Conclusions
Taking Climate Change into Account in U.S. Transportation
Conclusions
No single approach for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the U.S. transportation sector will be sufficient. The key is to begin to take climate change into account in private and public decisions through a combination of measures addressing vehicle efficiency, alternative fuels, and system efficiency. It is important that all components be addressed by meaningful measures that are both cost-effective and successful in reducing emissions. Experience with higher oil prices and fuel economy standards has shown that it is possible to slow the growth of transportation petroleum use and GHG emissions.
The total potential reduction in CO2 emissions from one illustrative and moderate combination of these measures appears to be about 20 percent by 2015 and almost 50 percent by 2030, compared to what the emissions would otherwise have been. This would hold absolute U.S. transportation GHG emissions constant at today’s levels. Greater reductions are possible with more aggressive carbon constraints or policies that slow the growth in travel.
Many of the policy measures discussed in this brief would do much more than reduce CO2 emissions. For example, improving fuel efficiency of the U.S. transportation system would reduce dependence on foreign oil imports and spur technological advances, increasing the global competitiveness of the U.S. vehicle industry. It also would reduce emissions of conventional pollutants. Similarly, more efficient land-use patterns would increase the ridership potential of public transportation and relieve traffic congestion. Taking these multiple benefits into account would spread the costs of controlling CO2 emissions and add incentive for taking action.
A significant amount of time would be needed to increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet, substitute low-carbon fuels for carbon-intensive ones, and improve the efficiency with which transportation systems provide mobility. Because these changes take time, they must be initiated now. The knowledge, experience, and policy tools needed to reduce GHG emissions growth from the U.S. transportation sector are at hand. The United States must act now to make the changes needed to make U.S. transportation more climate-friendly.
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