Pirate's Cove

That’s so special. When do we get the rule for reducing Joe’s footprint, as he’ll be taking yet another fossil fueled helicopter ride to Delaware, followed by a large convoy of vehicles. How about Transportation Secretary Mayor Pete, who took a fossil fueled flight to Los Angeles (again)?

Biden administration proposes rule requiring states, cities to set transportation climate targets

A proposed rule released by the Biden administration Thursday would require states and cities to set carbon emission reduction targets for transportation.

The draft rule would require state transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with National Highway System mileage within their boundaries to both measure their transportation-related emissions and develop reduction targets.

This would build on existing regulations that require those institutions to track other forms of air pollutants. Transportation is the single largest source of carbon emissions.

Under the terms of the rule, both state departments of transportation and MPOs would be required to report their progress on meeting their emissions goals twice a year. The proposal contains no specific requirements for the goals, saying it would allow states and cities to determine which targets “are appropriate for their communities and … work for their respective climate change and other policy priorities.”

On first glance, one could say “by what right does the federal government have to dictate this? It’s not assigned in the Constitution as a power.” However, all those roads paid for with federal money could be argued to give the feds the authority. I wouldn’t be surprised if a whole bunch of states sue the minute it’s enacted, using the result of the recent West Virginia v EPA ruling. They can claim that the money is actually that of the state citizens, taken by the IRS, so, it’s a state issue. Should be interesting

“With today’s announcement, we are taking an important step forward in tackling transportation’s share of the climate challenge, and we don’t have a moment to waste,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Our approach gives states the flexibility they need to set their own emission reduction targets, while providing them with resources from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to meet those targets and protect their communities.”

If the states that will oppose this are smart, they’ll ask what the plan is for Pete, Joe, and others who believe in this scam, and point out their high use of fossil fueled travel. Those states will also either ignore this rule, saying “go ahead and try to force us”, or, perhaps just send a plan in that says “we see no need to make any changes. That’s our plan.”

But, yeah, this is exactly the kind of big rule that WV v EPA was all about, requiring the Legislative Branch to get involved.