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

1.0 Introduction
Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Volume 1
Transportation is a significant contributor to national greenhouse gas emissions,
and can be part of the Nation’s solution to the climate change challenge. The
Energy Independence and Security Act (December 2007) called upon the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT), in coordination with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and in consultation with the U.S. Global
Change Research Program (USGCRP), to conduct a study of the impact of the
Nation’s transportation system on climate change and strategies to mitigate the
effects by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The study also considers fuel
savings and air pollution reduction from these measures. 15
This report responds to that directive. Volume 1: Synthesis Report provides an
overview of transportation’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG),
analyzes the effectiveness of various strategies available to reduce transportation
sector GHGs, discusses the role of DOT planning and funding programs for
strategic action on climate change, and concludes with five policy options that
Congress may wish to consider. Following this introduction:
• Section 2—Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and
Transportation: Summarizes the effects of transportation emissions on
climate change and relative levels of emissions from each transportation
mode: cars and trucks, buses, rail, aviation, marine, and pipelines.
• Section 3—GHG Reduction Strategies: Discusses the full range of strategies
that transportation can employ to directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions
from mobile sources across all modes. These strategies are:
– Introduce low-carbon fuels;
– Increase vehicle fuel efficiency;
15 P.L. 110-140 states “(c) Transportation System’s Impact on Climate Change and Fuel
Efficiency – (1) Study. The Office of Climate Change and Environment, in coordination
with the Environmental Protection Agency and in consultation with the United States
Global Change Research Program, shall conduct a study to examine the impact of the
Nation’s transportation system on climate change and the fuel efficiency savings and
clean air impacts of major transportation projects, to identify solutions to reduce air
pollution and transportation-related energy use and mitigate the effects of climate
change, and to examine the potential fuel savings that could result from changes in the
current transportation system and through the use of intelligent transportation systems
that help businesses and consumers to plan their travel and avoid delays, including
Web-based real-time transit information systems, congestion information systems,
carpool information systems, parking information systems, freight route management
systems, and traffic management systems.”
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