Report Debunks the MTA’s Suspect Climate Claims

A report in the Maine Monitor looks at the MTA’s claim that its proposed turnpike expansion would actually be good for the climate.

Check out their story here. They show how increased driving, construction impacts, and increasing use of low-emission vehicles are big factors in assessing climate impacts. These claims are made by road builders across the country, and they just never pan out. We won’t fall for it here.

Even in isolation, this emissions benefit is typically “negligible at best,” said Pérez. Despite ongoing improvements in vehicles’ fuel efficiencies and even electrification, he said, studies show that more use of expanded roads tends to outweigh this benefit. 

Benito Perez of Transportation for America, quoted in the Maine Monitor

The evidence is pretty clear that there’s no highway construction that ever reduces emissions, yet the road building industry will keep making the claims.