Most recent 40 articles: Yale Climate Connections - Transportation
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Dangerous, unregulated cobalt mines boom as the need for batteries grows - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Oct 16) |
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Oct 16 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, large numbers of people work in dangerous, unregulated mines, digging for cobalt – a mineral used in the batteries found in phones, laptops, and electric vehicles.
Akua Debrah of the University of Houston studies mining in the region. She says men and sometimes children extract cobalt ore from deep, unsupported pits and tunnels that can collapse, causing injury and death.
Above ground, women wash and sort the ore, breathing in its toxic dust.
Debrah: “You find children on the backs of these women that ... Read more ...
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San Francisco visitors can enjoy a free ferry powered by hydrogen - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Oct 3) |
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Oct 3 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
This year, visitors to San Francisco can travel between two popular waterfront destinations on a free ferry powered by hydrogen.
The boat is equipped with fuel cells. They convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity – which powers the vessel – and water that passengers can drink.
Murphy: “It’s fun to see them line up at the water fountain to experience it firsthand.”
Seamus Murphy of the San Francisco Bay ferry system says most ferries in the U.S. are powered with climate-polluting diesel fuel.
Battery electric ferries provide ... Read more ...
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Cities are trying to cut down on cars. Some states are standing in their way. - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Aug 22) |
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Aug 22 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Earlier this summer, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul made headlines around the world by canceling New York City’s long-planned congestion pricing program, which had been hailed as a promising model for reducing cars’ domination of American city streets. Her decision has been denounced by many New York City political and transportation leaders, including Comptroller Brad Lander, who is part of a coalition that has filed multiple lawsuits challenging the governor.
This kind of conflict isn’t unique to New York. Across the nation, state and local officials ... Read more ...
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High temperatures can cause train tracks to buckle and kink - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Aug 9) |
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Aug 9 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As the climate warms, intensifying heat waves are throwing the U.S. passenger rail system off schedule.
Owen: “Heat is incredibly damaging and it’s by far the biggest climate risk that Amtrak faces.”
Miles Owen is the senior climate resilience specialist at Amtrak. He says train rails expand in the heat. So high temperatures can cause tracks to buckle and kink.
And along the East Coast, Amtrak trains are powered by electric lines running overhead. Those lines can expand and sag during a heat wave.
Owen says Amtrak is ... Read more ...
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The greening of planes, trains, and automobiles - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jul 25) |
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Jul 25 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As the world races to decarbonize everything from the electricity grid to industry, it faces particular problems with transportation - which alone is responsible for about a quarter of our planet’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The fuels for transport need to be not just green, cheap and powerful, but also lightweight and safe enough to be carried around.
Fossil fuels - mainly gasoline and diesel - have been extraordinarily effective at powering a diverse range of mobile machines. Since the industrial revolution, humanity has perfected the ... Read more ...
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Tucson, Arizona, bets on buses - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jul 23) |
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Jul 23 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
The city of Tucson wants to get more people out of their gas-guzzling cars and onto the bus.
Luna: “The more you take public transit, the more you contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which that’s what heats our city and the planet.”
Fátima Luna is Tucson’s Chief Resilience Officer.
She says to encourage people to take the bus, rides are currently free. Fare-free rides started during the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue for another year. Tucson officials hope to make the change permanent if funding allows.
But Luna says ... Read more ...
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A roundup of common myths about EVs - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jul 10) |
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Jul 10 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
There seems to be little doubt that EVs are in the future of every car owner or driver. As with all new technologies, questions abound. And as with technologies that replace familiar ones - and are changing very rapidly - so do inaccuracies of various kinds. Here are some pieces that will help you separate fact from fiction.
Three one-stop collections of myths and corrections:
Two pieces on specific questions that often arise:
And three that compare EVs with conventional gas-powered cars:
“Electric cars are better for the climate than ... Read more ...
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Here’s what canceling congestion pricing in New York City means for climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jul 8) |
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Jul 8 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Last month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul set off heated discussions about the future of U.S. cities when she unexpectedly halted New York City’s congestion pricing program, which was set to start charging drivers $15 to enter much of Manhattan on June 30, 2024.
Designed to raise money for public transportation while reducing gridlock so severe that Midtown taxis averaged less than five miles per hour in 2018, the program was the first of its kind in the United States, despite having been successfully implemented in cities like London, Singapore, and ... Read more ...
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How rural families are saving thousands with electric vehicles - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jul 2) |
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Jul 2 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Some people thought Juliana Dockery and her husband Sean were being impractical when they bought an electric vehicle in 2022. Why? Like one in five Americans, they live in a rural area - Grass Valley, California - where charging stations are few and far between. And with a bustling household including three kids, it would be their family’s only car.
Just 17% of rural Americans live less than a mile from a public EV charger, while 60% of urbanites do. So it was understandable to wonder: Could they keep their car charged without drama? Would they still ... Read more ...
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Most planes are powered by fossil fuels. That could change. - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jun 7) |
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Jun 7 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Most planes are powered by jet fuel that’s made from petroleum.
But those same planes can be powered by what’s known as Sustainable Aviation Fuel - or SAF.
Carnahan: “ … a fuel that is basically chemically identical to fossil jet so that it can be dropped into any airplane and fly just like fossil jet does.”
Kim Carnahan is with the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance. It’s working to increase the use of SAF, to help the aviation industry move away from fossil fuels.
Most SAF is made with organic waste - like fat from beef processing ... Read more ...
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Why switching to an EV is good for the climate - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (May 08, 2024) |
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May 08, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
A vehicle’s impact on the climate begins even before it’s on the road.
Kelly: “Whether we’re talking about an electric vehicle or a conventional vehicle, you have to build the vehicle.”
Jarod Kelly of Argonne National Laboratory studies the climate-warming emissions created over a vehicle’s entire lifetime.
He says manufacturing an EV typically produces a little more carbon pollution than manufacturing a gas-powered vehicle because of the energy needed to make EV batteries.
But his research shows that switching to an EV is still ... Read more ...
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8 years into America’s e-scooter experiment, what have we learned? - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Apr 30, 2024) |
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Apr 30, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When the sharing economy took off in the 2010s and upended entire industries, the firmest proponents of the model heralded it as an economic revolution that would help slash emissions. Of all the ideas that emerged and dissolved over the years, shareable electric scooters seemed to possess the most promise for climate. Almost anyone with a smartphone and a credit card could grab one and ride it down the block or across town, eschewing automobiles.
Yet, as the industry matures and Lime - which, with operations in 280 cities worldwide, is the biggest ... Read more ...
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What are fuel cell EVs? - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Apr 24, 2024) |
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Apr 24, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Most electric vehicles on the road today are powered by batteries. But battery EVs are not the only EVs.
Fuel cell EVs run on hydrogen gas, which mixes with oxygen in a chemical reaction to create electricity.
The hydrogen is stored in a tank on board the vehicle.
Terry: “So it’s very much like gassing up a car right now, in that you pull into a station, you attach a nozzle, this time for a high-pressure gas as opposed to a liquid, and you refuel in a matter of minutes.”
Seth Terry is co-founder of New Day Hydrogen, a startup ... Read more ...
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Hop on a bike with your editors - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Apr 02, 2024) |
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Apr 02, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As spring temperatures warm up, the Yale Climate Connections editors got together to talk about bicycling. Sara, who lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has an electric bike she’s obsessed with. Sam is getting reacquainted with her bike from high school in Madison, Wisconsin. And Pearl, who lives on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, is trying to decide how bikes might fit into her family’s life after a childhood spent living on a boat in the Caribbean.
This roundtable discussion has been edited and condensed.
Sam: I am curious: What’s ... Read more ...
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When communities evacuate, residents lacking cars can be left behind - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Feb 08, 2024) |
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Feb 08, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When a hurricane, wildfire, or other disaster is about to strike, local officials sometimes tell residents to evacuate to safety.
But for people who do not have cars, evacuating can be difficult - if not impossible.
Perez: “And so oftentimes, those who rely on public transit really face much longer wait times or are literally left behind.”
Yesenia Perez is with the Greenlining Institute, which advocates for economic and environmental justice for people of color.
In a recent report, her group noted that during Hurricane Katrina, ... Read more ...
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High schoolers build solar car that can go 70 miles an hour - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jan 29, 2024) |
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Jan 29, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Each summer, high schoolers from across the country descend on Fort Worth, Texas, for the Solar Car Challenge. They race hundreds of miles in solar-powered electric cars that they design and build themselves.
Sebastian Gonzalez is with the Iron Lions - a team from Greenville, Texas, that won its division in last year’s race from Fort Worth to El Paso.
He says they spent the school year creating a car that can charge up on solar alone - and is efficient and fast.
Gonzalez: “It’s not just the solar energy that you’re dealing with, ... Read more ...
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Project spreads the word about tax incentives for electric cars - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jan 25, 2024) |
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Jan 25, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Federal tax credits can make it cheaper for people to buy electric cars. But not everyone is aware of these incentives.
Alfaro: “That information was not getting to the Latino community.”
That’s Steve Alfaro of Avanza EV, an initiative that was launched to get the word out.
Last summer, his team chose two apartment complexes in Maryland where many residents are Latino and low-income.
They knocked on doors, set up tables with information, and organized pop-up EV car shows at the apartments. All outreach was done in English and Spanish. Read more ...
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How climate change is affecting air travel - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jan 09, 2024) |
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Jan 09, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Flying a plane through windy, stormy conditions can cause a dangerous, turbulent ride. But a clear blue sky does not guarantee smooth cruising.
Williams: “Clear air turbulence is completely invisible, as its name suggests, so it’s nothing to do with flying through a storm. … It comes out of the blue, often without warning.”
And Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in the UK, says it’s getting more common.
He explains that clear air turbulence is caused by instability in the jet stream, which ... Read more ...
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Gasoline is cheap right now - but charging an EV is still cheaper - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jan 08, 2024) |
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Jan 08, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
It was easy to make the case for the low cost of electric vehicle charging way back in 2022 when gasoline prices were high and charging an EV was about 70% cheaper than filling up at the pump. But now that the price of gasoline is dipping below $3 per gallon, is it still cheaper to fill up a car on electrons rather than gasoline? The answer is yes - by a lot.
By far the least expensive and least polluting option is to get around on foot, bike, or public transit. But if you need a personal vehicle, EVs cost less to drive compared to a similar ... Read more ...
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Electric buses could help clean up the air in Vegas - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 26, 2023) |
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Dec 26, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
While visitors to Vegas enjoy glitzy casinos and fountain shows, those who live and work in the city have to deal with more burdensome realities.
Pelaez: “Las Vegas, being a metropolitan area, faces so many challenges related to air quality.”
Yazmyn Pelaez is with the Nevada Conservation League. She says the biggest drivers of local air pollution are cars, trucks, and buses, which spew tailpipe emissions that warm the climate and harm people’s health.
Pelaez: “Those most impacted are communities of color and low-income communities who live ... Read more ...
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It’s getting easier to rent an EV on your next vacation - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 21, 2023) |
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Dec 21, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Vacations are a time for new experiences - like visiting faraway places or tasting different foods. And they can even provide an opportunity to try an electric vehicle for the first time.
Many car rental agencies - including Hertz, Avis, and Enterprise - now include EVs in their fleets.
Damon Aldrich is with Enterprise Mobility, which manages Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent-A-Car, and National Car Rental.
Aldrich: “Most customers love the features in an EV - smooth, quiet acceleration … the driver assistance features are ... Read more ...
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In a win for the climate, urban speed limits are dropping - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 20, 2023) |
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Dec 20, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Since 2015, Seattle has lowered speed limits across much of its road network, setting residential streets at 20 miles per hour and most larger urban corridors at 25 miles per hour. After these changes took effect, studies showed that car crashes fell by approximately 20%, while the crashes that did occur resulted in significantly fewer injuries.
Cities across the U.S. are following Seattle’s lead, with speed limits dropping from Denver and Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., and Hoboken. Although these changes are motivated by the need to reduce deaths ... Read more ...
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NYC startup launches curbside EV charging stations - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 19, 2023) |
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Dec 19, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tiya Gordon of Brooklyn, New York, wanted to buy a car so she could visit family outside the city.
She planned to get an electric vehicle but then realized there was no convenient place in her neighborhood to charge it overnight.
Gordon: “It’s super easy to charge an electric vehicle if you live in the suburbs or if you’re suburb-adjacent and you have a garage or a driveway. … If you live in a city, it’s a lot harder because you don’t have that dedicated garage or that dedicated ... Read more ...
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I drove 6,000 miles in an EV. Here’s what I learned. - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 18, 2023) |
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Dec 18, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When I set out from Montana on a cross-continent, 6,000-mile journey in my electric car, I had two goals. I wanted to visit family and friends in Wisconsin, Maine, Illinois, and Iowa. And I wanted to prove, to myself and others, the possibility of making such a journey by electric vehicle.
Before my trip, I absorbed plenty of warnings about EV travel and charging. I read stories of drivers navigating successfully along charger alleys - Chicago to Atlanta, for example - but rarely found reports of successful travel across the so-called charging deserts ... Read more ...
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Flying was his dream. Now he wants to reduce the carbon footprint of air travel. - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 12, 2023) |
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Dec 12, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As a child, Todd Smith dreamed of flying planes. And he fulfilled that dream, becoming a commercial pilot.
Smith: “I loved the feeling of being up in the sky and both the tranquility and the vastness of … looking down at our beautiful planet.”
But when a medical issue forced him to take a break from work, he visited Rainbow Mountain in Peru. The colorful slopes have become visible because they’re no longer covered with snow. That made Smith worry about global warming and burning fossil fuels for transportation.
Smith: “Knowing that my ... Read more ...
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More than a dozen Illinois schools add EVs to driver’s ed - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Dec 04, 2023) |
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Dec 04, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Teenagers at some Illinois high schools are now taking driver’s education classes in electric cars.
Mitchell: “EVs are the future. I mean, it’s something we can get these kids ready to use.”
Gregg Mitchell is the driver’s ed director at Lane Tech College Prep, a public high school in Chicago.
The school recently added an EV to its fleet of cars, using a grant from ComEd, the local electric utility.
The utility’s EVs for Education program has allowed more than a dozen schools to buy electric cars and chargers for their driver’s ed ... Read more ...
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Could your library do this? A California library is helping people try e-bikes for free - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 29, 2023) |
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Nov 29, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Libraries lend out a lot more than books and DVDs. Some loan tools or museum passes. And at the public library in Santa Barbara, California, visitors can borrow a weeklong membership to the city’s electric bike share program.
Bilek: “The goal is to give people in the community a chance to try a form of alternative transportation, see if it might work for them.”
That’s senior librarian Ariana Bilek.
She says the library is partnering with BCycle, the city’s e-bike share program, and Bosch, an e-bike technology company, to introduce more ... Read more ...
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Why one researcher is flying less - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 24, 2023) |
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Nov 24, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As a linguistics researcher, Ian Joo of South Korea is often asked to travel for research and conferences.
But when he learned that taking one flight could cause more carbon pollution than the average citizen of Uganda emits in a year, he was appalled.
Joo: “That was a big shock for me.”
He decided to reduce his air travel. While he was a visiting researcher in the Netherlands, he attended four conferences.
Joo: “For all those conferences, I took the train.”
But he says sometimes flying is the only option and travel is critical ... Read more ...
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Many cyclists want to keep biking even in winter, advocate says - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 21, 2023) |
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Nov 21, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Even when it’s cold and snowy, Dave Robertson hops on his bike to get around town.
Robertson: “There’s no special equipment. It’s whatever clothes you’re wearing … put on a jacket, put on a pair of mitts and a hat, and get on your bike and go.”
Robertson is the vice president of Bike Ottawa, a nonprofit group that advocates for bike-friendly infrastructure in Canada’s capital city.
He says many cyclists want to keep riding in winter. It’s less expensive than driving a car and better for the climate. So he says it’s critical that cities keep ... Read more ...
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Uber driver switches to EV, saves money - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 20, 2023) |
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Nov 20, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Wesley Johnson is an Uber driver in San Francisco. For years, he picked up passengers in his Mercedes. And he spent a lot on fuel.
Johnson: “I was spending like $1,600, nothing less, a month, for gas.”
Plus, he had to deal with the wear and tear on his car, which can be pricey.
So when he heard that Uber and Hertz had partnered on a program to rent out electric vehicles to Uber drivers, Johnson was eager to give it a try.
He’s one of about 50,000 U.S. drivers who have rented a Tesla through the program since it launched two years ago. Read more ...
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Climate change could make air travel even worse - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 13, 2023) |
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Nov 13, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Flight delays and missed connections can turn a joyful holiday trip into a stressful fiasco. And these headaches may become more common as floods, heat waves, and storms grow more extreme.
Paul Williams is a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in the UK.
Williams: “Climate change has many potential consequences for the future of flying.”
For example, in September 2023, heavy rain caused hundreds of delays and cancellations at New York City airports. At La Guardia, a terminal flooded, forcing travelers to wade ... Read more ...
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Want to live in a walkable, bikeable city? Follow these tips. - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 13, 2023) |
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Nov 13, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Transportation is the largest source of carbon pollution in the United States, and passenger cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks account for more than half of all transportation emissions. If you want to reduce your climate impact, this can present a dilemma. Walking, biking, and public transportation are the most climate-friendly ways to get around, but cars rule the roads in most of the nation. So ditching your car might not seem realistic.
“It’s a really entrenched problem that’s really hard to get out of. We built all of these roads and highways and ... Read more ...
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How to cut the carbon footprint of your next flight - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 03, 2023) |
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Nov 03, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When booking holiday travel, you may notice that some sites such as Google Flights now provide an estimate of the carbon emissions caused by each flight.
Rutherford: “So this is something I’m really excited about.”
Dan Rutherford directs the Aviation and Marine programs at the International Council on Clean Transportation.
He says the climate impact of various flights can vary dramatically, depending on if a flight is direct, how new the plane is, the business model of the airline, and other factors.
Rutherford: “In our ... Read more ...
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Meet the former pilot working to reduce climate pollution from planes - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Nov 03, 2023) |
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Nov 03, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Todd Smith always wanted to fly. But shortly after becoming a pilot and achieving his lifelong dream, he fell ill. During his required time off, he learned about the consequences of climate change and how the airline industry is a major polluter. So Smith cofounded Safe Landing, an organization for current and former airline employees who want to protect the climate and safeguard jobs for industry workers.
Yale Climate Connections talked with Smith about his journey and about how airline workers are pushing for a cleaner industry.
Yale Climate ... Read more ...
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American society wasn’t always so car-centric. Our future doesn’t have to be, either. - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Oct 03, 2023) |
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Oct 03, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Transportation is the largest source of planet-warming gases in the United States, and passenger vehicles are the top emitters within the sector. To reduce car emissions, authorities ranging from the UN to the U.S. EPA and Department of Transportation say that people need to drive less. But this message is often lost in the excitement over electric vehicles, which overwhelmingly dominate the conversation about decarbonizing ground transportation.
The heavy emphasis on car-based climate solutions seems grounded in the assumption that driving is the only ... Read more ...
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Electric vehicles reduce carbon pollution in all U.S. states - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Sep 14, 2023) |
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Sep 14, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Cars and trucks are among the largest sources of climate-warming pollution in the U.S., accounting for around 23% of national emissions in 2021. Electric vehicles, along with strategies to reduce driving, are central to reducing that pollution.
But do EVs really lower carbon emissions, even when the electricity feeding the car comes from heavily polluting sources? (Looking at you, West Virginia.) The answer – thankfully – is a resounding yes. Compared to gasoline-powered vehicles, electric cars emit substantially less carbon dioxide pollution, no ... Read more ...
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What it’s like to road-trip cross-country in an electric car - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (Jul 10, 2023) |
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Jul 10, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Earlier this year, Glen Ayers and his wife Mary drove their electric car from Massachusetts to California and back, stopping at parks and small towns across the country.
Ayers says going such a long distance in an EV was not difficult. Knowing where to charge up required a bit of planning, but he says they were able to plug in at campgrounds and stations along the way.
“If you’re driving on the interstates, pretty much every 30 to 50 miles, there’s a fast charger,” he says.
Ayers says this was a noticeable increase from a few years ... Read more ...
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Electric vehicle incentives for 'gasoline superusers’ would have outsized benefits for the climate - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (May 30, 2023) |
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May 30, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In the U.S., a small percentage of drivers produce a disproportionate amount of global warming pollution.
“The top 10% of drivers in terms of their gasoline consumption were using about a third of all the gasoline,” says Janelle London of Coltura, a nonprofit that advocates for electric vehicle adoption.
Her team analyzed nationwide data about people’s driving habits. She says many so-called gasoline superusers drive a lot because they have to.
“They are generally people who are having to commute long distances because they can’t ... Read more ...
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EPA’s car pollution rules would save Americans trillions of dollars - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (May 08, 2023) |
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May 08, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Electric vehicle (EV) sales are surging in many countries around the world, including the United States. According to the Department of Energy, EVs accounted for just 1% of new U.S. car sales in 2017. That share surpassed 3% in 2021 and approached 6% in 2022. Though the U.S. remains well below the global average EV share of new car sales, which exceeded 14% in 2022, the American market is catching up fast. According to an analysis of global markets by Bloomberg, a 5% share appears to be a tipping point at which EV sales take off in most countries.
Amid ... Read more ...
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Walmart just illustrated how mainstream EVs are now - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation (May 04, 2023) |
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May 04, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In the latest sign that corporate behemoths are getting behind the shift to electric vehicles, Walmart announced on Thursday that it would install fast-charging stations at thousands of locations around the country. The rollout would quadruple the company’s network of charging stations, currently available at more than 280 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.
Walmart’s move could help allay a common concern about buying an electric car - range anxiety, the fear of getting stranded with a dead battery and no chargers in sight. “We’ve got a Walmart store or ... Read more ...
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