The new report also describes sustainable transportation as a key factor in promoting economic opportunity.... investment in transit and active transportation options is necessary to stem widening social inequities. Transportation in urban areas accounted for about 2,300 megatons of CO2 in 2010, almost one quarter of carbon emissions from all parts of the transportation sector. Report: Worldwide Investment in Transit Could Produce Massive Reduction in Carbon Pollution, Huge Financial Savings (Saving Lives and Creating JOBS) by F. Kaid Benfield 09/30/2014 More than $100 trillion in public and private spending could be saved between now and 2050 if the world were to expand public transportation, walking and bicycling in cities, according to a new report released by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and the University of California, Davis. Additionally, reductions in carbon dioxide emissions reaching 1,700 megatons per year in 2050 could be achieved. Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas and a cause of global warming. Further, an estimated 1.4 million early deaths associated with exposure to vehicle tailpipe emissions could be avoided annually by 2050 if governments were to require strong vehicle pollution controls and the use of ultralow-sulfur fuels, according to a related analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation included in the report. Doubling motor vehicle fuel efficiency could also reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by an additional 700 megatons in 2050. ...“Transportation, driven by rapid growth in car use, has been the fastest growing source of CO2 in the world. An affordable but largely overlooked way to cut that pollution is to give people clean options to use public transportation, walking and cycling, expanding mobility options especially for the poor and curbing air pollution from traffic.” ...The new report also describes sustainable transportation as a key factor in promoting economic opportunity. Under the High Shift scenario, mass transit access is projected to more than triple for the lowest income groups worldwide and more than double for the second lowest groups. As a result, increased mobility would provide impoverished populations with better access to employment and services that can improve their families’ livelihoods, according to the report’s authors. Because future growth in motor vehicle use is not likely to be distributed evenly across all income groups, the authors contend that investment in transit and active transportation options is necessary to stem widening social inequities. ... ICCT calculates that we could avoid about 1.4 million early deaths annually if national leaders committed to a global policy roadmap that requires the strongest vehicle pollution controls and ultralow-sulfur fuels. Cleaner buses alone would account for 20 percent of these benefits. ...Transportation in urban areas accounted for about 2,300 megatons of CO2 in 2010, almost one quarter of carbon emissions from all parts of the transportation sector. Rapid urbanization—especially in fast developing countries like China and India—will cause these emissions to double by 2050 in the baseline scenario. full article: huffingtonpost/f-kaid-benfield/worldwide-investment-in-t_b_5905868.html
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 20:18:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015