Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about climate change

The best scenario for the drive: Convert two of the existing mixed-traffic lanes to bus-only corridors.

Advocate For Adding Bus Lanes to North Lake Shore Drive Without Widening the Highway

By Steven Vance | Aug 2, 2018 | 44 Comments

The most sustainable option, converting existing traffic lanes to bus-only, is still on the table. But it's not going to happen unless residents voice support for it.

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Trump Admin Snuffs Out Climate Progress at U.S. DOT

By Angie Schmitt | May 31, 2018 | No Comments

The Trump administration has eliminated an Obama-era rule to encourage transportation policies that reduce the threat of catastrophic climate change.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, shown here announcing a $9 billion toll road expansion program, is not an environmental hero. Photo: Maryland Department of Transportation/Twitter

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The Environmentalist Blind Spot on Transportation

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 23, 2018 | No Comments

Cheering for a few more electric cars while highway sprawl continues unabated is not going to solve the climate crisis.

Transportation now surpasses electric power as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Graph: Bloomberg

3 Policy Fixes That Could Dramatically Reduce Transportation Emissions

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 8, 2017 | No Comments

Changing tailpipe emissions is just one avenue to reduce carbon from transportation. Changing the amount people drive is another - and it can have a powerful effect.

The agencies that build this kind of infrastructure will have to account for its impact on the climate. Photo: USGS via Creative Commons

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Advocates Score a Win for Climate Realism at U.S. DOT

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 27, 2017 | No Comments

The NRDC fended off a White House attack on an Obama-era rule aimed at documenting and forecasting the impact of state transportation policies on carbon emissions.

How much is that highway broiling the planet? The Trump administration doesn't want people to find out. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Nine States Sue Trump Administration for Blocking Climate Progress at U.S. DOT

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 25, 2017 | No Comments

Presidents don't get to pick and choose which federal rules they comply with.

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Stark Divisions Between Dems and GOP on Climate Impacts of Transportation

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 22, 2016 | No Comments

How polarized are the two political parties on key questions about transportation policy and climate change? As you can imagine, the answer is “very.” The senior Democrat and Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — California’s Barbara Boxer and Oklahoma’s Jim Inhofe, respectively — each wrote an opinion this week for the Eno Center for […]

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7 Steps to Phase Out Carbon Emissions From American Transportation

By Angie Schmitt | May 25, 2016 | No Comments

Eliminating carbon emissions from the American transportation system can be done, according to a new report from the Frontier Group [PDF]. The tools to reduce energy use from cars and light trucks at least 90 percent are at our disposal or in advanced stages of development. The remaining 10 percent could be supplied by renewables like wind […]

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U.S. DOT Wants States to Disclose Climate Impact of Transportation Projects

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 18, 2016 | No Comments

The Obama administration wants state DOTs to report on the climate impact of their transportation policies, reports Michael Grunwald at Politico, and the road lobby is dead set against it. As part of the implementation of the MAP-21 federal transportation bill, U.S. DOT officials are preparing a new rule that would require states to set goals […]

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Obama’s Politically Impossible Transpo Plan Is Just What America Needs

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 5, 2016 | No Comments

It may be “seven years too late,” as tactical urbanist Mike Lydon put it, but President Obama has released a transportation proposal that calls for big shifts in the country’s spending priorities. Obama’s proposal would generate $30 billion annually from a $10-per-barrel surcharge assessed on oil companies. More importantly, the revenue is linked to a substantial shift in what transportation projects get […]

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The New Climate Villain Is Cheap Oil

By Charles Komanoff | Jan 11, 2016 | No Comments

Long-term climate prospects brightened somewhat in 2015. Pope Francis put climate care on the moral and political agenda. President Obama rejected the Keystone XL dirty-oil pipeline. Denialist heads of state were routed in Canada and Australia, and their brethren in the U.S. faced growing ridicule. To cap it off, nearly 200 nations signed the UN Paris […]

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