Policy Options for Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation Special Report 307 (2011) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Transportation Policy Landscape
3 Transportation Policy Landscape
Pages 95-116
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 95... ...
Tens of millions of households, businesses, and government entities own and operate passenger cars and light trucks. Tens of thousands more own and operate much larger commercial transportation vehicles, from heavy trucks and buses to aircraft, locomotives, and ships.
|
From page 96... ...
The federal government, for example, sets fuel economy standards for new cars and light trucks, but motor vehicle registration, operating requirements, and inspection and maintenance regulations are largely state responsibilities. The authority to tax transportation energy use resides at the federal, state, and local levels, as does ownership of much of the physical infrastructure used for transportation operations.
|
From page 97... ...
Strategies and policies to influence transportation energy use and emissions must recognize the varying incentives, interests, and capabilities of these actors. The main actors from each of these three groups in the domestic modes that contribute most of the sector's energy use and GHG emissions -- light-duty vehicles (cars and light trucks)
|
From page 98... ...
Accordingly, trailers and tractors are often not optimized as a system for energy efficiency. Fuel Suppliers Gasoline is used by most light-duty vehicles, while diesel fuel is used by most heavy trucks and buses.
|
From page 99... ...
with gasoline; however, only about 7 million cars and light trucks are so-called flexfuel vehicles that can run on this high blend. About 2,000 filling stations are capable of dispensing E-85, most of them located in the Midwest.
|
From page 100... ...
For the most part, access to the road network is unrestricted, although various forms of user charges, such as fuel taxes and tolls, are levied to finance the network. Commercial airports are likewise provided mostly by state and local authorities, although the federal government helps fund and operates much of the airside infrastructure, including runways, radar, and tower services.
|
From page 101... ...
The extensive government involvement in the supply and regulation of transportation infrastructure is important because infrastructure operations affect the energy intensity of transportation services. Governments are responsible for making investments in energy- and time-saving traffic management technologies, such as computer-controlled traffic management systems that can relieve urban traffic congestion.
|
From page 102... ...
The diversity of the trucking business makes it difficult to generalize about the incentives of owners and users of medium and light trucks. National and regional trucking companies own fleets consisting of hundreds or thousands of tractors and trailers used in providing transportation services for others.
|
From page 103... ...
This numerical difference is one reason why many energy policies, such as mandates for the supply of renewable fuels and fuel economy regulations, are targeted to
|
From page 104... ...
Current Policies to Reduce Energy Use and Emissions Various public policies and programs usually thought of as beyond the realm of transportation policy making can be construed as influencing transportation energy use and GHG emissions. For example, it is often
|
From page 105... ...
Instead, only major policies and programs whose main goal is to reduce transportation energy use and emissions are reviewed. federal policies At the federal level, the most prominent examples of policies intended to reduce transportation energy use and emissions are automobile fuel economy standards, mandates for the supply of renewable fuels, tax incentives to promote electric vehicles, R&D support for the development of fuel cell and battery technologies, public funding for mass transit and carpool lanes, and fuel tax exemptions for ethanol and other biofuels.
|
From page 106... ...
EISA also requires automobile manufacturers to label new cars and light trucks with both their fuel economy and their GHG emissions performance ratings. NHTSA is required to educate the public about the benefits of alternative fuels and to establish a fuel efficiency rating system for tires used on passenger cars.
|
From page 107... ...
EISA mandates that EPA increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended into gasoline to be used for motor fuel from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2022. It further mandates that 21 billion of the 36 billion gallons come from sources meeting GHG performance requirements.
|
From page 108... ...
on electric-drive buses, and the Federal Aviation Administration on air traffic management technologies and procedures to conserve fuel. Federal Fuel Taxes and Infrastructure Funding Federal funding of transportation infrastructure has both direct and indirect effects on transportation energy use.
|
From page 109... ...
is 24.4 cents per gallon, and this tax is also accompanied by comparable state and local taxes. Although most motor fuel taxes were introduced decades ago to finance road improvements -- and not to motivate fuel conservation -- they raise the retail price of gasoline and diesel by about 25 percent and thereby encourage some additional energy conservation.
|
From page 110... ...
Massachusetts offers a fuel tax exemption for biofuels that yield a 60 percent reduction in life-cycle GHG emissions relative to the gasoline displaced. State Energy and Emissions Performance Standards In seeking to establish their own energy and GHG performance standards for products such as motor vehicles and appliances, states have long
|
From page 111... ...
CARB's regulation governing GHG performance in 2016 vehicles would have been equivalent to a fuel economy standard of about 35 mpg. CARB has considered additional regulations that would lead to a 45 percent reduction in GHG emissions per mile by 2020 model year vehicles, which would be equivalent to achieving 43 mpg.11 CARB has estimated that adoption of this 2020 standard would reduce vehicle GHG emissions by 18 percent.12 More than a dozen states chose to adopt California's 2016 standards,13 but EPA originally denied California's request for a waiver.
|
From page 112... ...
For example, the governors of 11 Midwestern states tasked a special working group to recommend the design of a regional LCFS.17 The governors of several Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states have also declared their interest in developing a regional LCFS program.18 Local Actions Local governments can influence transportation energy use and emissions in a number of ways because they, along with states, are responsible for roadway operations, the supply of on-street parking, the provision of pedestrian and bicycle lanes, and the planning and zoning of land use. In addition to operating local street networks, counties and municipalities 15 http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/document/psp.pdf.
|
From page 113... ...
New and Proposed Policies Attempting to identify and explain all of the many energy and emissions mitigation measures proposed at the federal, state, and local levels is impractical because the proposals are constantly in flux. However, the Obama administration has supported the concept of national carbon pricing as a means of GHG mitigation, along with the aforementioned financial incentives for energy efficiency and alternative fuels and the creation of GHG performance standards for vehicles.
|
From page 114... ...
In December 2009, the EPA administrator issued a finding that current and projected atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, including CO2, threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. As mentioned earlier, EPA has already used its CAA authority to set GHG performance standards for cars and light trucks.
|
From page 115... ...
Federal legislation also calls on fuel suppliers to increase the volume of renewable fuels used by cars and light trucks. The Obama administration has since developed GHG performance standards for new cars and light trucks to complement the higher fuel economy standards and is working on similar standards for trucks.
|
From page 116... ...
The CAA is emerging as a central means by which the federal government can influence energy use and emissions in the transportation sector and elsewhere. Meanwhile, many policy actions to reduce GHG emissions have emerged at the state and local levels.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.