EPA Air Chief: We Need to Do More to Reduce VMT
by Elana Schor
Obama administration officials "need to align together" to work on reducing the nation's total vehicle miles traveled -- work that should go beyond a pending congressional climate bill -- the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) air-quality chief said today.
GinaMcCarthy.jpgGina McCarthy, EPA's top air pollution regulator. (Photo: CECE)
Gina McCarthy, EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, acknowledged in a speech at EMBARQ's transportation conference that her agency as "less effective" working alone on crafting strategies to cut VMT.
McCarthy called for federal agencies to work together on a coordinated approach to transportation policy that makes economic and environmental factors an essential part of the mix.
"When we say transportation, everybody thinks 'car'," McCarthy said. "That's a challenge for us as individuals, as a society -- and clearly it's a challenge for me, as someone who's supposed to deliver clean air to breathe."
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