Bloomberg CityLab | No New Highways to Nowhere
March 29, 2023
"Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and, while emissions associated with electrical power generation have been falling, those from cars and trucks are back on the rise. If funds from the infrastructure law are used for an array of purposes (including vehicle chargers, public transportation and existing road repairs) instead of new highway capacity, emissions could fall by more than 200 million metric tons over the next two decades — the equivalent of 4.5 million vehicles a year, according to an analysis by the Georgetown Climate Center. If the money goes mainly for building new highways, emissions would increase by about the same amount.
'Decision makers looking to achieve climate goals have the opportunity to steer decisions in the direction of the lower-emission scenario,' the Georgetown analysis concludes."