Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions ...

Transportations Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Volume 2
aircraft will need specially constructed terminals for boarding passengers and loading
freight.
Federal policy and funding could potentially accelerate the introduction of new rail,
marine, and aviation technologies at a faster rate than current voluntary and market-based
approaches. Funding of research and development activities could advance and facilitate
some of the technologies that appear to be viable but have not been made commercial.
Existing State programs in California and Texas help subsidize rail and marine
technologies; while these programs have been undertaken with the goal of reducing air
pollution emissions, some of the technologies they have encouraged are reducing
greenhouse gas emissions as well. In particular, most of the railroad gensets and hybrid
engines are located in these two States. Implementation of a Federal program could help
facilitate the distribution of these technologies throughout the United States.
Federal low-interest loan programs and tax incentives also have been adopted for
purchase of various energy efficiency components and could be expanded to help defer
capital costs for other types of equipment. For example, the EPA’s SmartWay program
offers a variety of financing programs for the purchase or lease of idle reduction
technologies, and the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 eliminated the
12 percent excise tax on idle reduction devices for new trucks (see Section 4.4.1).
Adoption of energy-efficient technologies also may be encouraged through voluntary
programs such as the U.S. EPA’s SmartWay Program. This program serves as a
clearinghouse for information on environmentally beneficial practices in the freight
industry, and offers public relations “branding” for those companies with notable
environmental performance.
Summary Evaluation
Table 3.1A summarizes the strategies discussed in this section and presents estimates from
the literature of per vehicle GHG reductions compared to conventional vehicles as well as
a summary of key Federal policy initiatives that could be used to implement the strategy
beyond current levels.
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