By: Joshua Rahn Summary. As a part of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan there has been an increased focus on how to combat climate change and more specifically what kind of infrastructure should be built to better combat climate change. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is an important person within this overall conversation because of the large role of transportation vehicles in emitting greenhouse gases. The department of transportation is awarding transportation grants to a number of projects across the country that aim to reduce problems related to racial equity, climate change, economic growth, and safety. Some of the standout programs affecting climate change are the development of ports located within Iowa and Georgia. These ports will aid in transportation of products by increasing the amount of freight travel, and freight to rail travel. This decrease in vehicle miles travelled limits greenhouse gas production and creates other more project specific beneficial outcomes. Many of these projects also aim to reduce the impact of climate change on American infrastructure. An example of this is the I-35 red river project, which includes an increase to the height of a section of the I-35 highway which was built over the red river (that runs through Gainesville, Texas) to prevent damage that could occur due to rising water levels. There has been 905 million dollars allotted to these intranational projects in order to improve infrastructure. Among these projects are some that are focused less on climate change and more on public safety and health. For example, one proposed project would see the implementation of protected bike lanes, pedestrian signals, improved curb ramps, and new shade trees in Los Angeles, California to increase the safety of pedestrians and to increase the aesthetic value of the area. Many of these projects cannot be funded solely by the money given to them by these grants and will take a considerable amount of time before they are implemented. Why we should care? The current development of climate-friendly infrastructure will have a profound impact on the severity of climate change and the United States' ability to respond to it in the future. Example Article. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-climate-health-coronavirus-pandemic-business-100e9d84d539e720501c0978eb660b89 This article gives a great summary of the specifics of the grants and what they aim to achieve. This article also goes over some of the proposed projects to demonstrate the specifics of the grant’s goals. I thought the explanation of the seattle project was short, concise, and useful in giving an example of how public safety is worsened by climate change and why these infrastructure grants are important. The article also goes more into detail about the shortcomings of the previous presidential administration especially when it comes to infrastructure that puts the lives of POC in harm's way. The article also spoke on how much of the money awarded is going to rural or urban areas. Science in Action.
Dr. Kristina Dahl is a Senior Climate Scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. Dr. Dahl works for the union of concerned scientists to research the ways that climate change and other environmental concerns impact infrastructure and also to communicate these threats to law makers and the public. Her research specifically into the impact of rising sea level on coastal road and railway systems during high-tide is very important in demonstrating the haste with which infrastructure needs to be updated. Kristina Dahl’s work also calls for the reduction of greenhouse gases in order to reduce the cost of damaged infrastructure, both monetarily and the harm that will occur due to increased degradation arising from climate change. Her work is very relevant to the infrastructure improving grants organized by secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg. These grants aim to reduce the effects she observed during her research and to address one source of greenhouse gases associated with transportation.
9 Comments
Jacob Philip
11/29/2021 21:11:42
Great article choice, Joshua! This is incredibly relevant in today's world and I hope that our government will chose to finally divest from the personal automobile in favor of more efficient and climate-friendly modes of transport. It would be awesome to see public transportation infrastructure comparable to other wealthy nations here in the U.S.
Reply
Katy Millican
11/30/2021 09:56:58
It is really interesting to see how different places are improving their infrastructure to prepare for the effects of climate change. Maybe the more places that spend time and resources on improvements, the more people will take notice and be inspired to learn more about climate change and how to reduce their ecological footprint. It's nice to see when cities take climate change seriously.
Reply
Amanda Turner
11/30/2021 10:13:01
This actually gave me some hope in regards to climate change! It is nice to know that the government is taking steps to combat climate change, especially when it comes to transportation. Transportation is such an important part of daily life, and it is comforting to know that things such as public transportation and other sustainable options are being considered more widely.
Reply
Rochelle Durand
11/30/2021 22:22:30
Transportation in America is currently dominated by automobiles, typically with each person owning their own car. With each person driving a car individually, the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted increases tremulously. Not to mention that we've built our country around a highway system dependent on cars. It makes me super happy to hear that Biden wants to invest in green transportation for America, we need better public transportation anyways!
Reply
12/2/2021 11:17:17
It's nice to read about actions that are going to be taken for climate change, and before reading this I did not know much about Biden's climate plans. 905 million dollars stood out to and made me happy, hopefully it can benefit the international places it's going to. I wonder how many and how frequently transportation grants will be given out. I hope movements like these will only grow more common in the future and it is nice to see.
Reply
Ben Feld
12/3/2021 14:07:52
I really like Secy Pete he has a good understanding about the racial inequalities in the US's infrastructure. He seems to be working to fix those inequalities and to help make it greener. I am very excited for more trains and hopefully a more robust commuter rail system soon!
Reply
Jackson Gifford
12/6/2021 22:02:07
I think that it's interesting to see how new infrastructure that is being built is geared towards more green and sustainable avenues. While elements of infrastructure like these are a good step towards reaching the co2 goals we need to, more widespread and impactful policy needs to be implemented to truly make the changes needed.
Reply
Ireland Betzold
12/6/2021 23:24:51
I really enjoyed reading this blog post! As someone who is quite concerned with climate change (as everyone should be), this gave me a better insight as to what the Build Back Better Plan hopes accomplish. I find it very interesting that this specific part of the plan to combat climate change focuses specifically on transportation, even though it makes a lot of sense. Overall, I learned a lot of new information from this article!
Reply
courtney mcintosh
12/7/2021 11:53:36
I'm happy to hear the grants are being used for a greener infrastructure. The need to create more green spaces that will ultimately push citizens to driving less and being more environmentally conscious is outstanding. The Build Back Better appears to give us a framework to reaching these climate goals. Thanks for attaching that additional article as it gives important specifics.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorStudents of ESG 1500 Archives
December 2021
Categories |