With midterm elections on the horizon and a nation feeling the effects of climate change, many environmental trailblazers, changemakers, and innovators are pushing for legislation to ensure a greener future. On Oct. 22, the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition’s (GWRCCC) annual Clean Energy and Transportation Conference gave experts a space to have these conversations and explore the work needed to drive the Washington Metropolitan Area toward sustainability and environmental resilience.
2026 marks GWRCCC’s 15th year developing and supporting environmental solutions and fighting to reverse the climate crisis. The coalition’s efforts are especially necessary as the current administration has overturned numerous green initiatives in the last two years.
“We’re growing, and we’re being intentional and impactful to improve our environment to create a better future for generations to come in clean energy, clean transportation and environmental sectors,” GWRCCC Executive Director Antoine Thompson told The Informer. “We have to continue to accelerate.”
The conference, themed “Onward to a Cleaner Future,” featured a low-to-zero emissions vehicle showcase, an awards luncheon recognizing industry pioneers, and various panels on transportation electrification, renewable fuel, data centers’ environmental impacts, government regulations and more. Industry veterans, newcomers and people interested in learning more about clean energy and sustainability were able to network, learn from each other, discuss challenges and opportunities, and figure out how to create the green future they envision.
Thompson and many others at the assembly emphasized the importance of voting in the upcoming midterm elections to ensure the appointment of elected officials who will push for environmental policy. This is a matter that hits close to home for Thompson, who served as a New York state senator from 2007 to 2011.
“If you don’t vote, you can’t complain,” he told The Informer. “Elections have consequences, so when you don’t vote, you’re saying you’re happy with the way things are. At the end of the day, the government is going to function 52 weeks a year, 365 days a year, and either you’re at the table by voting, or you’re on the menu by not voting.”
Conference attendees and panelists stressed that young people should be casting ballots and paying attention to matters, leaders and legislation that will work to protect the environment and improve conditions for future generations.
For Larry Glover, CEO of energy consulting firm The Glover Group, the 2026 midterms are especially significant because, as he told The Informer and conference attendees, either the Republican Party will hold the majority in Congress and continue the deep governmental polarization under this administration, or the Democratic Party could take control and cause a legislative struggle over authorizations, but still foster change. Because of the weight these elections hold, Glover encourages everyone, especially younger generations, to vote on Nov. 3.
“If we look at our history, we know change actually happens when young people get involved,” Glover told The Informer. “We’re seeing student movements… engaged where they have been less engaged before. It’s so important that change starts with our young people, and anything that we can do to encourage them to be more vigilant, I think we should.”
Upholding EV Policy and Infrastructure Programs
With transportation being the largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the country, many advocates, experts and leaders are pushing for policies that invest in clean transportation and infrastructure that will support electrification in the sector. A successful transition to low-to-zero-emission transportation could be a monumental stride in mitigating the effects of climate change and increased GHG emissions.
“Today, from a legislative standpoint,… we’re moving from a space where clean energy has been looked at as a way to adopt technology,” Glover said. “I think our challenge today is how do we implement? And I think implementation is going to be a big part of what we see going forward.”
The five-year transportation reauthorization plan within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expired on Sept. 30, but Congress extended funding until Dec. 11. This federal law updates and funds programs supporting the country’s roads, bridges, public transit and railway systems.
Experts at Sierra Club, like Katherine Garcia, the director for Clean Transportation for All, are adamant about advocating for the continuation of the law passed in 2021, as it pioneered federal funding for electric vehicle (EV) adoption. Incentives within the legislation, like the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program and the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP), create plans to construct EV charging infrastructure nationwide. The 2021 bill also includes the Low- or No-Emission (Low-No) Grant Program, which provides funding for states to purchase or lease zero- or low-emission transit buses as well as the construction of supporting facilities.
“The next Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill… has incredible opportunities for investing in clean transportation, so everything from buses to rails to reducing pollution around ports, and making sure that we have a robust, interconnected charging infrastructure network across the country,” Garcia said in a panel offering conference attendees a legislative update.
Biofuels as Another Sustainable Alternative
A complete shift to electrified transportation isn’t feasible, so another way to make the sector more sustainable and strengthen the nation’s environmental resilience is by advancing renewable fuel sources, like biofuels, alongside EV infrastructure.
Biofuels are liquid fuels made from renewable biological sources, like bioethanol, which is an alcohol fuel produced through the fermentation of crops like corn, wheat, sugarcane, sugar beets and potatoes. Biodiesels– alternatives or additives to petroleum diesel– are made from the chemical combination of plant oils with alcohol. In 2024, the United States imported 651,000 barrels of motor gasoline per day and consumed approximately 1,252 barrels of biofuels per day.
International conflicts, especially those derived from a lack of and disregard for diplomatic negotiations from the current administration— like the current war in Iran— can quickly put a strain on foreign crude oil supply and shock gas prices nationwide.
“We’ve got to get people to understand that this thirst for oil from other places not only is bad for us from a national security perspective, but it’s also bad from a human perspective in terms of life expectancy,” Thompson told The Informer. “Everything does not have to be electric, but… we need to use more low- to zero-emission fuels and energy sources so that we can reduce these massive gaps in health [and] educational outcomes, and life expectancies in communities in the United States of America.”
The former New York senator told The Informer that these are the kinds of matters he hopes people keep in mind as they cast their ballots in this year’s midterm elections and as they follow campaigns ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
Joanne Ivanciv, the executive director of nonprofit educational organization Advanced Biofuels U.S.A., agrees that renewable fuel usage is just as necessary as electrification when it comes to safeguarding the environment and lowering emissions. She acknowledges that industrial machinery, airplanes and other vehicles will rely on liquid fuels for a long time, but that those should be as green as possible.
“Making renewable natural gas prevents things like food waste from rotting and putting methane into the atmosphere,” Ivancic told The Informer. “When you’re using that renewable natural gas, you’re just recycling carbon. You’re not bringing any new carbon out of deep storage like with coal or petroleum.”
Myths have circulated that biofuels produce the same, if not more, emissions as gasoline, but according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), these renewable sources burn cleaner due to their biodegradability. The DOE states that cellulosic ethanol has the potential to reduce GHG emissions by 86%. While the mass farming of these crops could trigger higher emissions due to fossil energy utilization, these could be cut through the use of renewable power sources and sustainable farming practices.
The ongoing conflict in Iran and skyrocketing gas prices in the U.S. pushed lawmakers to discuss permitting the sale of E15, a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline, year-round since it typically costs 10 to 40 cents less per gallon than E10, regular unleaded gas. The blend is usually not allowed to be sold in summer because it evaporates faster in hotter weather, but Ivancic believes legislation permitting the year-round sale of E15 would greatly benefit U.S. consumers.
“It would bring down fuel costs for ordinary people,” Ivancic told The Informer. “For the people who are concerned about the climate, it would add a little more renewable fuel [and] lower your carbon footprint.”
Whether people turn toward electrification or renewable fuel, the need for a cleaner transportation sector across the U.S. is evident as the nation continues to feel the harsh consequences of GHG emission-induced climate change.
Voting in the Nov. 3 midterm elections is just the first step necessary to continue the work GWRCCC and similar organizations are doing to ensure a greener, more sustainable future.
“For far too long, we have had a transportation system that has relied on fossil fuels… and now we have the technology to switch away from polluting vehicles,” Garcia told The Informer. “It’s really important for youth to vote to make themselves heard, to support the candidates that are going to speak for them, and to connect with them, and to vote in the interest of young people.”
