analysis overstates the need for electrical service upsizing associated with installing non-polluting devices

Please continue doing your difficult and brave job in the face of all that pressure from industry and people who aren't really concerned about our air quality or climate. You can start the appliance standard proposal sooner than 2030, and prevent all that methane pollution.
You can ramp down the emissive sales limits faster, to a level that accounts for only the most challenging situations. You can put mechanisms in place to prevent leaving disadvantaged communities behind. And you can restructure the credit system so that it does not undermine the emission reduction goals of the regulation. And of course it makes sense to penalize people appropriately for non-compliance - think of all the children going to the hospital with asthma, think of the families in East Oakland who lose their grandparents 5- 10 years early because of COPD - would you really let polluters continue to limit their lives?

Please continue to do your job, even in the face of the pressure you face. It matters.

Thank you,
Heather MacLeod

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