Green Logistics: Senate tables global warming legislation
By not being passed, transporation concerns may have opportunities to weigh in on how freight transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions levels
Jeff Berman, Group News Editor -- Logistics Management, 6/11/2008
WASHINGTON—A piece of legislation which called for significant reductions in U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions was shelved by the U.S. Senate last week by a 48-36 vote. Although the bill was not likely to pass in an election year, it may be viewed as a positive when a new president takes office, because both Presidential Candidates Barack Obama and John McCain favor mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The legislation, S. 3036, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008, was introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (a Connecticut independent), and John W. Warner (R-Virginia). Its main objective, if passed, would have been to mandate that the United States cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 70 percent below current levels between 2012 and 2050 and 18 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
This legislation comes at a time where going “green” is front and center for shippers, carriers, and consumers. And a process proposed in the bill focused on capping and trading greenhouse gas emissions may eventually have a significant impact on the freight transportation sector, because “reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires changes in vehicles, in fuels, and in consumer behavior,” according to the legislation.
Even though the legislation did not receive the required votes, it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise because it falls far short of advocating achievable goals, according to Brittain Ladd, director of logistics and project management for a Dallas-based private equity firm and former manager of logistics and transportation strategy for Dell Inc.
“The worst thing that could happen to the green movement in the U.S. is that such a bill be passed,” said Ladd, “as it is simply too broad in its scope and too narrow in its focus on carbon reduction.”
Ladd offered up various routes the U.S. could take for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions footprint that results from a freight transportation perspective.
One possibility he suggested was the creation of new delivery models to reduce fuel consumption in tractors. This could be done, he said, by instead of having tractors and trailers depart highways and interstates to drive over city streets and increase congestion, ‘Transportation Rendez-Vous” zones could be constructed outside of every major U.S. city. Under this set-up, Ladd explained that trucks could pull into the zones and drop their trailer so that a Liquid Natural Gas-powered vehicle or a small electric powered tractor would deliver the trailer to the final destination and shuttle back any trailers for pick-up. Utilizing this technique would allow tractors to operate more efficiently, because they're not driving in congested traffic, and, more importantly, pollution and carbon would be reduced, according to Ladd.
Another way to reduce the impact of transportation on the environment is simply by using less transportation, said Ladd.
“The only way the U.S. will use less transportation in the years ahead is if the largest trucking companies, retailers, and manufacturers in the U.S. truly collaborate on shipping, sharing drivers and equipment, and keeping trucks operating 24/7,” he said. “Collaboration on such a scale would greatly accelerate innovative strategies and techniques to refine transportation in the U.S. even further.”
Joe Madden, principle of Sustainable Transport Systems, a green transportation and logistics consulting firm in Santa Cruz, California, told LM that regardless of the whenever this legislation is passed, the most important thing is that carbon allowances be auctioned and that regulations allow for the innovation in various industrial sectors—including transportation—so that the most innovative stakeholders gain a competitive advantage by managing their greenhouse gas emissions in the most effective way possible.
“The entire climate space is in evolutionary chaos and, provided that Congress learns from the mistakes in the EU and elsewhere, there is a significant opportunity to create a solid platform by which a leaner, more efficient transportation industry will emerge,” said Madden.
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