Transportation and Climate Change

Commercial Transportation Effects

    This week I read two articles about how much transportation in the US is causing Climate Change from CO2 pollution. The US is a big part of producing lots of CO2 emissions. For example according to the Center for Biological Diversity, a third of our country’s climate-damaging emissions. In California transportation is the leading source of greenhouse gas pollution, accounting for about 40% of the state’s emissions. Fossil-fueled transportation emissions also create smog, soot, and other harmful air pollution.

    CO2 emissions are emitted from different forms of transportation. Aircraft are the third-largest source of greenhouse gas pollution from the U.S. transportation sector and account for approximately 9 percent of U.S. transportation, and the emissions from domestic aviation are increasing at an alarming rate — 17 percent since 1990. Ships, besides releasing almost 3% of the world’s CO2, are the main source of nitrous oxide and black carbon (soot). With international trade expected to increase in the coming years, emissions from ships and boats may increase by as much as 250% by 2050.

    This is very interesting to me that the US is polluting so much and not much is being done about it. We need to start catching up with other countries and their technology. Because there are fully electric cargo and passenger ships being used in some countries.

(Penner, Ely)    

Personal Transportation Effects

    Big forms of transportation like ships and planes aren't the only big items that produce a lot of CO2. For example, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, our personal vehicles are a major cause of global warming. Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all US emissions, emitting around 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas. About five pounds comes from the extraction, production, and delivery of the fuel, while the great bulk of heat-trapping emissions—more than 19 pounds per gallon—comes right out of a car’s tailpipe.

    But don't worry there are ways we can fix this. Making it so the US produces less CO2 emissions yearly. The government can start mandating stricter fuel economy regulations for cars and trucks. Because the more fuel-efficient your vehicle is the less fuel you are burning so that means your polluting less. The US could make vehicles run on cleaner fuels, like propane or natural gas that produces fewer emissions because it burns cleaner. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists some fuels—such as those made from cellulosic biofuels—can reduce emissions by 80 percent compared to gasoline. And better regulations would help prevent the gasoline we do use from getting any dirtier. Also, electric vehicles are an option because they produce fewer emissions than their conventional counterparts. When the electricity comes from renewable sources, all-electric vehicles produce zero emissions to drive.

(Victoria, Vlad)

    Our CO2 pollution in the US is running away from us. A huge contributing factor is our transportation emissions. There are little things we can do to help slow climate change. We should change emission standards federally to California standards to help fix climate change. That should only be the starting point to fix climate change from transportation. But it's not too late to fix this problem. We just need to get two zero emissions as soon as possible. Hopefully, we can get two zero emissions by 2030 at least.🌲🚘

Works Cited

"Car Emissions and Global Warming." Union of Concerned Scientists, 18 July 2014, www.ucsusa.org/resources/car-emissions-global-warming#:~:text=Car%20Emissions%20and%20Global%20Warming&text=Our%20personal%20vehicles%20are%20a,for%20every%20gallon%20of%20gas. Accessed 13 Jan. 2021.

Penner, Ely. Peterbilt Truck Tractor Tanker Transport Blue. 28 June 2018. Pixabay, 2 Aug. 2018, pixabay.com/photos/peterbilt-truck-tractor-tanker-3578297/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2021.

"TRANSPORTATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE." Center for Biological Diversity, www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/transportation_and_global_warming/index.html#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20transportation%20sector%20is,our%20country's%20climate%2Ddamaging%20emissions.&text=Fossil%2Dfueled%20transportation%20emissions%20also,and%20other%20harmful%20air%20pollution. Accessed 13 Jan. 2021.

Victoria, Vlad. Dock Cable Innovator Air Pollution. 8 Oct. 2018. Pixbay, 30 Jan. 2019, pixabay.com/photos/dock-cable-innovator-air-pollution-3964154/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2021.