Transportation
The Georgetown Climate Center works with state and federal officials and other stakeholders to help bridge any policy gaps that emerge between transportation and climate policy. The Center also assists states in forging ahead with the deployment of infrastructure for electric and clean fuel vehicles, freight efficiency planning, and transportation policies that reinforce the development and maintenance of sustainable communities.
One of the Center's biggest projects is the facilitation of the Transportation and Climate Initiative - a collaboration of 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states plus the District of Columbia.
News and Updates
The Georgetown Climate Center has produced a summary of the federal transportation reauthorization legislation, "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" (MAP-21), which became law in July 2012. This document identifies provisions of the Act that relate to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or adapt to climate change, and can be found in Center's legislative tracker along with summaries of other relevant climate, transportation, and adaptation bills recently introduced in Congress.
Download the full summary by clicking on the link below:
The Transportation and Climate Initiative released a market overview and literature review today that provides an overview of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) deployment in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
The report assesses current electric vehicle and electric vehicle charging station technology, looks at the state of PEV markets, reviews the benefits of PEV deployment, and identifies the barriers and challenges to PEVs in gaining market acceptance. The document is intended to serve as a resource for consumers and policy makers who seek to better understand the nature of and challenges facing electric vehicle deployment in the TCI region.
...
On August 28, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a final rule to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy for light-duty vehicles for Model Years (MY) 2017-2025. The rule, proposed on December 1, 2011, increases average fuel economy requirements for cars and light-...
From highways to airports to nuclear power plants, infrastructure in the U.S. is increasingly under stress from extreme heat, drought, flooding, and other climate change impacts.
In a recent New York Times article, Georgetown's Vicki Arroyo and other experts discuss the need for U.S. policymakers to begin adopting more common-sense solutions and long-term planning to help communities adapt to climate change.
On a single day this month here, a US Airways regional jet became stuck in asphalt that had softened in 100-degree temperatures, and a subway train derailed after the heat stretched the track so far that it kinked — inserting a sharp...
The Freight Efficiency workgroup within the Transportation and Climate Initiative recently commissioned a study by Dr. James Winebrake of the Rochester Institute of Technology to explore freight movement in the TCI region. As Dr. Winebrake's study shows, more than 80% of all freight moved in TCI states is transported by heavy trucks, which often produce more greenhouse gas emissions than other modes of transportation.
The U.S. Senate passed S. 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), on March 14, 2012. MAP-21 is a two-year transportation reauthorization bill with $109 billion in total funding.
The Georgetown Climate Center has a prepared a summary of the bill, with particular focus on provisions that affect states. To view the summary, click here.
The House must still take action on a bill, which may not happen until mid-April, according to...
On December 29, 2011, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs in Rocky Mountain Farmers Union v. Goldstene, holding that California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) violated the dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The court also granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction, prohibiting enforcement of the LCFS until the litigation is completed.
Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill acted in response to summary judgment motions filed by California and by two groups of plaintiffs – one associated with corn ethanol producers and led by the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU), and one associated with petroleum producers, refiners and users led by the...
Featured Documents
