By Kathleen Marquardt, an associate of Tom DeWeese
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency allocated $3 million for Tennessee to develop its first-ever climate plan through a Climate Pollution Reduction Planning Grant, which was established by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The plan is to be divided into two parts and done over four years: the Priority Climate Action Plan and the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.
But this plan is not just for Tennessee, it is for every state.
Multiple departments of the federal government have put this plan together, and they certainly aren’t about to write a different one for other states.
Look into your local general plan, and you might just see these edicts spelled out there.
The agency will create an inventory of the state’s biggest climate offenders — and then draft a plan to cut that pollution statewide.
Below (in italics and blue print and quotes) is the Executive Summary from THE U.S. NATIONAL BLUEPRINT FOR TRANSPORTATION DECARBONIZATION.
“The Long-Term Strategy published by the White House in 2021 calls for an 80-100% reduction in transportation emissions by 2050.”[1]
My comments are in black regular print. This is long-ish, but worth the read. It is, or will be, in every state of the Union.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
“The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, responsible for one-third of all emissions.
To address the growing climate crisis, and to meet the goal of net-zero GHG emissions economy-wide by 2050, it is critical to decarbonize transportation by eliminating nearly all GHG emissions from the sector.“
Here is an excellent explanation of why net-zero is impossible and stupid (https://www.cfact.org/2023/03/17/a-simple-reason-why-net-zero-is-impossible/).[2]
As our transportation system and communities are increasingly threatened by worsening climate impacts such as hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, heatwaves, and drought, decarbonizing the sector is essential to addressing this existential crisis.
Not one of those scares is true.
And, the “decarbonizing“ plan is total nonsense being used to scare us into falling for their plans that are designed to bankrupt our states and country, — as well as us individuals.
The recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) together represent historic investments in the future of our nation that will transform how we move and live while we build the backbone of a safer and more sustainable transportation system.
This Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization follows the momentum from those investments to crystallize a first-of-its-kind strategy for federal leadership and partnerships to decarbonize the entire U.S. transportation sector.
Decarbonizing transportation will affect everyone, and solutions must address the needs of all urban, suburban, and rural communities; businesses of all sizes; and individuals and families at every socioeconomic level.
The scope, scale, and speed of the shift will continue to require solutions that leverage market forces and private sector investments, which government policies and investments should jumpstart and guide.
The above statement is the plan, upfront and basic.
- “Transform how we move” means we will be walking, biking, or taking public transportation (as far as allowed).
- “Where we live” means we will be herded into 15-Minute Cities, where the powers-that-be can control our every move (and soon even our thoughts).
- “while we build the backbone of a safer and more sustainable transportation system. . .” which means the lowest-common denominators of transportation – walking, biking, and riding a bus on the few outings a year we are allowed to step out of our 15-Minute city. Says so right below.
- with the winter storm we just experienced at Christmas, we see how well those Electric Vehicles (mentioned below) that we are supposed to be transferring to in order to make the far more practical gas-guzzling vehicles obsolete.
Decarbonizing the transportation sector will require multiple strategies and resources to deliver clean, safe, secure, accessible, affordable, and equitable solutions to existing and emerging challenges.
Working with partners to enhance land-use planning will tackle the problem at the root and make it appealing and practical for people to take fewer or shorter trips, or to walk or bike on those trips where that is feasible.
Implementing large investments in rail, public transportation, and safe active transportation infrastructure will give people the option to safely use more energy-efficient forms of transportation.
And, thanks to significant strides in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D), technologies to decarbonize most transportation systems are within sight and offer realistic and viable pathways.
The electrification of cars, trucks, and buses and providing the necessary infrastructure to charge them is underway and must accelerate.
Given different applications and requirements, decarbonizing the entire transportation sector will require a diverse portfolio of solutions and technologies.
This Blueprint focuses on those solutions that are viable and have sufficient resources to scale.
Additional RD&D will be needed to further improve certain solutions and reduce costs, but progress and demonstration of promising technologies is well underway.
COORDINATION IS NEEDED Implementing a holistic decarbonization strategy will require coordinated actions from federal, regional, state, local, and Tribal governments; nonprofit and philanthropic organizations; and private industries.
Increase Collaboration: Create and support collaborative programs that leverage the combined expertise of DOE, DOT, EPA, HUD, and other federal 4 THE U.S. NATIONAL BLUEPRINT FOR TRANSPORTATION DECARBONIZATION partners, and expand the federal government’s partnerships with regional, state, local, and Tribal governments; private industry; community-based organizations; and other stakeholders. •
Establish U.S. Leadership: Position the U.S. to lead the global race to clean transportation solutions, creating well-paying domestic jobs, strengthening U.S. energy independence and security, and developing robust and sustainable new domestic and international supply chains for clean transportation technologies.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS AND LONG-TERM PLANNING Implementing immediate strategies that achieve meaningful emissions reductions this decade is essential to reaching our nation’s 2030 emissions reduction goals in line with the president’s commitment and the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement.
We must work concurrently to develop solutions that will result in full economy-wide decarbonization by midcentury.
This Blueprint provides a comprehensive, system-level perspective of the entire transportation system across all passenger and freight travel modes and fuels, and lays out three key strategies to achieve decarbonization:
Increase convenience by supporting community design and land-use planning at the local and regional levels that ensure that job centers, shopping, schools, entertainment, and essential services are strategically located near where people live to reduce commute burdens, improve walkability and bikeability, and improve quality of life… …Because every hour we don’t spend sitting in traffic is an hour we can spend focused on the things and the people we love, all while reducing GHG emissions. 2. Improve efficiency by expanding affordable, accessible, efficient, and reliable options like public transportation and rail, and improving the efficiency of all vehicles… …Because everyone deserves efficient transportation options that will allow them to move around affordably and safely, and because consuming less energy as we move saves money, strengthens our national security, and reduces GHG emissions. 3. Transition to clean options by deploying zero-emission vehicles and fuels for cars, commercial trucks, transit, boats, airplanes, and more… …Because no one should be exposed to air pollution in their community or on their ride to school or work and eliminating GHG emissions from transportation is imperative to tackle the climate crisis.
How they want us to accept being useful idiots, trapped in stack ‘n’ pack housing (the Ideal Communist City) [3] through “form-based codes” [4] (earlier Sustainable Development tactics).
Policy and Regulation: The federal government, along with regional, state, local, and Tribal governments, and with international partners and allies, can use a variety of policy and regulatory levers, including long-term planning, standards, and coordinated procurement to support decarbonization of the transportation sector.
Here we are at Public/Private Partnerships. [5] The reinventing government that took control out of the hands of “we the people”, and put it in the hands of the Deep State/Military Industrial Complex, along with the Global Elites and their tools the U.N. NGOs. These are also called Stakeholders – the people and their corporations that have no connection whatsoever to those they are reputed to represent –us!
Stakeholder Engagement and Public-Private Partnerships:
Stakeholder engagement that ensures representation from traditionally underrepresented, overburdened, and underserved communities across all the proposed strategies in this Blueprint will be essential to achieving an equitable transportation future.
Partnerships among regional, state, local, and Tribal governments, with disadvantaged communities, the private sector, and philanthropic organizations, will also be critical.
All levels of government need to align their efforts and work with private industry and community stakeholders to support sustained and targeted actions.
A CALL TO ACTION This Blueprint, which is an important step toward a decarbonized transportation future, will be followed by more detailed decarbonization Action Plans.
The agencies will develop and implement the Action Plans and will work with other federal agencies, governments at the regional, state, local, and Tribal levels, philanthropic organizations, the private sector, and with global partners to achieve the following milestones:
And we can’t overlook the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or so-called Social Justice because all of this is to make certain that we aren’t dumping all of the Climate Change/Global Warming on certain communities.
But not to worry, we non-elites will all be poor and starving and have no dreams of traveling to exotic locations – or even to the next county to see a cousin.
Climate strategies must also help communities fulfill their equity and environmental justice responsibilities.
Overburdened and historically underserved communities continue to bear the economic and health burdens of higher emissions, noise, and worsened air quality, and it is critical that these communities are not left behind in the transition to a decarbonized economy, as called for in the President’s Justice40 Initiative (see textbox on page 16).
Strategies that combat the climate crisis have the ability to strengthen all communities and ensure that infrastructure investments will address current and future needs and avoid the unequal impacts of the past.
Moreover, we must ensure that our investments in low-carbon solutions build resilience to the impacts of climate change that disproportionately affect some communities.
Building a clean, safe, secure, accessible, affordable, equitable, and decarbonized transportation system will ultimately deliver significant co-benefits to all communities.
Just to be sure every possibly sensible use of so-called fossil fuels, or non-bug farming isn’t happening, “the strategies themselves will continue to be influenced by evolving macroeconomic trends, technological progress, behavioral changes, and other factors.”
Yep, there will be no moral compasses allowed, and thus no property or other rights.
Many aspects of consumer decisions and business actions will shape the strategies in this Blueprint, and the strategies themselves will continue to be influenced by evolving macroeconomic trends, technological progress, behavioral changes, and other factors.
Therefore, this Blueprint should not be viewed as static.
To effectively address the climate crisis, we must be able to adjust course and act quickly to meet the decarbonization goals outlined here.
With the resources available in the BIL and the IRA, a path to achieving our climate goals and avoiding climate catastrophe is clearer than ever. But realizing these goals and doing so in a way that maximizes equity and environmental justice will require careful planning and decisive coordinated actions.
Our agencies are committed to meeting our nation’s goals, and we call on other stakeholders to help us.
Success will require unprecedented coordination among every level of government, private industry, community-based organizations, stakeholder groups, and all Americans.
Decarbonizing our transportation sector is achievable, and the benefits will improve the lives of Americans for generations to come.
The time to act is now.
Amen. The time to act is now! Or the above description of a dystopian world will be the one we are living in.
Sources:
[1] Footnote in p.1, of the Executive Summary
[2] https://www.cfact.org/2023/03/17/a-simple-reason-why-net-zero-is-impossible/
[3] https://americanpolicy.org/?s=ideal+communist+city
[4] https://americanpolicy.org/2019/04/02/form-based-codes-replacing-the-everyday-american-city-with-the-ideal-communist-city/
[5] https://americanpolicy.org/2021/11/05/cancel-culture-reinventing-government/
____________________
CONTACT INFORMATION
Phone: (540) 341-8911
contact@americanpolicy.org
© Tom DeWeese
No comments:
Post a Comment