When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced last week that he was unable to secure the 60 votes needed to move forward on comprehensive climate legislation, it put an end to any realistic chance of capping carbon emissions in 2010, making it even more urgent to pass a reformed transportation bill that can help us reduce emissions and oil use.

This was a tough pill to swallow for Transportation for America and our partners as we were mobilizing around the promising clean transportation provisions pushed by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman in their American Power Act — provisions that had a good chance at being included in an overall bill until last week. We endorsed Kerry and Lieberman’s American Power Act in May of this year because it “acknowledges transportation’s role in oil consumption and climate change and proposes a serious solution.”

The legislation embraces the principle that revenues generated from transportation should go toward projects that reduce oil usage, decrease emissions and recognize the unique role transportation plays in both. It’s a basic principle: We ought to get what we’re paying for.

Many hoped the weeks of watching the Gulf’s gushing oil would compel Congress to act decisively on reducing oil dependence. The transportation sector drives that dependence, with 70 percent of the oil we consume going toward various modes of travel. That’s why the emphasis on clean transportation and projects with demonstrated potential to lower emissions in the American Power Act were so critical.

According to every measure and metric, Americans want more and cleaner transportation options. Surveys commissioned by the National Association of Realtors found more than half of respondents want to live in a neighborhood where they can walk and access public transportation, but the number of communities that meet that standard are far lower than 50 percent. In another bipartisan poll of American voters, 75 percent said increased transit options would “help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

It’s clear to us that effective energy policy must include cleaner and smarter transportation. Unfortunately, the latest proposal to come out of the Senate fails to do that. While increased investment in electric cars and Gulf Coast clean-up are both welcome and constructive, these measures alone fall far short of what is truly needed.

The failure of climate legislation this year makes swift movement on a comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization bill more crucial than ever. As we said during climate bill negotiations, climate policy is transportation policy, but that works in reverse as well. Transportation policy is our climate policy, and in lieu of a true climate bill, we’ll need transportation policy to help our climate efforts — not hurt them.

A new transportation bill that expands options, creates real accountability for what our money will get us, repairs and maintains the roads and transit systems we already have and give rural Americans a bigger voice in planning would do a lot for the health of our planet, not to mention the health and well-being of our friends and neighbors.

Exxon Valdez. Love Canal. Cuyahoga River.

These are just a few examples of high-profile environmental disasters that resulted in the swift enactment of landmark environmental laws.

We face a similar choice today.

Today’s news brings great hope that the leak in the Gulf of Mexico is finally capped. But our work is far from done. We still haven’t addressed the root cause behind the spill – the fact that our transportation system consumes 70% of the oil we use, driving us to riskier measures to obtain more oil.

In response to this disaster, leaders in the Senate are hoping to quickly move energy and climate legislation before the upcoming August recess. The bill they construct could be the beginning of the end of our oil dependency, or it could be yet another missed opportunity.

Will we respond to the crisis in the Gulf by starting to free ourselves from oil and finding ways to use less? Or will we resign ourselves to continued dependency and the inevitable risk of future oil spills resulting from that dependency?

Write to your senators today to tell them to support a climate and energy package that includes clean transportation options and reduces our dependency on dirty oil.

This week, Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid met with key Senate committee leaders to deliver the message that a climate package is past due, and President Obama had a meeting with key senators to discuss the same issue. Sen. Reid plans to bring a bill to the floor in July before the August recess – we have to act now to make sure senators hear our priorities.

It’s time to kick our addiction to oil and we simply can’t do it unless clean transportation is part of the solution. Just a few hours ago, T4 America sent a letter of support to Senator Merkley and 3 other Senators who released a bill yesterday for inclusion in the climate package that would actually address how much oil gets consumed for transportation and put us on a path to use less oil.

That bill, the Oil Independence for a Stronger America Act (S.3601), would help address our dependence on oil by providing Americans with cleaner transportation options. How can we even attempt to solve the climate or energy crises without making substantial steps to use less oil for transportation?

Click through to read the full letter to the four Senators from T4 America

Dear Senators Merkley, Carper, Udall, and Bennet:

We are writing to thank you for your leadership and Independence for a Stronger America Act (S. 3601), legislation to create economically strong, energy-independent communities.

We strongly support the policies included in Title IV to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emission through providing American families and businesses with cleaner, more affordable transportation choices. The Oil Independence for a Stronger America Act will ensure future transportation investments made by state and local governments help the country meet oil saving goals and provide incentives for investments in clean transportation through a new competitive grant program. It will also provide commuters with increased public transportation benefits, which will reduce household transportation costs and ease congestion.

The strategies included in the bill to green the freight sector, which include shifting freight to rail and barge, are also critical to reducing our oil dependence. A shift to those more efficient travel modes will help produce significant benefits for the American people by easing congestion and improving air quality.

Again, we thank you all for your continued support of policies to address oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector through investments in sustainable communities and clean transportation. We look forward to continuing to work with all of you to ensure these policies are included in any energy package that moves forward in the Senate.

Sincerely,
James Corless
Director, Transportation for America

The American Power Act, sponsored by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, acknowledges transportation’s role in oil consumption and climate change and proposes serious solutions. The legislation embraces the principle that revenues generated from transportation should go toward projects that reduce oil usage, decrease emissions and recognize the unique role transportation plays in both. It’s a basic principle: We ought to get what we’re paying for.

Critics of the Kerry-Lieberman bill suggest these revenues would somehow detract from core transportation needs. Make no mistake: We need urgently to pass a surface transportation reauthorization, preferably this year. But this climate bill is hardly standing in the way. The truth is that Kerry-Lieberman is the first new source of revenue for transportation in many, many years and more than has ever been allocated in one bill. Clean transportation can mean anything from light rail to increased options for walking and biking to more fuel efficient cars.

Transportation for America has worked closely on the transportation provisions in Kerry-Lieberman with a broad range of stakeholders, from environmental organizations to transportation and business interests. Unfortunately, the transportation old guard that benefits from the status quo are going all out to reverse this progress. They’ve asked Congress to rewrite the transportation section entirely without any accountability for reducing emissions or oil dependency, relying once again on the status quo that left us with excessive emissions and a transportation system that consumes 70% of the oil we use.

Why would a bill aimed at clean energy and lower emissions go all in for more of the same?

Tell your senators you support the climate bill’s investment in the future of transportation that is cleaner, smarter, and more accountable – and that you want to see more money, not less, go toward cleaner transportation options.

The focus on clean transportation options is also an economic boost for local communities and households. The Center for Neighborhood Technology found something very telling: In communities where people are able to walk places and have good access to public transit, the typical household spends just 9 percent of monthly incomes on transportation. In contrast, those living in the most car-dependent areas spent more than 25 percent. Investment in public transportation is a job creator, yielding about 16 percent more jobs than highway construction.

It is also worth remembering that Kerry-Lieberman delivers what Americans say they want. In every survey commissioned by the National Association of Realtors, more than half of respondents said they wanted to live in a neighborhood where they can walk and access public transportation, yet few places meet their expectations. A recent poll found 82 percent of Americans believe the U.S. would benefit from an expanded and improved public transportation system, and 75 percent agreed that these increased transit options will “help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” Among rural residents, 79 percent believed there would be a benefit to more transportation options.

Of course we must maintain a focus on getting a new surface transportation bill done, but let’s not pass up the chance to put a dent in our oil dependence with the forward-looking transportation program in Kerry and Lieberman’s bill.

To read more about the opponents of the Kerry-Lieberman bill and where their arguments fall short, check out Ya-Ting Liu’s rundown at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign blog.

Transportation for America, the largest, most diverse coalition working on transportation reform, expressed support for key provisions of the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act as a major endorsement of clean transportation options to spur energy independence and climate protection.

“On top of a number of other issues, our coalition has been working since day one to stress the essential need to connect America’s climate and energy goals with a renewed national vision for transportation that lessens our dependence on oil, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and expands safe, clean and affordable transportation options for everyone,” said Transportation for America Director James Corless. “The American Power Act represents a key step towards creating a long-term policy that will meet our country’s future climate, energy and transportation goals.”

Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I-CT), with key support from Senator Carper (D-DE), made clear the critical connection between clean transportation and the environment by including necessary provisions that will ensure that revenues generated from the transportation sector go towards meeting the growing demand for more, better and cleaner transportation options, reduce oil consumption and decrease emissions.

“This legislation recognizes the critical role that transportation plays in our nation’s energy addiction,” said John Robert Smith, former mayor of Meridian, Miss., and president and CEO of Reconnecting America. “It gives communities additional funding to implement local plans to invest in community transit, complete streets or green freight facilities.”

Roughly a third of climate-harming emissions and 70 percent of oil consumed in the U.S. come from the transportation sector. As the BP oil spill so vividly reminds us, every gallon of oil we save not only helps the planet, but also makes our nation more secure. Key provisions of this bill would provide states and local communities with some of the resources needed to reduce this dependency by providing consumers with safe, clean and affordable options for public transportation, walking and bicycling, as well as better-managed, less congested highways.

These investments will help spur small businesses and expand American manufacturing of clean energy technologies that we will need to compete in a 21st century economy. Not only will this create jobs and expand our economy but it will help Americans spend less money at the gas tank and save money on transportation.

In the letter, T4 America and dozens of other groups conveyed concern that, absent a new clean energy framework, these revenues would simply subsidize an unsustainable status quo. We wrote:

There are several mechanisms through which such investments could be made. However, because our federal transportation policy does not currently support oil savings or greenhouse gas reduction, we have deep concerns about proposals to deposit funds from sales of carbon permits in the Highway Trust Fund without additional policies to direct those funds toward transportation projects that advance our climate and energy goals.

The letter also addressed the enormous strain that transportation costs have placed on the average American household, and urged a reorientation of transportation priorities so that cheaper and cleaner options can develop.

Providing some level of direction consumer rebates within your bill may be one way to address transportation costs. However, it is even more important to invest in essential public infrastructure and technology that will create jobs now and save Americans money on transportation costs in the long term, including strategies such as expanded public transportation, vehicle electrification, and complete streets. A robust portion of the revenue generated by your legislation should be invested in such transportation technology and infrastructure.

Co-signatories on the letter included the ALF-CIO, Amtrak, American Public Health Association, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Fund, U.S. PIRG, Transportation Equity Network and the Complete Streets Coalition.

You can read the entire letter here.

Washington, DC — The latest version of the Senate climate-protection bill put forth by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, would provide significant resources and incentives to communities to plan and build cleaner, more convenient travel and living options.

The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733) would set aside an average of 2.4 percent of revenues generated by the Act each year to help states and metropolitan areas reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they grow and change in the years to come. Half of the funds would support a competitive grants program for transportation projects and smart growth strategies that help reduce emissions and the planning needed to better account for and curb emissions. The other half would support the expansion of public transportation.

“That the Senate mark more than doubles the amount the House bill would dedicate to clean transportation options represents major progress for communities across America,” said Geoff Anderson, president of Smart Growth America and co-chair of the Transportation for America coalition. “Senators Boxer and John Kerry (D-MA) the primary authors, deserve enormous credit for recognizing the role that reduced transportation emissions must play, and for including measures that will help create affordable options as oil supplies tighten and fuel prices rise in the years ahead.”

The Act substantially incorporates language from a separate bill known as CLEAN-TEA, sponsored by Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Arlen Specter (D-PA) and co-sponsored by senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bill Nelson (D-FL). The CLEAN-TEA sponsors’ support was critical in securing meaningful transportation provisions in the Senate bill.

“Transportation contributes nearly one-third of the total annual climate-harming emissions in the U.S., and has to be a key part of the solution,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “S. 1733 contains common-sense policies and funding that promise cleaner, safer and more affordable transportation options for all Americans, and will help create green jobs.  As the bill moves through the Senate and the understanding of the importance of clean transportation grows, our coalition hopes to see a funding level closer to 5 percent of revenues. We urge members of the Senate to unite behind this essential legislation.”

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(Joint release by Transportation for America and Smart Growth America.)

SMART GROWTH AMERICA is a coalition of national, state and local organizations working to improve the ways we plan and build the towns, cities and metro areas we call home. The coalition includes many of the best-known national organizations advocating on behalf of historic preservation, the environment, farmland and open space preservation, neighborhood revitalization and more. www.smartgrowthamerica.org

The long-awaited allocations in the Senate climate bill were released over the weekend, and the news is good for increasing access to cleaner transportation options. Late Friday evening, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released the final numbers on where the revenues raised under a cap-and-trade climate bill would be directed.

The Senate nearly triples the funding for clean, sustainable transportation over the House climate bill, which only set aside an optional one percent of funding. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill has some details on the allocations.)

After hearing from advocates and their colleagues in the Senate, the authors of the Senate climate bill agreed to include a higher, guaranteed level of funding (roughly 2.4% over the life of the bill) for clean transportation options, such as public transportation, affordable neighborhoods around transit stops, vanpooling and streets safe for walking and biking.

We want to let the Senate know, especially those committee members, that we appreciate their leadership on this issue and we want them to defend that funding as the bill moves through other Senate committees. There is still a long road ahead for the climate bill and the Senate needs to know you will support their efforts to continue fighting for more money for clean transportation.

Take a moment to thank senators for making clean transportation part of the climate bill — and tell them to defend that money over the coming weeks.

Transportation for America is happy for the strong transportation provisions, but we are not stopping at 2.4%. We’re going to continue asking the Senate to increase that amount as the bill moves forward. It only makes sense — transportation pollution is responsible for nearly one-third of our national greenhouse gas emissions.

We applaud Sen. Barbara Boxer and the rest of the Senate EPW Committee for this strong statement that funding clean transportation options is a vital part of reducing our emissions.

To truly address climate change, the Senate has to fix the serious funding gap in the House climate bill: The House bill directs only an optional one percent of the money it will raise toward clean transportation options, even though nearly one-third of our CO² emissions come from transportation.

Tell your Senators: You can’t solve 30% of the problem with only 1% of the funding.

Now is the time to make ourselves heard: The Senate climate bill doesn’t contain any funding levels yet, so there is still an opportunity to make sure that it includes enough funding to create cleaner, more affordable transportation options for everyday Americans.

Senators Boxer and Kerry deserve our thanks and support — the bill already makes significant strides toward cleaner transportation. It would direct states and metro areas to make plans to reduce transportation emissions and set targets over the coming decades. These goals are a tremendous — and essential — component of the legislation.

But these targets will be nearly impossible to meet if the bill only provides a miniscule share of its funding for cleaner and more fuel-efficient transportation.

Help make sure we both set meaningful goals AND provide communities with the means to reach them. Tell your Senators to adequately fund clean transportation in the climate bill.

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With the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee expected to release their version of the climate bill tomorrow, we’re all anxiously waiting to see what the bill will do to reduce emissions from transportation. The U.S. transportation sector produces one-third of our carbon emissions, yet the House’s version of the climate bill allocated only an optional one percent of cap-and-trade revenues to cleaner transportation options that can help us cut transportation emissions.

Will the Senate bill be better? We think so, but the Reason Foundation, a free-market think tank, wrote that it should be if we’re going to seriously tackle transportation emissions:

The funding allocations are not expected to be released until closer to the committee markup date.  This could well be another contentious issue.   For the transportation sector to play a greater role in reducing emissions and fuel consumption, the Senate bill will need to dedicate far more than 1% of its revenues to advance clean transportation projects.

We agree wholeheartedly, and have been urging the Senate to adopt a plan that would raise that number from one percent to 10 percent.

One percent won’t cut it if we’re really going to tackle a sector that generates a full third of our emissions. We’ve been supporting a proposal in the Senate (CLEAN-TEA) that would direct 10% of the funding towards public transportation, passenger rail, affordable neighborhoods around transit stops, and neighborhood improvements that increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

It’s going to be difficult to reach our climate goals if we don’t give states and localities to tools they need to make a dent in the emissions that come from transportation. Having just a tiny share of revenue going to clean transportation is like asking a carpenter to build a house without a hammer. It might be possible, but it’s significantly more difficult.

You can still call your Senator today and tell them that the Senate climate bill needs to invest in a cleaner transportation system. Find their phone numbers and brief talking points right here.

• Protecting our climate and gaining more energy independence begins, and doesn’t end, with the climate bill making its way through Congress. (Reuters)

• The speed of spending federal stimulus dollars remains a contentious issue. (USA Today)

• Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar looks to make his mark with the next transportation bill. (Congressional Quarterly)