Carolyn Kousky, founder of Insurance for Good and longtime researcher on climate impacts and insurance markets, told MIP and SSTI widespread insurance protects local economies, as well as lenders and mortgage markets. “As a warming planet increases the risks of weather-related extremes, insurance becomes harder to get and more expensive. The only long-term solution is serious investments in risk reduction and climate adaptation,” Kousky said in an email.
Environment
There’s a rougher road ahead for electric vehicles
Lately, news about electric vehicles hasn’t been so rosy. The federal government has dramatically changed its transportation priorities, and the private sector has pulled back from or delayed significant EV investments. With electrification of the transportation system looking like it may proceed more slowly, states can still take other avenues toward a more sustainable system.
Climate change, equity factor into recent litigation against state DOT projects
Pursuing statewide or agency climate and equity goals isn’t just preferable for state DOTs, it can also be a matter of risk management. Several lawsuits targeting major transportation infrastructure projects, most recently in Wisconsin and Oregon, have taken aim at alleged failures to consider alternatives to capacity expansion that would reduce harm to the environment or inequitable project outcomes.
Severe weather is pushing up the costs of car ownership
Ford’s Model T was a groundbreaking feat of mass production—cutting car costs by more than half over the course of a decade and spurring the massive rise in automobile use across the U.S. Those days seem far behind us, according to the latest reports. Transportation costs have risen by nearly 20% since 2022, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, and car insurance in some states could rise 50% by the end of the year.
Climate change presents an opportunity for bolder transportation policies
Individuals concerned about climate change often support sustainable transportation policies, such as reducing car use or adopting new mobility solutions. Studies from Norway highlight how varying attitudes toward these types of policies can influence their effectiveness. While some groups back most transportation initiatives—whether they involve incentives or regulations—others resist any policies they perceive as restrictive. Gaining insight into these diverse attitudes, especially among those neutral toward different strategies, can help shape effective policy.
States could fill policy vacuum in wake of recent Supreme Court ruling
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling expected to have sweeping impact across federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation. The decision, in a case called Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, gives judges more say in whether agencies are meeting the letter of the law. Under the previous “Chevron doctrine,” judges deferred to the expertise of federal rule makers as they interpreted laws to create rules and regulations. Now, judges will have more authority to interpret whether the rules federal agencies create match the law. That could provide a window of opportunity for those seeking to challenge a wide range of rules across the federal government, including transportation rules like a recent EPA rule that would force a faster transition to electric vehicle production.
States can reimagine highway corridors as conduits for power and communications
Because state highways are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, some state DOTs are looking for ways to decarbonize within their existing highway systems. Expanding renewable energy and decarbonizing requires increased transmission to meet the new capacity. Although DOTs have space to carry power and other utilities along their highways (in what is called the right-of-way, or ROW), these opportunities remain underutilized due to the technical coordination and expertise needed to implement them. By electrifying state-owned highways, state DOTs and the energy sector can work together to reduce carbon emissions.
States must step up efforts to reduce harmful carbon emissions
As of last September, 16 states and Puerto Rico approved legislation requiring reductions in greenhouse emissions. The White House also set ambitious goals of cutting emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels in 2030. They aim to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. Contributing to 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the transportation sector is now the top producer and accounts for a growing portion each year. More than half of these emissions (57%) come from personal vehicles such as cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks. Progress in cutting those emissions has been slow, let alone efforts to measure and track them.
State DOTs are key players in cutting transportation emissions
Through a combination of carrots and sticks—but mostly carrots—the federal government has encouraged state DOTs to take ambitious steps to lower the environmental impacts of transportation and to invest in more sustainable travel options. Two years into the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), notes Adie Tomer at Brookings, it is still hard to know the impacts. Many states are still operating under the status quo. Others, however, including many SSTI partners, are seizing the opportunity to bolster ongoing local sustainability initiatives.
Transportation is feeling the heat
Our infrastructure isn’t prepared for climate change. This summer’s record heat wave has illustrated the immediate impacts of extreme weather and temperature events on our safety and ability to travel. As climate change accelerates these extremes, we need to be prepared to enhance our infrastructure’s resilience and adaptability.