May 23—GREENSBORO — Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday called for more investments in clean energy and transportation.
"We know that the future of transportation is clean connected and automated," said Cooper during an address of the N.C. DOT Transportation Summit at the Koury Convention Center. "That future is rapidly approaching and already here in many ways."
Cooper's Executive Order 246 in 2022 created a plan to prepare for that future, which will undoubtedly involve electric cars and wind energy. An initial goal of 80,000 zero-emission vehicles was slated for 2025. But the state surpassed that late last year.
Still, as Cooper noted on Wednesday, North Carolina has a long way to go toward achieving a clean energy future.
"This plan is our blueprint for increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles on the road while reducing the number of miles that people have to drive," Cooper said.
During his speech, Cooper touted plans to create an "extensive network of charging stations throughout the state" and also urged local governments to continue making advancements in public transportation, noting that the amount of people using passenger rail was up 23% over the past year.
"The legislature giving local governments more flexibility to fund those options would really be helpful," Cooper added.
He also talked about the potential job growth the wind industry could bring to North Carolina.
"It'll be accompanied by tens of thousands of jobs over the next decade," he explained. " North Carolina needs to be in on that, big time, but it won't work without significant transportation infrastructure."
Cooper said modern methods of funding transportation infrastructure will account for less money being generated by the gas tax in the future.
"As the market shifts, we know the gas tax will decrease," Cooper said. "We haven't seen a significant impact yet, but when it comes it will be significant."
Cooper concluded by saying that more federal funding for transportation was coming to North Carolina in the future.
"The people are calling for increased transportation options," he said, "and we've got to answer that call."
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