Transportation Bill Includes Necessary Climate Investments

WASHINGTON - The leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee introduced America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act today, which includes funding to make roads, bridges and other infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather events and to spur reductions in highway-related carbon emissions. The committee is scheduled to consider the legislation tomorrow. 

The following is comment from Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, chief program officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

“Transportation is now the largest source of carbon pollution, and it’s encouraging that there’s bipartisan agreement to pursue pro-climate policies -- like investing in electric-vehicle charging stations and making streets safe for bikers and pedestrians -- as part of this transportation bill.

“Unfortunately, some lawmakers have included industry giveaways such as ending reviews of gas-gathering pipelines on federal lands and other rollbacks of environmental protections. These poisonous provisions have no place in a transportation bill, and NRDC will be fighting to get them eliminated as the bill advances.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.