- Policy Resources - News & Analysis - Your State Nathan Newman
on June 9, 2008 - 9:47am With gas prices now topping $4 per
gallon and rising concern over global warming, the public
policies that accommodated and often subsidized wasteful driving
habits in the past need to change. In the U.S., transportation
accounts for one-third of carbon dioxide emissions, most of
which comes from vehicle tailpipes. What is needed are policies
to increase the fuel efficiency of cars on the road, create
incentives for drivers to drive less, invest in the transit
infrastructure to create alternatives to driving, and create
smart growth development patterns to make it easier for people
to live closer to work and commute less. Some of these policies
can have short-term effects, but given that it took decades to
get our nation to our present dependence on cheap gas,
policymakers, as this Dispatch will highlight, will need to
embrace long-term changes to solve these problems. Clean Car
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