The billions add up: $3.7 billion for an expansion of the I-15 highway in Utah; up to $4 billion for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway; and $16 billion for the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. The U.S. continues to fund and expand highways, even as some parts of the world invest in greener infrastructure over concerns about global warming and amid a broader movement away from cars.
Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who originally reintroduced the GREEN Streets Act back in January, put it more bluntly. “For the last 100 years, we’ve prioritized … gas-guzzling, low-occupancy vehicles on highways. This car-centric approach not only accelerates the climate crisis, but also makes our roads less safe while exacerbating racial and economic inequality,” he said in a statement to NBC News.