Person, & Ella Foley Gannon, L. M. (2022, January 05). The transportation of tomorrow will address climate change. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/transportation-tomorrow-will-address-climate-change-2022-01-05/
This article explores transportation impact on climate change and some domestic legislation being drafted to mitigate its implications. In November, President Biden released his administration’s long-term climate-change strategy, which presents a vision of achieving the United States’ goal of net-zero emissions by no later than 2050, emphasizing the role of electric vehicles in attaining that goal. This summer, President Biden signed an executive order stipulating that 50% of all new passenger cars and light trucks must be zero emissions by 2030. Furthermore, the Build Back Better bill earmarks $7.5 billion to build a national network for electric-charging stations to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles to reduce transportation emissions, facilitate long-distance travel, and make charging more convenient for consumers. The article also asserts that aviation contributes 11% of transportation-related emissions in the United States. To address that figure, the Biden administration has set the target year of 2050 for the aviation industry to reach net-zero emissions.
The article is directly related to environmental science because it refers to E.S’s place within public policy and legislation. Since the emergence of climate change as a significant political issue, policymakers are constantly attempting to create legislation that addresses the changing climate. Furthermore, the article explains how some of the policies would adequately address emission levels and clearly describes the scientific causal linkage relating to climate change. The report did an excellent job of explaining some of the policies introduced, and I was fascinated by some of the statistics. Notably, I was surprised that the deadline for aviation to reach net-zero emissions was markedly later than other forms of transportation, and I’m interested to learn more about why that may be.
This is very interesting, however, is changing to electric cars really enough to reach net zero carbon and eliminating carbon completely?
No, it is not enough, but it is a good start and hopefully will pave the way for other nessecary changes
I found it interesting that Biden used an executive order to ensure that 50% of the new car market would be electric by 2030. How do we make sure that the electricity powering those cars is not creating greenhouse gases in itself?
Thats the trick, many EV’s rely on GHG gasses to charge the batteries. However, the reduction in emmisions still ensures they are a net postive for the environment.