As the largest greenhouse - gaseous state emitting sphere in the U.S. , the fare organisation must be modernize in lodge to forefend the worst effects of climate change . That mean presumptive Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has a big undertaking ahead of him .
But he wo n’t be alone in this task ; President Biden iscommitting to center climatein his approach to governance , let in other federal agencies . Problems facing our transportation system already will probably be compounded by the budget crisis confront public transportation agencies due to the pandemic - driven drop in ridership . Democratic command of the House and Senate make it likely some action will be take in Congress to help these anteriority , but it must be swift and commensurate with the job .
https://gizmodo.com/climate-change-cant-be-an-excuse-for-more-militarizatio-1846142805
Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP (Getty Images)
The Biden - Harris governing can help lower emission while also improving transportation fairness and access , but it will take coordination among multiple agencies . Presumptive Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will be an MVP mate for Buttigieg to have in this decarbonization race . The duo can set their agencies to crop collaboratively to prioritise zero - emission technology and base , public deportation support and engineering , and improved access to new mobility technologies that will get us around without frying the planet . The choice of Pete Buttigieg and Jennifer Granholm to head DOT and DOE severally signal that electrification of transfer is a top priority . As former governor of Michigan , Granholm helped then - Vice President Biden revive the car industry while making Brobdingnagian investment in green jobs and clean energy . As mayor of South Bend and during his presidential campaign , Buttigieg has emphasized the importance of transitioning to galvanising vehicle and the importance of reducing emission from conveyance .
While DOT is evidently responsible for improving our transportation system , DOE plays an of import role through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ( EERE ) , in the main in theSustainable Transportation Office . To reduce atomic number 6 emission from transportation , the Union political science will need to implement multiple policy priorities with coordination among agencies throughout the Biden organisation ( in all likelihood the role of the White House ’s Office of Domestic Climate Policy or Council on Environmental Quality ) . These antecedence admit decarbonizing transportation through investment in electrification and other zero - emission engineering , but also better transportation equity by reducing barrier to approach , reducing our dependence on personal vehicle , and better the substructure we already have rather than building and expanding highways .
Biden ’s pick of Pete Buttigieg for secretary of transportation came as a surprise to many , but further examination of what DOT does and his book as mayor of South Bend and his presidential campaign platform give some hints as to how his precedence on transportation aligned perfectly with the Biden - Harris plans . While Sen. Amy Klobuchar’stweet congratulating Mayor Peteand indicate out his local government experience may have seemed like a Minnesota - dainty peaceful - belligerent gibe , that experience does unambiguously prepare him to make decision that have the most prompt impact on local Department of Transportation systems . He will undoubtedly reinstate regulations and refocus the department ’s precedence on base hit , sustainability , and efficiency of our expatriation arrangement . This approaching is in direct contrast to his predecessor Secretary Elaine Chao who focused on removing regulation , redirected Cary Grant from pedestrians to cars , and did n’t implement any new safety regulations .
Increasing electric fomite deployment is a top priority on theBiden - Harris military campaign websiteand White Housepage , and one of Biden ’s early announcement was his purport toelectrify the U.S. government fleet . Building out new EV infrastructure and create EV manufacturing Job is one of the main direction for the president ’s economic retrieval plan , which would truly be “ work up back well . ” The selection of Granholm as the writing table of energy further signal that electric vehicle will be a focal point . As governor of Michigan , Granholm was a key official in the auto industriousness retrieval that Vice President Biden and President Obama orchestrated to avail it retrieve from the Great Recession .
She spearhead the ontogenesis of incentives for the “ big three ” automakers to invest in electric battery reposition and other innovative technology . She also signalize one of Michigan’sfirst - ever executive ordersto ask the state to develop an environmental justice design , a sign DOE could prioritize energy and environmental judge . In her confirmation auditory modality , shedemonstrated an in - depth understandingof and enthusiasm for galvanising vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing , and how that can be leveraged to create new sportsmanlike jobs .
Buttigieg and Granholm ’s section will be largely responsible for meeting Biden ’s bluff goal to decarbonise transportation , including set up half a million EV chargers by 2030 . inquiry conducted through DOE ’s national labs has and will bear on to advance the technologies want to improve fomite efficiency , reduce battery cost , and ply recommendation for establish agitate infrastructure for EVs . DOT can apply those research outcome to offer funding and directives to local and province governments , as well as rule for EV infrastructure that are establish on science .
In a hustle of executive orders sign this week , President Biden instructed the government to prioritise putting 40 % of its clean vim benefit into frontline communities . DOT controls where some transportation monetary resource are enthrone ( the rest are mandated by Congress ) , and can address much of the environmental racialism that has been perpetuate by the transportation system using that office , blend in well beyond EV base to ameliorate road and highway and elaborate access to affordable public transportation . investment in EVs and public transit will do good frontline residential district the most from the step-down in particulate discharge and nitrogen oxide , which have been shown to exacerbate health issues and impacts of disease like covid-19 .
However , decide how and where to invest these funds will require research and community engagement from the people impacted most by it . DOT and DOE can utilize grants to work with community organization and researchers to resolve best practices for investing fund and produce agency programs that will gain frontline communities with clear transportation access and reducing environmental burdens . DOTcan also mandatestate and local Zen take emission inventories and set reduction goals as requirement for incur federal funds , provide additional avenue to reduce emissions and odd access to transit .
Granholm ’s record signals that DOE priorities will shift towards increased investiture in EERE and other innovative clean energy engineering science programs after Biden campaigned on increasing spending on renewable great power and Department of Energy efficiency to $ 2 trillion ; a large chunk of that might be designated to the Vehicle Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing Office , which have program developingbattery technologyand more efficientvehicle engineering and exile systems(Trump unsuccessfully propose cutting more than 80 % of the budget for these offices every year he was in post ) . Increases in disbursal are far more probable with a Democrat - control Congress .
Pete Buttigieg could work together with Granholm to prioritise research supporting the carrying out of zero - emanation conveyance technology quickly , admit light , medium , and heavy - duty vehicles , air power , rails , and the charging and refueling substructure required . DOE has researcher working on increasing the animation and sustainability of batteries and the decisive materials necessitate for them , understanding the full life - cycle implications of replacing burning vehicle with electric ones , and sustainable biofuels and atomic number 1 that might be vital for air power and heavy - duty vehicle . This study will inform DOT on what regulation and requirements to put into place for base investment .
The Biden organisation will need to implement unassailable incentives and regulative policies to make a meaningful decrease in transportation emission . Congress and the Biden disposal can implement policies similar to the one California ( and other states ) have ordain , like theZero - Emission Vehicle mandate , Clean Miles Standard , Innovative Clean Transit , andLow - Carbon Fuels Standard . They can also extend theEV revenue enhancement creditthat expired at the ending of the year , and utilize other recommended motivator for consumers ( while prioritizing frontline communities ) to increase awareness and access code to zero - emanation shipping . A volunteer group of clean energy pro compiledcomprehensive insurance recommendationsaround clean energy and transportation which give some perceptivity into what the priorities of the administration could be . ( Full disclosure : I write and edited some of these recommendation . )
DOT apportions monetary fund to Department of State and local political science base on how much revenue is generated and what priorities and guidelines the agency sets . It is potential that DOT will set those priorities ground on research that DOE and other agencies and research worker present from programme like theClean Cities Coalition Networkon the emissions and equity impacts of road expansion , transit organisation , and alive transportation options . Buttigieg is also acutely aware of the problem with the support deficit for the Highway Trust Fund . He said during the presidential primary and his confirmation earshot that he would direct DOT toimplement a bailiwick of a Road User Charge , or Mileage - Based Fee to replace the fuel taxation , which has not been raised since 1993 , resulting in a monolithic funding shortage and is relatively regressive . Buttigieg has also indicated that he intend toprioritize correctingthe systemic anti-Semite policies like redlining and main road placement that have perpetuated inequality through the transportation system organisation .
https://gizmodo.com/how-joe-biden-wins-the-climate-messaging-war-and-fixes-1846144810
In addition to the energy that tug our cable car , buses , and trade good , there are astray - ranging implications of our evolving transport system to more app - found services and information , and the impendent passage to automated vehicles . White House climate advisors and presumptive secretaries must fully research and inquire the fairness , safety , and emissionsimplications of automatize vehicles . In dividing line the Trump administration mostly side - stepped any actions on even ensuring prophylactic in this new technology , vowing not to govern them , which has largely leftstates and citiesto regulate and automakers supply to multiple strategies and guessing what will chance federally . It ’s yet another area we could see DOT and DOE collaborate that could further set the time to come of transit on a path that looks very dissimilar from its present course .
transferral is speedily evolving , and regrettably , the priority of the last four years have left it the large emitting sector in the state and growing . Now head by Pete Buttigieg and Jennifer Granholm , the DOT , DOE , and theBiden White House’sOffice of Domestic Climate Policy can work together to follow through policy precedency that enthrone in the expanse research prove to be the good shot for quickly and equitably decarbonizing the conveyance sector .
Kelly L. Fleming is a insurance policy psychoanalyst at UC Davis in the Policy Institute for Energy , Environment , and the Economy , and a 2019 alum of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute Fellowship Program . Prior , she assist as a science insurance feller at the US Department of Energy , and on the leadership board of 500 Women Scientists . She has a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Washington and a BS in chemical substance engineering from the Colorado School of Mines .
EnergyJoe BidenPete Buttigieg
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