Urge the Department of Transportation to Set Strong Transportation Emissions Reduction Goal

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Transportation is our country’s single largest source of global warming pollution — and if we hope to preserve cleaner air and a healthier climate for future generations, we need to tackle transportation emissions.¹

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has the authority to do that, and its new proposal to require states to measure and set goals to reduce emissions would be a huge step in the right direction.²

But the rule isn’t final yet, and while it’s still open for public comment we need environmental advocates like you to urge the DOT to make its final rule as strong as possible. Add your voice today at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=51701.

Transportation, and especially our country’s dependence on gas-powered vehicles, represents one of the biggest challenges to tackling the climate crisis.

Individual action definitely helps — taking more public transit, buying an electric vehicle instead of a fossil fuel-powered one, etc. — but at the end of the day, it’s really the system itself that needs to change.

Clean transportation solutions are all around us, and if we can convince decision-makers to put them to use at the state and national levels, we’ll be well on our way to cleaner air and a healthier climate.

That’s where the DOT comes in. Its proposed rule requiring states to set declining transportation emissions targets is precisely the kind of action needed to comprehensively address tailpipe pollution across the country.

Will you join us in urging the agency to finalize a strong rule as quickly as possible?

Once again, Americans across the country are feeling the effects of another hotter-than-usual summer. And that’s not to mention other severe and widespread consequences of global warming like wildfires and sea level rise.

It’s encouraging to see the Biden administration is taking aim at transportation pollution — especially when we already know what’s needed to reduce these emissions:

• States and municipalities can expand transit and make our streets safe for walking and biking.
• They can install electric vehicle charging and create incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles, so that when we do need to drive, we aren’t driving climate change.
• And what’s more, states have unprecedented funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — which PennEnvironment and our national network helped win last fall — to make these changes to our transportation system.³

But the improvements to our lives don’t stop there. From reducing deadly air pollution and traffic deaths to saving us money at the pump and helping us enjoy more time with family or outdoors, giving people more and cleaner travel options will make us healthier and happier and allow us to live our lives better.

It all starts with commonsense policies like the DOT’s new transportation emissions rule. Take action today by submitting your public comment on this important proposal.

1. “Sources of greenhouse gas emissions,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, last accessed July 26, 2022.
2. “Statement: New federal rule would help tackle country’s largest source of global warming pollution: transportation,” Environment America, July 7, 2022.
3. “Statement: New federal rule would help tackle country’s largest source of global warming pollution: transportation,” Environment America, July 7, 2022.