For the United States to meet its climate goals, it will need to cut emissions from transportation, the single-largest sectoral carbon emitter, by 45 percent by 2030. This requires putting 70 million electric light-duty vehicles on the road and reducing its vehicle miles traveled by 20 percent in the next few years. But how does it do that? No single policy will achieve these goals; it needs to take advantage of all available tools and allies, even unexpected ones.
In this report “The DMV: An Unlikely Climate Champion“, RMI looks at how an often-overlooked administrative infrastructure — America’s network of thousands of state and local departments of motor vehicles (DMVs) — could help align the cost of vehicle ownership with climate and equity goals. Through a new innovative fee model, DMVs could structure vehicle title and annual registration fees to reflect vehicle characteristics that most affect the environment, infrastructure, and public safety.
Read the report here
