Contrary to an undeniable divide in elite political opinion, the survey from Yale University’s Project on Climate Change Communication found that 71 percent of Americans believe global warming should be a priority, with 13 identifying it as a “very high” priority, 27 percent “high” and 31 percent “medium.” Notably, this figure included 50 percent of Republican respondents, 66 percent of independents and 88 percent of Democrats.

The survey also found broad consensus on how to tackle climate change, with transportation solutions among the answers with broadest support. Among all respondents, 80 favored more public transportation, 77 percent support installing bike lanes on city streets and 56 percent support reducing sprawl and targeting more development in city centers.

Consistent with the findings of Smart Growth America, the Rockefeller Foundation and others, many of these policies enjoyed support across party lines:

• Among Republicans, 74 percent support installing bike lanes, with 23 percent in strong support
• 80 percent of Republicans favor increasing the availability of public transportation, almost identical to the national average
• 79 percent of independents favored more public transportation, with 31 percent strongly in favor
• Republicans were about evenly split on supporting measures to reduce sprawl and target development in city and town centers, with 48 percent in favor and 52 percent opposed.

Although raising the gasoline tax remains relatively unpopular among all voter groups, 66 percent of respondents supported requiring utility companies to produce at least 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, even if it ended up costing households an extra $100 per year. A comparable percentage of Republicans, Democrats and independents agreed.

You can read more about the survey at Streetsblog Capitol Hill, or view the full results here.

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

Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) joined business leaders and Transportation for America, the largest, most diverse coalition working on transportation reform, to support key provisions of the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act (APA) that creates a new funding stream for investments in clean transportation options that will create jobs and reduce our dangerous dependence on oil.

“If we want to get serious about reducing our dependence on oil and cleaning the air we breathe, we have to find ways to allow people to get out of our cars,” said Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE). “We have to provide clean transportation alternatives.  I practice what I preach by taking the train from my home in Wilmington, Delaware to work in Washington, D.C. almost every day but for too many Americans mass transit isn’t a viable option.  We have to change that dynamic.  That’s why I am pleased Senators Kerry and Lieberman have included my CLEAN TEA legislation in the American Power Act. This robust investment puts us on the right path to reduce transportation emissions and oil consumption and improve our nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure.  These investments will make us healthier, less dependent on oil, and spur job creation and innovation.”

The proposal from Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), offers the most substantial support for the transportation sector of any climate and energy legislation to date.  Roughly 70 percent of oil consumed in the U.S. and one third of climate-harming emissions come from the transportation sector.  The APA invests revenues generated from oil refineries in building new clean transportation options and maintaining our existing transportation system.

“America’s oil addiction is a threat to our national security, our economy and our environment,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “The status-quo is unsustainable.  The transportation provisions in the American Power Act will create jobs, spur growth of small businesses and American industry and make it easier and more affordable for Americans to get around.  We strongly support these provisions and believe they should be funded at a higher level to ensure they achieve the greatest possible impact.”

The BP disaster is a devastating reminder that every gallon of oil saved not only benefits the planet, but also s bolsters national security and the economy. The transportation provisions of the bill would provide states and local communities with 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.

“Broward County and thousands of local governments across the country have been embracing the types of transportation strategies included in the American Power Act as a way to improve our economy, increase transportation choices, and create healthier, more sustainable communities, said Kristin Jacobs, County Commissioner, Broward County Florida. “The biggest challenge in implementing our plans, of course, is funding, which is why we’re pleased to see significant resources available through this legislation for states and local communities.”

“These provisions in the American Power Act will support innovations to keep America competitive, create jobs, encourage entrepreneurship and small businesses, and strengthen our economy, in part by expanding the use of ITS technologies to improve transportation system efficiency.  While we applaud the provisions, we believe that all revenues raised from the transportation sector should be reinvested into our nation’s transportation system to create a more financially and environmentally sustainable transportation future.”

Continue reading to see the letter from Senators Carper, Specter, Merkley and Cardin to Senators Kerry and Lieberman expressing support of the bill’s funding for the transportation sector, while calling for additional funding to maintain and repair existing transportation infrastructure.

###

June 10, 2010

The Honorable John F. Kerry
218 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
706 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senators Kerry and Lieberman:

We write to applaud the inclusion of funding and programs in the American Power Act that will reduce the transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption.

As you know, mobile sources account for nearly 30 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and consume 70 percent of the 20 million barrels of oil that Americans use every day. A number of strategies – including increased fuel efficiency, decreased carbon content of fuel, and greater transportation options – are necessary to accomplish meaningful reductions. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that a comprehensive set of strategies can reduce transportation emissions by 26 to 40 percent and oil consumption by 4 to 7 million barrels per day in 2030. In addition, these strategies will create hundreds of thousands of new, domestic jobs and provide federal, state, and local governments with billions of dollars of avoided infrastructure savings.

The American Power Act directs states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations to set goals for reducing oil use and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and to establish plans to meet those goals. The bill provides up to $6.25 billion per year for clean transportation infrastructure, such as high-speed rail, mass transit, smart growth, and intermodal freight. In addition, the American Power Act provides important incentives for domestic manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles.

Some groups have suggested that the American Power Act’s funding for transportation infrastructure should be dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund with no strings attached. Such a strategy is contradictory to American Power Act’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing our dependence on petroleum. We believe that the American Power Act’s distribution of transportation funding is appropriate and necessary.

As the Senate moves forward on clean energy legislation, we would like to work with you to increase the funding provided in the American Power Act for the transportation sector. While we applaud the bill’s focus on clean transportation strategies, we are concerned that significant revenue raised from the transportation sector will not be reinvested into our crumbling infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that an additional investment of $30 billion per year is needed to simply maintain our highways, bridges, and transit systems in their current state of repair. Improving our infrastructure to provide for the maximum economic benefit and job growth will require an additional investment of $75 billion per year. For that reason, we believe that additional funding in the American Power Act should be utilized to reduce transportation emissions and oil consumption and to improve our infrastructure.

We thank you for including strong transportation provisions in the American Power Act and look forward to working with you to make them even better.

Sincerely,

Tom Carper
Arlen Specter
Benjamin L. Cardin
Jeff Merkley

The bill sets national goals for reducing oil use and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, provides tools and resources for states and regions to measure current and projected future oil use and greenhouse emissions from transportation plans/projects, and requires that states and metro areas set emissions targets for reducing greenhouse gases and make plans to meet those targets.

It also provides $6.25 billion a year in clean-energy funding for states and regions to help them plan for a low-carbon future and build clean transportation projects. This funding is split three ways:

• $1.875 billion toward the TIGER grant program, a popular competitive grant program started in the stimulus bill
• $1.875 billion toward a new program to fund transportation projects that reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; and
• $2.5 billion to the Highway Trust Fund, eligibility for which is determined by emissions-reduction plans.

This is encouraging news for anyone who thinks that we need to invest transportation money from a climate bill into the kinds of cleaner options that will lower emissions, but the special interests that oppose clean transportation are going to pull out all the stops.

Please pick up the phone right now and make sure your senators know that you support these transportation provisions because they will help us invest in clean transportation options, reduce oil use and reduce emissions from the transportation sector. It will only take a few minutes, but your call could make a huge difference.

1. Call your senators right now by dialing the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Tell the operator where you’re calling from to be connected to either of your senators.
2. Let the staff person answering the phone know your name and where you’re calling from – then say, “I’m calling because I support  the reductions in transportation emissions and $6 billion in investments in clean transportation options in the climate bill released today. I strongly urge the senator to support these provisions in the bill. To reduce our oil use and cut emissions, we’ve got to invest more in cleaner ways to get around.”
3. Pick up the phone one more time. Call the switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask to be connected to your other senator and leave the same message.
4. Then, report your calls back to us, so we can follow up directly with your senators and increase your impact.

Tell your Senators you support these investments in clean transportation. We need to reduce oil use and emissions while beginning the critical task of rebuilding and modernizing our transportation network!

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.

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.

• Members of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee argue against looking at immediate transportation reform. (Streetsblog)

• House Rep. Edward Markey sees the climate bill getting signed before 2010. (National Journal)

• Driving numbers could be low again for the summer of 2009. (Wall Street Journal)

In recent marathon sessions — that’s right, they run up to 14 hours — members of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House have been working in overdrive on the legislation, known as “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.” Thankfully, the issues of providing better transportation options and promoting smart development have found a true champion in Congresswoman Matsui.

In yesterday’s hearing, Congresswoman Matsui had the opportunity to state her case for her Smart Planning for Smart Growth Act (H.R. 1780), and successfully garnered a commitment from Henry Waxman, the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, to work together on these issues. Her remarks are below:

Mr. Chairman, I would like to get your commitment to work together with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee going forward to address all aspects of Section 222…from modeling…to development of plans…to implementation of plans…to be eligible for funding by states. States and cities will need resources to not only effectively plan…they will also need resources necessary to implement strategies like increasing transit use.

Chairman Waxman responded with a pledge to Congresswoman Matsui to continue working to fund transportation and planning activities that make our communities safer, healthier and more economically secure. You can watch the whole exchange here the Committee’s website. For Congresswoman Matsui’s statement and exchange, skip to 8:49:10.

The Smart Planning for Smart Growth Act would requires states and metropolitan planning organizations to create regional plans designed to generate emissions reductions and cost savings from the transportation sector by reducing per-capita vehicle miles traveled.

With transportation accounting for more 30 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, we know that we must act quickly to ensure that it remains an essential part of the debate on climate. Be sure to sign a letter to your representative in Congress urging them to support a clean and efficient transportation system.