The transportation sector is a significant contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), have been implicated in contributing to global climate change, an increase in temperature of the Earth’s surface that can cause polar ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise— all with disastrous effects on our ecosystem. In addition, some greenhouse gases have been identified as contributing to the destruction of our atmospheric ozone layer, resulting in less protection from the sun’s harmful radiation.
According to the US EPA, the transportation sector accounted for approximately 27 percent of total US greenhouse gas emissions in 2003. This percentage is expected to continue to rise due to increased economic growth, increased movement of goods by trucks and aircraft, and continued growth in personal travel. In fact, the US Department of Energy expects transportation energy use to increase by almost 50% between 2003 and 2025.
In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, our transportation sector contributes to water and soil pollution when fuel that spills on the road washes off into surrounding land and water sources.
The good news is that by using cleaner, domestic fuels—such as natural gas, biodiesel, ethanol and even electricity— we can reduce the harmful environmental impact of our travel. Many of these produce significantly fewer harmful emissions, leading to decreased air pollution, in addition to less threat of water or soil pollution in our environment.
Beyond environmental quality, Ohio has an additional set of incentives to address diesel cleanup. The U.S. EPA, under the Clean Air Act, monitors several air pollutants to protect public health. Ohio has a number of counties designated in non-attainment status for at least one of the criteria pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act. States with counties that fail to attain federal standards are subject to enhanced regulatory oversight by the EPA. States in non-attainment status also face more restrictive industrial permitting, costly mandatory emissions offsets, and the potential of losing federal transportation funding. All these consequences hinder economic development opportunities.
