Smart Growth America

Tell the Senate: Boost funding for clean transportation in the climate bill!

The U.S. transportation sector accounts for one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions, yet the House climate legislation would direct only one percent of revenues back into cleaner transportation alternatives.

Senators Boxer and Kerry are to be commended for writing a strong Senate bill that recognizes the growing impact of transportation emissions on our climate. Further, their bill more than doubles what the House bill offered for cleaner transportation and smart growth — 2.4% of total funds. We need to protect this investment for the kinds of transportation that can help us reduce emissions and our dependence on oil — while giving Americans more options for getting around.

Fill out the forms below to tell your Senators to guarantee funding for cleaner, efficient transportation options that can help us get where we need to go while reducing emissions.

February 09, 2010

Subject:

Dear Senator,

I am writing to support the strong provisions for clean transportation in the Boxer-Kerry Climate Bill, and also to urge you to protect those allocations for clean transportation choices. I write as a member of Smart Growth America, a diverse coalition of groups from across the country dedicated to making our local communities livable and sustainable. Similar to language in the Clean Low-Emission Affordable New Transportation Efficiency Act (CLEAN-TEA, S. 575) the Boxer-Kerry bill requires states and MPOs to come up with long-range plans for greenhouse gas reductions from transportation, providing funding for planning and strategies that can help them meet their targets. In the House bill, those allocations were only an optional one percent of total revenues, even though transportation is responsible for one-third of our emissions. I applaud the Senate's decision to more than double this and make it mandatory — giving clean transportation 2.4% of the funds over the life of the bill. Transportation contributes nearly one-third of the total annual CO2 emissions in the U.S. and will likely generate close to 20 percent of revenues in the bill. The bill rightly requires federal, state and local governments to account for their transportation emissions and to make plans to keep their emissions under the targets they set for themselves. In order for those plans to succeed, the clean energy bill must offer meaningful financial support for states and metropolitan regions to implement those plans, and to provide Americans the clean, affordable travel options they need, now and in the future. Give states and metro areas the critical tools they’ll need to meet these ambitious targets —protect the current investment in cleaner transportation alternatives. I hope you can support this important legislation, and will work to improve it even further. Sincerely,
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