U.S. Senate Bill Marks Progress on Clean Transportation and Electric Vehicles, But Leaves A Lot To Be Desired

Arizona PIRG

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works unveiled a major transportation bill today, which includes a section on climate change that shifts some federal highway money to Complete Streets — a  program that makes streets safer for walking and biking. The legislation also moves money toward investments in public transportation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and authorizes funding for an expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

That said, the section on climate change represents only about three percent of the total funding authorized by the bill with the rest leaning heavily towards highway funding. The bill also relaxes the environmental review process of projects.

Matt Casale, Arizona PIRG’s Transportation Campaign Director, issued the following statement:

“To meet the public health and climate challenges we’re facing, we need to transform our transportation system. That means we must shift from primarily spending money on building highways and instead significantly increase investments in clean, modern and reliable public transportation and robust, accessible and safe walking and biking options. Not only will these investments reduce pollution, but they will also support more livable and healthy communities.”