The Transportation Road Ahead: A Briefing with the Clean RIDES Network

Please join us to hear directly from the Clean RIDES Network about various transportation policy efforts happening across the country, including right here in New York, and their impact on emissions.

With an incoming federal government likely to be friendly to the fossil fuel industry, the focus of climate action turns once again to the states. One front on which significant progress is possible is transportation: states across the U.S. are enacting new rules that require transportation agencies to demonstrate how their projects, including highways, will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in order to receive funding. This initiative began in Colorado in 2019, when Governor Jared Polis signed a law aimed at a 90% reduction in greenhouse emissions over the next 30 years.Recognizing that transportation is the largest source of emissions in the U.S.—accounting for about 30% of total emissions, with 60% coming from cars and trucks—Colorado took significant steps. The state canceled two major highway expansions and redirected $1 billion from highways to transit and multimodal projects.

In 2023, Minnesota followed suit with a $7.8 billion transportation package that mandates road capacity projects to show how they will contribute to statewide emissions reduction goals. Maryland and New York are also exploring similar legislation. Meanwhile, California is moving forward with a nearly half-billion-dollar project to add toll lanes to Interstate 80, which could have serious long-term implications for greenhouse gas emissions.

At the same time, pushback is on the horizon: Oregon and Massachusetts announced that they would delay implementation of clean truck rules, and of course New York has charted a complicated path toward congestion pricing. Seeing prior victories through to implementation will be as important as passing new climate laws in the years ahead. Fortunately, advocates are teeing up plans to call on even more states to reduce transportation emissions while protecting the victories we’ve gained so far—and this work is more vital than ever to make progress toward our climate goals. 

Who should attend?

Anyone interested in learning more the about environmental grantmaking and policy.

Panelists

• Zak Accuardi, Director, Mobility Choices, Climate & Energy, NRDC
• Justin Balik, Senior State Program Director, Evergreen Action
• Hana Creger, Associate Director of Climate Equity, The Greenlining Institute
• Nick Sifuentes, Program Director, The Summit Foundation (moderator)

What will you learn?

• About various transportation policy efforts happening across the country, including right here in New York, and their impact on emissions.
• How advocates are thinking about the incoming administration's close ties to the fossil fuel industry, signaling a potential shift in focus toward state-level climate action 
• Insight into what it will take to both implement prior legislative victories and pass new climate laws in the years ahead.

In Collaboration with

• New York Environmental Funders Network

How do you sign up?

Members: To register yourself and/or a colleague at your organization, please log in and click the “Register Now” link above. (No fee.)  

Non-Members: Please email register@philanthropynewyork.org. ($150 fee.)  

Please email register@philanthropynewyork.org with any questions. Registration is required by Monday, January, 6th.