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California Governor Appoints New Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Chief

Goals for the office are that by 2020, the vehicles are used as main public transport, and for the costs of such vehicles to be competitive with and available to the mainstream public.

Tyson Eckerle was appointed deputy director of zero-emission vehicle infrastructure at the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development by Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday. Eckerle has worked there since 2013 as a zero-emission vehicle infrastructure project manager.

Eckerle formerly worked with Energy Independence since 2009, and had served as its executive director since 2011. According to its website, EINow is “dedicated to advancing fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and the hydrogen fueling infrastructure required to catalyze a rapid transition to a clean energy and transportation economy.”

He previously served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an environmental manager, among other positions including biologist, recruitment coordinator and environmental planner. Eckerle earned his master's degree in environmental science and management from UC Santa Barbara in 2009. The press release from the governor’s office stated that the position does not require Senate confirmation.

The Brown administration released Executive Order B-16-2012 less than four years ago, which called for the “rapid commercialization” of zero-emission vehicles. Specific goals for the office are to see that by 2020 the vehicles are used as main public transport, and for the costs of such vehicles to be competitive with and available to the mainstream public. The order further calls for more than 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles to be in use by 2025 and an 80 percent decrease of greenhouse gas emissions from their 1990 levels by 2050.

Brown’s Executive Order states that California’s transportation sector is “the biggest contributor to California’s greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for approximately 40 percent of these emissions.”

This story originally appeared on Techwire.net.