Law Commons^™

Transportation In A Changing Climate: Innovating To Create Resilient, Low-Carbon Systems, Vicki Arroyo, Annie Bennett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The climate is changing rapidly, bringing new temperature highs and weather extremes and affecting every individual, community, and sector of society—including transportation. Although, at times, climate change may feel like an insurmountable challenge, humanity is resilient and innovative. Transportation ultimately is about people: connecting people to places, to goods and services, and to each other. Because of its central role in the functioning of society, the transportation system—including its infrastructure, networks, and workforce—is an essential part of addressing and responding to climate change.

This article discusses challenges and opportunities for building resilient and low-carbon transportation solutions in the United States.

Accelerating Deep Decarbonization In The U.S. Transportation Sector, Daniel Sperling, Lewis Fulton, Vicki Arroyo

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The transportation sector includes light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles (trucks), off-road vehicles, buses, rail, shipping, and aviation. Reducing emissions in this sector is critical in order to achieve the pathways to zero carbon. Transportation emissions accounted for 37 percent of total CO₂ emissions from energy and industry in 2019. The principal strategy for decarbonizing transportation is electrification (including battery, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cells) of all light-duty vehicles, urban-based trucks and buses, rail, much of long-haul trucking, and some short-haul shipping and aviation. For long-haul aviation and long-haul ocean shipping, advanced low-carbon biofuels and synthetic liquids or gases produced with …