Transportation and Climate
Related Links
EPA
New Fuel Economy & Environment Labels: Consumers will see redesigned labels on all new cars and light trucks in dealer showrooms starting with model year 2013 vehicles. These labels will provide the public with new information on vehicles’ fuel economy, energy use, fuel costs, and environmental impacts. For the first time, for instance, comparable fuel economy and environmental ratings will be available for all new vehicles, including advanced technology vehicles like electric cars. Consumers will be able to make comparisons – car by car – to ensure they have the best information to help save on fuel costs and reduce emissions.
SmartWay Transport Partnership: A public/private collaboration between the U.S. EPA and the freight transportation industry that helps freight shippers, carriers, and logistics companies improve fuel-efficiency and save money. (www.epa.gov/smartway)
Alternative and Renewable Fuels: These pages provide information on alternative and renewable fuels, including emissions modeling and regulations. (www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/index.htm)
Clean Automotive Technology: EPA's automotive research initiative for developing unique and cost-effective technology for vehicles, including hydraulic hybrid vehicles (HHVs). (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/technology)
Smart Growth Program: EPA's Smart Growth Program works with local, state, and national experts to discover and encourage successful, environmentally sensitive development strategies by conducing research, publishing reports and other resources, showcasing outstanding communities, and working with communities through grants and technical assistance. (www.epa.gov/smartgrowth)
Climate Change: EPA's main climate change site presents information on the broad issue of climate change for communities, individuals, business, public officials and governments. Find out about: why climate change is a problem; greenhouse gas emissions; potential impacts; and actions being taken. (www.epa.gov/climatechange)
Climate Change Kids: Basic information on climate change and fun online games. (www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids)
Climate Protection Partnerships: Information on EPA's partnerships with businesses, organizations, governments, and consumers to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change by promoting greater use of energy efficient and other cost-effective technologies. (www.epa.gov/cppd)
EPA's State and Local Climate and Energy Program: Provides technical assistance, analytical tools, and outreach support to state, local, and tribal governments. (www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/)
International Climate Partnerships: Provides information on EPA’s participation in international conventions, as well as bilateral (two-country) and multilateral (more than two-country) partnerships. Through these partnerships, EPA provides leadership, technical expertise, and capacity building support.
What You Can Do
Fuel Economy: EPA provides fuel economy data that is used by consumers and government organizations to administer national fuel economy programs.- EPA's Fuel Economy site includes information on the fuel economy & environment label for new vehicles, details about the laws that govern fuel economy testing and reporting, how federal agencies work to enforce those laws, and historical raw test data from EPA's fuel economy test database. (www.epa.gov/fueleconomy )
- Fueleconomy.gov provides fuel economy estimates, energy and environmental impact ratings, fuel-saving tips, and other useful information. It is maintained jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center: Part of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Program. Provides information on alternative fuels, alternative fuel vehicles, fleets, and various other alternative fuel resources. (www.eere.energy.gov/afdc)
- Alternative Fuel Refueling Station information, including station locators.
(www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/stations.html) - Related Links for Alternative Vehicles and Fuels
(www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/related_links.html)
Guides for the Use of Biodiesel and Ethanol (E85):
- Biodiesel Use and Handling Guidelines (PDF) (69 pp, 151MB, September 2006, About PDF)
- Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E85 (PDF) (54 pp, 5.6MB, April 2008, About PDF )
Clean Cities: A network of approximately 90 volunteer coalitions, which develop public/private partnerships to promote alternative fuels and advanced vehicles, fuel blends, fuel economy, hybrid vehicles, and idle reduction. (www1.eere.energy.gov/cleancities)
Green Vehicle Guide: The guide helps consumers make more environmentally-informed choices when purchasing a vehicle by listing pollution levels for all model years from 2000 through the present for passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. Consumers can select a vehicle model, determine how clean it is relative to other vehicles, comparison shop for similar vehicles, and choose the cleanest vehicle that meets their needs. (www.epa.gov/greenvehicles)
Best Workplaces for Commuters: Best Workplaces is an innovative program that provides qualified employers with national recognition and an elite designation for offering outstanding commuter benefits, such as free or low cost bus passes, strong telework programs, carpooling matching and vanpool subsidies. Employers that meet the National Standard of Excellence (PDF) (7 p, 240K, About PDF) in commuter benefits-a standard created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-can get on the list of Best Workplaces for Commuters. (www.bestworkplaces.org)
Green Car Congress: 
Green Car Congress offers news analysis and resources for sustainable mobility. (www.greencarcongress.com)
HybridCars.com: HybridCars.com is part web journal, part online community, and part hybrid market research organization. Content from HybridCars.com is syndicated to Yahoo!Autos and BusinessWeek Online. (www.hybridcars.com)
Research and Development
Department of Energy
Vehicle Technologies Program: Program for developing technologies for more energy efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation. (www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels)
Transportation Energy Data Book: from the Center for Transportation Analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Transportation Energy Data Book is a statistical compendium published annually that contains statistics and information that characterize transportation activity, and presents data on other factors that influence transportation energy use. (http://cta.ornl.gov/data)
Energy Information Administration: (www.eia.doe.gov)
- Environment: Provides greenhouse gas emissions data, analyses, and forecasts.
- Transportation Sector Information: Provides analysis reports and papers related to environmental effects of the transportation sector.
Department of Transportation
The Transportation and Climate Change Clearinghouse: A one-stop source of information on transportation and climate change issues. It includes information on greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, analytic methods and tools, GHG reduction strategies, potential impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure, and approaches for integrating climate change considerations into transportation decision making. (www.climate.dot.gov)
Educational Institutions
MIT Sloan Automotive Lab: Laboratory for automotive research whose goal is to provide the fundamental knowledge base for automotive engineering and to educate students to become technological leaders in the automotive industry. (http://web.mit.edu/sloan-auto-lab)
University of California--Davis Institute of Transportation Studies: The mission of ITS-Davis is to serve the needs of society by organizing and conducting multidisciplinary research on emerging and important transportation issues, disseminating this research through conferences and scholarly publications, and enhancing the quality and breadth of transportation education. (www.its.ucdavis.edu)
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute: A research institution committed to interdisciplinary research that will ultimately increase driving safety and further transportation systems knowledge. (www.umtri.umich.edu/news.php)
The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute (MMPEI): Located at the University of Michigan, this institute does energy research and applies its strengths in public policy, economics, business and social sciences to develop secure, affordable and sustainable energy for the future. (www.mmpei.umich.edu)
Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University: The overarching objective of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group is to determine and then seek to promote adoption of effective strategies for developing and deploying cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, primarily in three of the biggest energy-consuming nations in the world: the United States, China, and India. (www.energytechnologypolicy.org)
Other Institutions
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess scientific, technical, and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. (www.ipcc.ch)
Center for Clean Air Policy: The Transportation Team at the Center is dedicated to advancing effective and pragmatic air quality and climate protection policies for vehicles, fuels, and vehicle miles traveled through analysis, dialogue, and capacity building. (www.ccap.org/trans.htm)
Victoria Transport Policy Institute: Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative and practical solutions to transportation problems, and provides a variety of resources on travel demand management measures. (www.vtpi.org)
World Resources Institute-Climate, Energy, and Transport: World Resources Institute provides briefing reports on climate related activities such as national emissions markets, greenhouse gas inventories, and transportation and energy technology options. (www.wri.org/climate)
State and Local Resources
EPA's State and Local Climate and Energy Program: Provides technical assistance, analytical tools, and outreach support to state, local, and tribal governments. (www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/)
Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center - State and Federal Incentives and Laws: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Program provides information on state and federal laws related to alternative fuels and vehicles. (www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/laws/) )
Pew Center on Global Change-What's Being Done in the States: The Pew Center on Global Change provides information on state policies to address climate change. (www.pewclimate.org)
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - EcoMobility Alliance: ICLEI provides resources, tools, peer networking, best practices, and technical assistance to help local governments measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. EcoMobility is an environmentally friendly and socially inclusive way of transportation, including cycling, wheeling, walking and the use of public transportation, with special focus on intermodality. (www.ecomobility.org/)