Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, plus the District of Columbia, announced Tuesday that they would design a joint climate strategy over the next year and then put it up for state-by-state adoption. The policy will, according to the joint announcement, “reduce carbon emissions from the combustion of transportation fuels through a cap-and-invest program or other pricing mechanism, and allow each … jurisdiction to invest proceeds from the program into low-carbon and more resilient transportation infrastructure.”
CO2
Nine states and DC move forward on transportation carbon pricing alliance
Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, plus the District of Columbia, announced Tuesday that they would design a joint climate strategy over the next year and then put it up for state-by-state adoption. The policy will, according to the joint announcement, “reduce carbon emissions from the combustion of transportation fuels through a cap-and-invest program or other pricing mechanism, and allow each … jurisdiction to invest proceeds from the program into low-carbon and more resilient transportation infrastructure.”
Technological advances could drastically cut greenhouse gas pollution from concrete
Most GHG emissions in transportation come from on-road vehicles, but construction is a large contributor as well. In particular, concrete manufacturing generates emissions both from energy needed to heat materials in cement kilns and from a chemical process known as “calcination.” Because concrete is so widely used these emissions are substantial, amounting to an estimated 5 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. A New Jersey-based startup has begun to commercialize a process that it claims reduces GHG emissions by up to 70 percent. The technology relies on lower-emission cement chemistry, and it sequesters carbon dioxide—from a companion industrial or power plant—during hardening.
Study finds improving bike, pedestrian infrastructure cuts driving, CO2 emissions
In an attempt to meet CO2 reduction targets, both mandatory and self-administered, cities worldwide are attempting to overhaul their transport infrastructure to limit private vehicle use and encourage more active forms of travel (i.e., walking and biking). While the common assumption among planners is that greater rates walking and biking will lead to subsequent decreases in driving, there is in fact very limited evidence to suggest that this is the case. A new study from New Zealand, however, may shed light on the matter.
IPCC finds taxes, regulations mix most effective for vehicle emissions reductions
A new study by researchers at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy finds that in order to achieve needed reductions in vehicle-based CO2 emissions, a combination of both market-based and regulatory policies must be adopted worldwide. Furthermore, the authors find that no one singular policy, even when implemented to the extreme, can achieve reductions equivalent to several policies combined.
Methods for Estimating the Environmental Health Impacts of SRTS Programs (National Center for Safe Routes to School, 2012)
This report explores environmental health and Safe Routes to School through a review of the relationship between environmental health and school travel, a discussion on measuring the environmental health impacts of school travel, and five examples of methods used by SRTS programs to estimate the impact of their activities on local air quality and carbon dioxide emissions.
Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (Rails to Trails Conservancy, 2012)
Rails to Trails Conservancy issued a short synopsis of the results of the four-year Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program conducted in four communities across the U.S. It includes useful statistics such as change in bicycle and walking mode, number of miles of trails built, and number of pounds of CO2 saved.
CO2 emissions from transportation continue to rise
Even where gas prices are higher than in the U.S., CO2 emissions will not decline by market forces alone, according to a recent report [PDF] commissioned by the European Union: The report argues that “meeting climate change mitigation …