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Transportation contributes approximately one-third of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, and must be a prime target for major greenhouse gas reductions.
It's time to break America's oil addiction. The ongoing BP disaster in the Gulf could not make this more clear. It's time to end our dependence on oil by transforming our transportation sector and creating a clean energy economy. Do it now!
Our Program
Global warming emissions from the transportation sector can be reduced by increasing the production and use of clean, highly efficient vehicles powered by sustainable low carbon fuels and electricity, and by better designing communities to include accessible and convenient alternatives to driving. The Sierra Club is working to achieve three primary outcomes in this initiative:
- Clean and efficient vehicles: A fleet-wide new vehicle fuel economy average of at least 42 miles per gallon by 2020 and at least 50 mpg by 2025, through a combination of state and federal standards and a shift to vehicle electrification.
- Lower-carbon fuels: Reduce the carbon content of the fuels used for transportation by 15% below the 2005 level by 2030.
- Expanded transportation choices and increased reliance on transportation alternatives: Reducing vehicle miles traveled per person by increasing public transit use, fostering compact communities with transportation choices (rail, bus, walking, biking), and by cutting the number of car trips taken.
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Cleaner Cars
We can use American ingenuity to end our dependence on oil, keeping billions of dollars in our economy, cutting pollution and protecting our coasts from devastating oil spills.
We call on the President and his administration to strengthen fuel economy standards for new vehicles that ensure we reduce our dependence on oil by at least 45 billion gallons per year by 2030 -- that's almost three times the amount of oil we currently import from Saudi Arabia.
To achieve this goal new cars and light trucks must average at least 60 miles per gallon by 2025, with accurate accounting for fuels including electricity for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles; and fuel consumption from long-haul tractor-trailers must be reduced by at least 35 percent by 2017 and standards for all other medium- and heavy-duty trucks should be set as high as possible.
Send your message to the President - tell him we need to start now to end our dependence on oil.