Duo of Eco-friendly Policies Cut Pollution and Encourage Environmentally Friendly Modes of Transportation; but Those Policies Don’t Effectively Improve Travel and Mobility in the State

The Maverick Observer covered environmentally friendly transportation laws in Colorado a year ago. At that time, the push was for collaboration between the Colorado Department of Transportation and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). Colorado has five metropolitan zones for the MPO. Each collaborates with CDOT to ensure that any transportation projects heavily factor in greenhouse gas emissions. Effectively, this means limiting the number of people driving cars alone, i.e., “single occupancy vehicles.” 

If single-occupancy vehicles aren’t limited, then the transportation project must create some sort of environmental offset. This collaboration is an ongoing project dealing with citizen-level transportation. But, first, some context about environmentalism discussions. 

The Non-negotiable Backdrop for Discussing How to Reduce Carbon and Other Emissions in Transportation

This urgency of climate change—real, yet heavily exaggerated—is the backdrop for discussions about environmentalism and policy in Colorado and nationwide. It asserts a cast-iron, A-to-B relationship between the burning of fossil fuels and adverse climate and weather. That weather, in turn, damages human, plant, and animal health.

It asserts that this system is so advanced in its effects that global catastrophe is all but guaranteed within a matter of decades. This urgency asserts we are mid-tribulation right now and that we must marshal the free market and government at all levels to halt the ongoing disaster.

This urgency makes discussions about eco-friendly transportation in Colorado very intense. To quibble with the apocalyptic notion—to ask questions about proportional responses to pollution—is off the table for many environmentalists. To raise such doubts in a forum for public comment on a proposed law is met with eye rolls and condescending rebuttals about “the best data” and “the science” without necessary details.

Within this mid-tribulation mindset, urgency outranks effectiveness. And urgency outranks effectiveness when the public policy on greenhouse gas reduction is rolled out in Colorado to combat climate change. Even if it doesn’t work, encouraging environmentally friendly modes of transportation—or punishing polluting ones—is never off the table. Greenhouse gas reductions come first in transportation. Transportation comes second.  

Reflections of the Absolutist Mindset Coming to the Tabld in Transportation Debates

The ballot measure being lobbied for right now by environmental activists makes sense within this thinking. Three hundred and fifty Colorado and related supporters want the state, effectively, to halt oil and gas development. The measure will need 124,000-plus signatures to get a ballot proposal for banning new oil and gas permits by 2030.

This push does not look like a fringe movement among environmentalists. Forty-plus groups, most in Colorado, have endorsed it. Some organization names reflect the catastrophe and absolutist mindset mentioned above: Extinction Rebellion and The Climate Reality Project. 

Now, with this uncompromising approach by many loud voices in or near the policy levers, there are two recent actions to consider. One addresses business transport and freight. The other is citizen-facing.

Colorado Policies Make a Turn: Eco-Friendly Trucks

The greenhouse gas reduction roadmap was a whole-of-government task. As fossil fuels create pollution, state environmentalism agencies—like the Air Quality Control Commission—have a say in transportation and transportation rules. 

With gas prices higher than the national average in the state, the public has only so much capacity in being targeted for rules and costs. As such the current administration is instead targeting businesses and car dealerships in a new development: requiring electric trucks. A Colorado newspaper headlined an article calling it a “California-Style  Clean Trucks Mandate.” 

Basically, the state will give dealerships a quota for medium- and large-duty electric truck sales. Additionally, businesses are encouraged to move away from diesel and natural gas-powered trucks. The policy is scheduled to start in 2027.

There are numerous five-figure incentives for businesses to buy these vehicles. Government spokespersons, environmental activists (including most news media), and those in the EV market are quick to point these out. The upfront costs, however, have some sticker shock and are not mentioned quite as much.

Fully Electric Medium and Semi/Trailer Truck Pre-Incentive Costs:

• Rivian (Volkswagen-made) class 7 truck: $250,000 (hotcars.com comparison)
• Walk-in or delivery class 4 to 6 trucks up to $200,000 and class 8 up to $300,000 (Advanced Clean Tech News EV calculation how-to)
• Semi or class 8 trucks: $400,000 to $510,000 (The International Council of Clean Transportation white paper; the figure is per truck for semis bought in bulk)

Of course, these are prohibitive costs. A reliable gas or diesel dump truck can be purchased for $20,000-$30,000. Factoring in five figures for next-level charging stations and battery ranges under 200 miles, this is a hard sell. But the effect will be less nitrogen dioxide, so the environment is helped. 

The Reddit forum r/truckers suggested EV trucks might work as last-leg, local haulers that deliver from warehouses. It’s in the realm of possibility, but the cost is still shocking. And the many drawbacks of EVs, particularly to Colorado travel, covered earlier in The Maverick Observer, are no doubt similar for the trucks. 

But the net reduction of a measurable number of parts per million or parts per billion in air quality samples will be improved. And that is the goal. 

Green Commuting: Could Offset Colorado’s Carbon, But at What Cost?

The Maverick Observer has covered in the past that Coloradans, in practice, prefer cars. Not only that, they need cars more so than other states. The Centennial State has one of the nation’s most diverse (and one of the largest) geographies. This geography and its climate include bitter cold winters and lots of mountains. Commute distances are moderate-high. Cars’ functionality for the state signifies less practicality of mass transit.

The project, which ferries Coloradans between major urban hubs in the state, started in 2018. Expecting 68,000 passengers in the first year, they got over 100,000, according to Colorado Public Radio. That’s for a whole year, however. It averages 273 people or rides per day. Even if this is a new citizen for each ride, that is small. There are over six million people in the state.

And the cost is not negligible. Over four years, from 2022 to 2026, it will cost $72.8 million. 

If the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Goal is Environmentalism, then These Policies Make Sense

The goal of reducing greenhouse gases is apparently met. The GHG potential cited in the MPOs meeting notes for their May 2022 meeting estimates this “Removes over 600k passengers vehicles from highway network.” [sic] Their numbers further state this cut 14,000 tons of carbon dioxide from Colorado’s annual output. This is in addition to nitrous oxide reductions.

The state’s annual carbon output of about 80 million metric tons. For projects with this effectiveness rate—they are removing 0.0002% of the state’s annual all-sources carbon output. But the cost is steep to serve 273 people, maximum, per day for that minimal reduction.

If the goal is less greenhouse gas, these two of Colorado’s recent policies are successful. These two policies, however, don’t appear to be improving travel, commuting, and mobility in Colorado when dealing with transportation.

The Maverick Observer is an online free-thinking publication interested in the happenings in our region. We launched in February 2020 to hold our politicians and businesses accountable. We hope to educate, inform, entertain, and infuse you with a sense of community.