Coping with Global Warming

Transportation produced 28 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2004. Transportation is the part of the energy picture most dependent on policies of federal, state, and local government officials. Transportation also directly affects military preparedness, foreign policy, the cost of living, inflation, and—because of oil imports—the balance of payments in international trade. The challenge of reducing CO₂ emissions from transportation is apparent in trend lines revealed in the National Household Travel Survey of 2001. Europe has not reduced transportation emissions, it remains far below the United States in personal motor vehicle use and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The Virginia Department of Transportation contributed zero dollars because the project did not qualify as a primary arterial or secondary collector. From the perspective of global warming and nonrenewable resource depletion, it was by far the most useful project in 40 years of transportation expenditures in the Charlottesville area.