Costa Samaras: What do we need in the next inflation reduction act climate policy?

None of this stuff really matters for climate change. The big items for us as individuals are: - how much & how clean we drive & travel - how much & how clean we heat & cool our homes (and we should heat and cool as much as we need to be safe) - the carbon intensity of what we eat - do we vote

Books take a lot of resources to make. Digital readers do, too. What's the more sustainable option? The answer isn't straightforward.

What’s better for the climate: A paper book, or an e-reader?www.npr.org Books take a lot of resources to make. Digital readers do, too. What's the more sustainable option? The answer isn't straightforward.

❌ paper or plastic ✅ how far did you have to travel and how did you get to the store

What do we need in the next inflation reduction act climate policy?

Let folks read a book if they wanna. Climate change is a systems problem. The Biden Admin already set a 2030 emissions target with the UN & a zero by 2050 target. But guess what— in the next 4 years the US has to set a 2035 target. Who sets the target, & let’s be real, if there is a target, matters.

There was a whole online content segment in the 2000s & 2010s of telling folks, which is better, paper or plastic, how to green your kitchen, etc. It’s so small ball & doesn’t matter. Do the big stuff, but more importantly work for systems change. We passed the Inflation Reduction Act with ONE VOTE.

My job in the White House was to know where every existing ton of GHGs is, how they will change over time, & what we need to do to get to net-zero by 2050. The Inflation Reduction Act is a huge win. We also launched the Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative, it’s good www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo....

Do you happen to know who the Canadian equivalent of you would be?

it’s a different structure but my old boss’ kinda equivalent is Dr. Nemer science.gc.ca/site/science...

What a cool job and diagram

I made it on PowerPoint, we weren’t even allowed to have clippy

clarification: made the right one, my team made the left one

To wit there's a great nonprofit called Project Drawdown which is targeting the sort of systems-level solutions you refer to. A lot of these solutions, if you were to implement them in place of existing systems, end up saving money after recouping implementation costs. drawdown.org/solutions

Drawdown Climate Solutions Librarydrawdown.org Drawdown Solutions reduce greenhouse gases by avoiding emissions and/or sequestering carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.

know them well, are great

I don't know anyone on the project personally but I'vebeen really impressed looking into their data. It's inspired me to dig into my own preferred realms of activism: transit and housing.

legitimately curious about how big an impact free e-bikes would have. I for one have put more miles on mine than my car over the past four years

let’s find out in IRA2

Something like 15% of households in the US have one. I think if we could get to like 25% that would be a tipping point for infrastructure and sentiment, especially in places like Texas and Florida.

been a game changer for our household. I use an e-bike every day

Running errands is fun! I've been a car-free coastal elite bike riding jerk for quite some time. Got an ebike during the pandemic and I love it for commuting and errands where the goal is getting somewhere/carrying something, not "fitness experience".

I think about this daily. Not totally free, but heavily subsidized so that people still value them.

electrified rail a lot of electrified rail

Seriously get recumbent ebikes to Florida senior communities and watch the Me Generation go

I’ll add some bullet points under “Moving More, Driving Less”: - Make intercity buses part of Amtrak’s state corridors program - Permit riding Amtrak buses without a train segment nationally - FTA funding stream to automate existing metros - FTA funding stream for automated regional light metros

- FRA funding stream for quickly standing up cheap regional rail lines on under-used freight corridors - National Transit Planning Centre that local transit operators can lean on / hire in as temps to solve specific problems based on national and international best practices

great stuff!

This is more nebulous, but we need to figure out *something* to improve cross-border rail travel, particularly for frequent travellers with NEXUS/SENTRI/Global Entry. Current options are preclearance ($$$ + no intermediate stops), stopping at the border and incurring delays, or… somehow both?

The new stuff isn't the problem. The personal cost of switching is. Sunk costs in vehicles, homes, lifestyle, are not easily overcome. Most households do not have $1k for emergencies. They'll fight taxes, fees to fund changes they don't benefit from.

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