Cutting Transportation Emissions is "Critical" to Achieving Goals of House-passed Climate Bill, New Study Shows

(Washington – July 28, 2009) Successfully reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from transportation is “critical to meeting national goals” to cut GHGs, according to a new report released today by a diverse group of federal agencies and advocacy groups, including Environmental Defense Fund. The study, Moving Cooler: Transportation Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, is the first-ever comprehensive analysis of transportation efficiency and its relationship to greenhouse gas reductions and consumer savings. It is authored by one of the nation’s most respected transportation consulting firms, Cambridge Systematics.

“Moving Cooler provides an expanded array of options for policymakers to begin considering to ensure America can adapt to a rapidly changing world — especially given the impacts of decisions on future generations — when the climate crisis and the stability of U.S. energy supplies may present far more acute societal challenges,” said Michael Replogle, a member of the Steering Committee for the report on behalf of Environmental Defense Fund and an advisor to the U.S. Department of Transportation. “If America is to retain a globally competitive economy, it will need to address these issues squarely.”

The findings of Moving Cooler include:

• Maximum implementation of the complete portfolio of the six strategy bundles outlined in the report – except for road-use pricing (e.g., congestion pricing, pay-as-you-drive insurance, vehicle miles traveled) — could achieve transportation GHG reductions of up to 24 percent annually by 2050.
• With the addition of pricing strategies, annual GHG reductions of up to 47 percent could be achieved by 2050.
• Innovations in vehicle and fuel technology will have a substantial impact on GHGs, but these gains will largely be offset by increases in travel along with growth in the U.S. population.
• Transportation agencies and other decision makers could create effective combinations of transportation strategies that provide high-quality transportation services, while achieving meaningful GHG reductions.
• Additional investment in highway capacity and bottleneck relief could result in GHG reductions through 2030 and a negligible increase in GHGs through 2050.
• Higher levels of investment in public transportation and highways have returns of two or three times to one in terms of benefits in relation to the costs of these strategies.

“This landmark study found that in most cases, savings in vehicle costs exceed the costs of implementing the strategies considered, even without counting added co-benefits from reduced accidents, air pollution, and other indirect impacts,” said Replogle. “Many of these transportation strategies — such as pay-as-you-drive insurance and transit-oriented development — also support stronger economic development and reduce America’s dangerous dependence on imported oil.”

Transportation contributes roughly 28 percent of the total U.S. GHGs and transportation emissions have been growing faster than those of other sectors. Between 1990 and 2006, growth in U.S. transportation GHG emissions represented almost one-half (47 percent) of the increase in total U.S. GHGs. If the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) — which the U.S. House of Representatives passed last month — becomes law, U.S. GHGs would need to be reduced 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.

“We can’t get there from here without reducing emissions from transportation,” said Colin Peppard, Climate and Infrastructure Policy Director for Environmental Defense Fund. “Fortunately, many of the strategies analyzed in Moving Cooler – like congestion pricing and expanded transit services — could be implemented within a few years and could begin to generate reductions in greenhouse gases prior to 2020. These strategies would achieve reductions relatively quickly and reduce the cumulative greenhouse gas reduction challenge in later decades.”

Moving Cooler was commissioned by a diverse group of stakeholders representing environmental action groups, transportation experts, industry, federal agencies, trade associations, and leading foundations. They include the: American Public Transportation Association, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Intelligent Transportation Society of America, Kresge Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Rockefeller Foundation, Shell, Surdna Foundation, Funders Network for Smart Growth, and the Urban Land Institute.

“Moving Cooler shows that vehicle efficiency is not the only way to reduce emissions from transportation,” said Environmental Defense Fund Vice President Andy Darrell. “Around the country, states and cities are experimenting with ideas like road-use pricing and transit tailored to the communities they serve. By supporting transportation innovations like those outlined in Moving Cooler, the federal government could achieve an outcome that’s good for the planet and good for business: fewer greenhouse emissions and less congestion.”

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