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Highway is not Great planet. Their smooth, wide, attractive lanes make traffic the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Responsible for 29% total.Driven by the Biden administration, major U.S. automakers Commit to 40% of sales By 2030, it will be powered by plugs instead of gasoline.But even if the country achieves this goal, the highway will still Support and encourage spread, And more emissions.
This is why environmentalists are frustrated 1.3 trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill This year has passed.Finally, the legislation mostly retains status quo, Allocate 80% of transportation funds to expressways and 20% to transit. Some of these funds will be allocated through competitive grants, which means that the U.S. Department of Transportation will play a role-More than in the past few years-Decide which projects to fund. In these cases, the department can choose to prioritize the climate-friendly buildings it wants.
But most of the transportation funds will be allocated to states based on population in the next five years. Then state and local officials will decide what to do with it. They can use part of the funds to adapt to or prevent climate change-or not. In other words, the federal government is not always the boss of federal funds. If the goal is to reduce climate impact, “this is not a strategic approach,” said Beth Osborne, a former Department of Transportation official and now director of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Now, for road safety and the planet, the Biden administration is trying to act rashly on the balance.in a Memo to employees The Federal Highway Administration Deputy Commissioner Stephanie Pollack (Stephanie Pollack), announced on Thursday, instructed her staff to encourage state and local governments to consider repairing existing roads before building new roads. The agency is urging state officials to consider strengthening non-expressways, such as service roads or bridges, but they are in poor condition. They will also gently remind state and local officials that, compared to new roads and bridges, climate-friendly projects such as bike paths and walking paths require less stringent environmental reviews. The new policy will apply to US$350 billion in federal highway funding.
Local officials usually prefer to build new things to show off by cutting the ribbon instead of maintaining old things. Want to cut the ribbon as soon as possible? The FBI says that bike lanes may be your best option.
The government must demand rather than require local governments to prioritize climate change because Congress has missed other opportunities while integrating climate change infrastructure bill. The version of the House of Representatives legislation passed by lawmakers in the summer includes provisions that force states to accept funds to repair highways before they are built or expanded. This will require states that produce more greenhouse gas emissions to invest more money to reduce them. This will force recipients of funding to show how their projects contribute to climate resilience. The Senate denied all this.
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