It’s Monday, April 25, and states are getting billions of dollars to reduce transportation emissions.
A $6.4 billion federal fund is on its way to help states cut back on climate pollution from cars and trucks, the Biden administration said last week.
The funding, which comes from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law that Congress passed in 2021, is part of a new program from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. Over the next five years, the agency aims to fund a wide array of state transportation projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, covering everything from better bike paths to the installation of new electric vehicle charging stations.
The only major stipulation is that states will be required to show how their chosen projects will combat climate change. Otherwise, they will have broad agency over their use of federal dollars. “This new program provides states and local agencies in both urban and rural areas the flexibility and funding needed to reduce emissions and build a more sustainable transportation network that will benefit all travelers,” said Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack in a statement. States and cities could spend the money to create fast, reliable bus service, for instance, or to create programs to reduce congestion by incentivizing carpooling.
Nationwide, transportation causes more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector — it makes up some 27 percent of the U.S.’s total climate pollution — and experts say that mitigating these emissions is critical to meeting the nation’s climate goals. Other programs authorized by the infrastructure law have already funneled billions of dollars toward this goal, including one announced last month providing nearly $3 billion to help fund complex, multijurisdictional infrastructure projects like new railways or transit lines.
Matt Casale, environment campaigns manager for the nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group, applauded the new program as an opportunity to deemphasize gas-powered personal vehicles and redirect funding toward accessible transportation alternatives. “Spending this money is win on win on win,” he told me. “You reduce climate emissions, you make it more affordable and safer to get around, and you reduce air pollution to make our communities healthier.”
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