| April 23, 2009 |  |
UCS Vehicles Expert to Testify Before Congress That Cuting Global Warming Emissions Will Reduce Energy Costs
UCS Clean Vehicles Program Research Director David Friedman will testify on Friday before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment on the role transportation initiatives play in climate and energy draft legislation recently introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Friedman will share with the committee the transportation-related results of a new UCS analysis that examines how an economywide emissions cap and complementary transportation and energy policies would affect the economy.
Transportation sector emissions can be significantly reduced, the UCS analysis found. By 2030, car and light truck carbon emissions could be 40 percent lower than 2005 levels. A combination of investments in cleaner cars and a more efficient transportation system would cost about $35 billion in 2030, but would save drivers nearly $120 billion at the pump in that year. That would result in net savings of about $81 billion—or $580 per household—in addition to savings generated by the fuel economy standards Congress passed in December 2007.
Putting technology to work in freight trucks, meanwhile, would produce net savings of about $38 billion in 2030 and keep their carbon emissions steady at 2005 levels.
If policy makers enacted UCS's recommendations, in 2030 the transportation sector alone would use 3 million barrels a day less than what it consumed in 2005. That's more oil than the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf region.
To put the country on a path to significantly reduce global warming emissions from transportation, Friedman will argue that the United States should:
- Adopt aggressive heat-trapping emission standards for vehicles.
- Enact a national low carbon fuel standard based on scientific estimates of the amount of heat-trapping emissions fuels produce, including the effects that some biofuel production has on deforestation overseas and other land use changes.
- Include transportation in a nationwide carbon emissions cap.
- Tie federal transportation funding to implementing state transportation plans that will help people travel fewer miles and emit less pollution.
- Invest in advanced transportation technology such as fuel cell, plug-in and battery-electric vehicles, and ultra-low-carbon fuels.
- Preserve states' rights to initiate stronger transportation and climate policies than the federal government.
To watch the hearing live, go to the House committee's Web site.
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
