Report Urges NAFTA Cooperation on Emissions
There is an urgent need for cross-border cooperation between the United States, Canada and Mexico to reduce truck and train greenhouse-gas emissions which would in turn help safeguard regional economic competitiveness, according to a new study.
The 68-page report of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation concluded there is inadequate coordination among transportation agencies in the three countries, a lack of essential transportation data, inadequate funding for transportation infrastructure, and extensive delays in freight movement across borders.
The tri-national group was created in 1994 to promote the environmental goals under the North American Free Trade Agreement. It was established by its governing body composed of the highest-level environmental authorities from each of the three governments.
The report recommended key action areas for the three nations including pricing carbon, integrating land-use planning, shifting to more efficient transportation modes, greening supply chains and implementing best practices and improving freight transportation governance and stakeholder networking.
It said NAFTA partners should consider forming a high-level government forum in cooperation with industry, expert and stakeholder groups to “foster an integrated, intelligent freight transportation system, a more seamless and efficient set of linkages that bring the three countries — functionally if not literally — closer together.”
