Full Title: An "All-In" Pathway to 2030: Transportation Sector Emissions Reduction Potential
Author(s): Alicia Zhao, Haewon McJeon, Ryna Cui, Tom Cyrs, John Feldmann, Gokul Iyer, Kathleen Kennedy, Kevin Kennedy, Shannon Kennedy, Kowan O’Keefe, Sujata Rajpurohit, Lainie Rowland, Nate Hultman
Publisher(s): America is All In
Publication Date: April 21, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
A rapid and low-carbon transformation of the transportation sector in the United States holds the key to delivering on multiple goals: enhancing economic mobility, improving health, expanding environmental justice and equity, reducing global oil dependence in a time of deep concerns about energy security, and delivering on ambitious and necessary climate goals. The United States has committed to an ambitious climate target of slashing emissions in half by 2030—setting the country on a path toward keeping global climate goals within reach.
The transportation sector—now the biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.—is one of the key linchpins in reaching these climate goals. Achieving the nationally determined contribution (NDC) will be challenging but remains within reach through a combination of additional Congressional actions; mandates, and incentives driven by bottom-up leadership —states, cities, businesses, civil society, tribal groups, healthcare, and cultural institutions, universities, and more—and renewed comprehensive regulatory and other actions from the federal government.
The analysis presented in this report demonstrates how an All-In pathway can deliver reductions in the transportation sector, representing nearly 20%—or one-fifth—of the emissions needed to achieve the U.S. NDC of 50-52% reductions by 2030 from 2005 levels. This pathway builds on reductions already underway—driven by years of consistent and robust action from non-federal actors—combined with actions on vehicle efficiency and new investment in charging stations and other areas authorized by Congress in IIJA. Additional measures from federal agencies and Congress can accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs), enhance electricity decarbonization, and extend reductions beyond 2030