Following a meeting with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on February 11, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. (seen above) – the new chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee – said climate change will become a central focus of surface transportation reauthorization legislation going forward.

“President Biden made it clear that investing in our transportation is a top priority,” Sen. Carper noted in a statement.

“Reauthorizing our surface transportation programs is how we make this happen,” he explained. “A surface transportation reauthorization bill can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs to strengthen our economy, and move us to a cleaner, safer future. I’m currently putting together a bipartisan bill that does just that, and I’m glad it’s at the top of the administration’s agenda.”

He stressed that the extension of current surface transportation reauthorization passed in October 2020 – the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation or FAST Act – expires in September, so “there is no time to waste” in terms of crafting a new long-term replacement.

“I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues in the House and in the Senate to get this done,” Sen. Carper noted.