Senate climate bill would require states to reduce transportation emissions

Similar to House bill

Steve Hawley, Oct 07, 09.

The Senate climate bill introduced last week by Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer would require states and cities to reduce transportation-related emissions, according to Energy & Environment Daily (subscription required). The requirements are similar to those in the House version, which was approved in June.

The article reports:

Like the House bill, the Senate version would also require EPA to set greenhouse gas emissions standards for new heavy-duty trucks, and other non-road vehicles and engines.

The Kerry-Boxer bill also pushes for greater use of plug-in electric cars and trucks, which are seen as a promising way to curb emissions and displace oil consumption by using electricity in the transportation sector.

The bill would also require states to use 10 percent of their allocations under the bill for cleaner transportation alternatives such as light rail. The House version provided such an option, but it was not required. The article notes that transportation accounts for roughly one-third of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

James Corless, the director of Transportation for America, told Energy & Environment Daily, “The bill rightly requires the federal, state, and local governments to account for their transportation emissions and to make plans to keep their emissions under the targets they set for themselves. In order for those plans to succeed, the clean energy bill must offer meaningful financial support for states and metropolitan regions to implement those plans, and to provide Americans the clean, affordable travel options they need, now and in the future.”