Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Cars

Is Big Environment Ready to Say America Is Hooked on Cars?

nrdc_website.jpg
The NRDC's "Beyond Oil" campaign. Are national environmental groups ready to shift their strategy?

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal's Joseph White, who covers the auto industry in his "Eyes on the Road" column, made a prediction that livable streets advocates will welcome. In the next year, he forecast, national environmental groups will re-focus their Congressional lobbying to emphasize reducing the amount Americans drive:

Last year's energy debate centered around CAFE, the acronym for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. The next phase of the energy/climate change debate over cars will force us to learn another piece of technical jargon: VMT, or vehicle miles traveled.

Now, many of the environmentalists, politicians and scientists who made the case for boosting vehicle fuel efficiency are turning their attention to the problem of how much we drive -- and the legacy of 20th century land use and transportation choices.

Deron Lovaas, a transportation researcher with the Natural Resources Defense Council, predicts that the debate over how to curb driving will come to the fore next year, when Congress is scheduled to debate a massive bill to fund transportation projects using federal gasoline tax revenue. The NRDC and other environmental groups, fresh from their victory in the fuel-efficiency debate, are turning their attention to issues such as reforming land use rules to promote denser development and concentrating more public spending on better mass transit systems for metro areas, he says.

If this shift indeed comes to pass, it could mark an inflection point in the course of efforts to reduce emissions from transportation. CAFE standards and renewable fuels have long occupied the attention of well-funded environmental groups, keeping ideas like smart growth, transit-oriented development, and building walkable communities on the back burner, especially at the national level. But with evidence mounting that biofuels result in more emissions than fossil fuel, and enthusiasm for ethanol waning (at least in Europe), it may be harder for environmentalists to ignore the fact that America is not just addicted to oil, we're hooked on driving too.

Still, big-time environmental groups have yet to alter their public message. To use the example of the NRDC, their "Beyond Oil" website (pictured above) still puts "Better Cars" and "Better Fuels" front and center, while better land use and transportation planning are lumped under "More Solutions."

There's more solid evidence that White's article is part of another welcome trend: big media outlets emphasizing the connection between global warming and the way cities are planned. Leading the pack is Times reporter Andrew Revkin's Dot Earth blog. In January, Revkin announced that he will make "the urban age... a central focus" of his blog, and so far he is delivering.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The London Neighborhood Where Bikes Outnumber Cars

...and how they got to that impressive milestone.

July 11, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Battle Galactus

Like the Marvel supervillain, U.S. interstate highway system seems to eat up everything in his path. A new book explores how to stop it.

July 11, 2025

New Report Shows Pedestrian Fatalities Drop — But Experts Say Not Enough

The Governors Highway Safety Association report showed a 4 percent drop in the number of pedestrian deaths last year, putting a slow on a dangerous trend — but advocates say the drop isn't nearly big enough.

July 11, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Localities Subsidize the State DOT

Adie Tomer of Brookings on how to improve regional coordination around infrastructure.

July 10, 2025

Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

Here's a rundown of some of the transportation provisions in the Republicans' reconciliation package, and what they might mean for your community.

July 10, 2025

Viva La Thursday’s Headlines

Why is French transit ridership up 10 percent since before the pandemic, while American transit ridership is down 23 percent?

July 10, 2025
See all posts