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In Pete Buttigieg’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of Transportation yesterday, he called out the “generational opportunity” at this moment to align our national infrastructure with climate goals. The American public is behind him. According to a recent survey by Yale’s Climate Change Communications Center, 68% of registered voters support major government investment in our infrastructure. Nearly everyone surveyed (93%) supports that money going to repair and improve roads, bridges, and highways, and a majority (78%) are in favor of those roads being driven by cars with stronger fuel efficiency standards.
Why this Matters: Transportation accounts for the largest slice of the U.S. emissions pie, so tackling how the sector is powered is essential to meet emission goals. In order to get there, the federal investment in transportation will need to go beyond fixing the country’s existing roads and rails. It’s an opportunity to move past car-centric planning and create infrastructure that makes emission-free walking, biking, and electrified public transit the preferred choice. Bringing American transportation in line with climate goals also improves public health by decreasing the toxic pollution that harms the respiratory health of people living near major roads.
Infrastructure Support By The Numbers
The survey shows national interest in improving our current infrastructure, but meeting the challenge of the current moment requires changing how people and goods move — and this is where bipartisan support breaks down. Liberal Democrats strongly support a national high-speed rail system (66%) and a national system of electric vehicle charging stations (63%) but fewer than one-third of conservative Republicans support either of these initiatives.
67% support installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the U.S. by 2030.
44% support requiring all new cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in the U.S. are electric vehicles by 2030.
74% support funds to repair and improve National Parks.
65% support funds to install solar panels and wind turbines across the country.
“I believe good transportation policy can play no less a role than making possible the American dream,” Buttigieg said during his hearing yesterday. “But I also recognize that at their worst, misguided policies and missed opportunities in transportation can reinforce racial and economic inequality.” Even as Tesla, GM, and yesterday Ford stock prices have risen in recent months and the public favors installing charging stations, a majority is still not sold on making the changeover to EVs themselves by 2030.
by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer UN Climate Change has published the Initial NDC Synthesis Report, which evaluated information from 75 parties to the Paris agreement representing 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The results: “governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees and meet the […]
According to a report out on Tuesday from the International Energy Agency, while the pandemic allowed a brief reprieve from the uptick in global carbon dioxide emissions, global carbon pollution had returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020. Carbon emissions in Brazil, India, and China were all up over 2019 levels.
Why this Matters: Under the Paris Agreement, nations agreed to prevent the rise in global temperature from reaching two degrees Celsius and keeping the rise under 1.5 degrees celsius, but that won’t be possible if our emissions start going up again.
New public opinion research reveals a totally surprising level of agreement in America on the long-term national priorities that we need to focus on as a nation.
Why This Matters:The Index’s authors describe the issue of climate change as a “collective illusion” because there are significant gaps between personal and perceived societal national aspirations.
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