Pete Buttigieg’s advisers urge against driving: ALL CARS ARE BAD.

Transportation Secretary’s⁤ Equity Committee Aims to Bring ‘Diversity’ and ‘Inclusion’ to America’s Infrastructure

Transportation Secretary Pete‍ Buttigieg ⁤is appointing a group of “leading experts” to advise him on “transportation ⁢equity,” including several who argue that cars cause climate change and promote racism and therefore should be ​phased ‌out.

Buttigieg earlier this month appointed 24 new ‌members to his Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity, an Obama-era body ⁢that Buttigieg is reviving after the Trump administration scrapped it. Included on the committee is⁤ Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, ‍a “spatial policy scholar”‍ who says “ALL CARS ARE BAD” given‍ that⁣ they ⁤cause⁢ “a myriad of environmental issues and conditions.” Another Buttigieg appointee,⁣ self-described “transportation nerd” Veronica⁣ Davis, argued in an August essay⁤ that‍ cars perpetuate “systemic racism” and are therefore “the problem” in America’s transportation system.

Buttigieg’s appointments—and his decision to revive the equity advisory committee—reflect the Biden administration’s whole-of-government emphasis on diversity, equity, ‍and​ inclusion.⁣ President Joe Biden shortly after‌ taking office in 2021 issued ‍an executive order ⁣ that called⁣ on federal agencies to “pursue a comprehensive approach⁣ to advancing equity for all.” Under the‌ order, agency heads must conduct an‍ “equity​ assessment” to identify policies that⁢ create‍ “systemic barriers” in minority communities.

The committee will advise Buttigieg ⁤on “promising practices to⁤ institutionalize equity ‌into‌ agency ‍programs, ⁣policies, regulations, and activities” and plans to meet for the‍ first​ time this⁢ fall, according to Buttigieg’s August ⁤ announcement. Marpillero-Colomina told the Washington Free ⁢Beacon that she is not “advocating for a complete erasure” of cars but intends to push ⁣Buttigieg to ‌move America away from its reliance on private motor vehicles.

“My interest in being ⁢on​ the [equity committee] is to raise the question and push the Department of Transportation to really think about: What are some equitable, environmentally sustainable, economically beneficial, and​ feasible⁤ alternatives​ to policy that is car-centric?” she said in an interview. “How can ⁣we reimagine streets to​ prioritize people instead of cars? How can we create streets that are inclusive ​of modes other than cars?”

Davis, who did not‍ return a request for comment, is likely to pursue ⁤similar goals on​ the committee. Davis in July released a book titled, Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, which advocates‍ for “a different way of thinking” to “address healing the damage done ⁢by cars.”

“Not ⁢to⁣ oversimplify the⁣ problems of transportation, but all roads lead back to cars,” Davis wrote in an August essay adapted from her book. “This isn’t anti-car⁢ propaganda but vehicles have wreaked havoc​ on the environment and communities. … Racism shaped the ⁢urban and ⁤suburban areas, where even today we see the‌ residual effects.”

In addition‍ to Marpillero-Colomina⁣ and⁢ Davis, ‌Buttigieg tapped⁤ to serve on the committee Oliver Sellers-Garcia, who serves as Boston mayor Michelle Wu’s Green New Deal director. The ⁤city’s ​Green‍ New Deal‌ program, which Sellers-Garcia manages, calls for Boston to ⁢transition away from cars and embrace a “multimodal” plan of transportation.

“We need to make ⁢it not only ⁣possible but also preferable for residents to leave traffic-⁢ and pollution-inducing fossil fuel-powered vehicles behind,” the city’s plan states.

Neither ‍Sellers-Garcia nor⁣ the Department of Transportation returned requests for comment.

This ​is far from the‍ first time Buttigieg has shown an open hostility toward car ⁣transportation. Buttigieg’s agency in January released a climate plan aimed at‌ lowering the transportation sector’s​ carbon emissions. ‌Included in the plan is a call to ​reduce “commuting miles” through an “increase ‍in remote work and virtual engagements.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has‌ highlighted major opportunities for telework, with some studies showing the possibility of 10 percent long-term reduction in annual vehicle miles traveled,” the​ plan says.

Biden has similarly⁣ moved to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric ones—the Democrat’s Environmental Protection Agency and National ⁣Highway ⁢Safety Administration in recent months unveiled regulations ‍that would require automakers to⁤ ensure that two-thirds of the vehicles​ they sell⁢ are electric​ by 2032. For equity committee ⁣member​ Marpillero-Colomina, however, electric vehicles “are not the silver bullet.”

“If we‍ just replace all the⁢ gas-powered cars with EVs, we’re going to have many of the same problems that we have⁢ with gas-powered cars,” she told the Free Beacon.