By: Mark Kresowik
Transportation is the biggest source of carbon emissions in the United States -- and it’s getting worse. Pollution from transportation has been on the rise over the last five years, and it’ll only be exacerbated should Trump succeed in rolling back national Clean Car Standards. In order to tackle the crisis, we need bold and rapid action -- and that’s exactly what government leaders in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are starting to make happen.
Nine states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Vermont -- and Washington, DC announced that they will implement a region-wide policy to create a modern, clean transportation system.
What does a modern transportation system mean? It’s moving past fossil fueled cars and buses, and prioritizing and investing in cars, trucks, and buses with zero tailpipe pollution; reliable zero emission mass transit that provides alternatives to driving; and safe walking and biking paths that revitalize neighborhoods. It also means ensuring that new transportation systems have equitable and affordable access to those who need them most, especially low-income communities, those with limited mobility, and people who are particularly vulnerable to air pollution.
The policy the states have announced would improve upon the success and popularity of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), in this case limiting climate pollution from motor fuels as RGGI does with power plants, and investing revenue from polluters into helping families and businesses access clean transportation. The states have also recognized and emphasized the particular importance of ensuring communities that have been overburdened by pollution and underserved by our current transportation and economic systems are listened to in the process and ultimately benefit from such a policy.
As with RGGI, the public is overwhelmingly in favor of the initiative. Polling shows that more than 70% of people living in this region support states taking action to curb transportation emissions independently of the federal government. This was echoed at the listening sessions held across the region over the last year, where members of the public were asked about what changes they wanted made to their transportation system. The participants vigorously backed policies prioritizing a clean, equitable, and modern transportation system.
Clean transportation investments will save thousands of lives by reducing local air pollution. According to a report from the Georgetown Climate Center, prioritizing clean transportation would prevent between 19 and 65 premature deaths and between 1,099 and 3,728 asthma cases in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in 2030 alone. These public health improvements translate to $152 million to $463 million in benefits in 2030.
Moving forward with this policy will also create thousands of jobs and put more money in people's pockets. The same report from Georgetown Climate Center found that investing in the Northeast states to reduce vehicle GHG emissions would:
- create more than 100,000 new jobs in the region.
- put more than $13.4 billion into families’ pockets in 2030 alone.
- spend less time in traffic, saving between 385 million to 1.36 billion hours in the region in 2030.
Investing in clean transportation solutions is good for our economy, for public health, and for our planet’s future. It’s no wonder why voters in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions embrace the challenge of building a cleaner, safer, healthier, more equitable and modern transit system moving forward. Today’s announcement is an important step towards creating that system. We applaud leaders in these nine states and DC, and look forward to helping them move quickly to continue engaging with their communities on the frontlines of pollution and poverty, finalize specific and bold policy details, and commit to making this kind of region-wide policy a reality by the end of 2019.
Mark Kresowik is the eastern region deputy director for Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. Click here to see more from this author.
This blog post appeared originally on SierraClub.org.