Seventy percent of the oil America uses each year is consumed by transportation. Any effective strategy to meet U.S. and global climate protection goals therefore requires that oil consumption in the transport sector be significantly reduced.

A component of the new climate and energy bill aims to tackle transportation carbon, which accounts for over 30 percent of domestic carbon emissions and over 70 percent of domestic oil consumption. Pricing transportation carbon is a contentious—but ultimately crucial—component of managing climate change.