Home | Reducing carbon pollution from transportation
Transportation greenhouse gas emissions legislation
Background
The Minnesota Legislature passed a series of updates to state statute in 2023 and 2024 to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These changes include a goal to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050 and require the commissioner of transportation to set emission reduction targets specifically for transportation.
Transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions in Minnesota. The state is seeing more frequent extreme weather events, drought, smoke from forest fires and the potential loss of several species due to warming rivers and lakes. To reduce the impacts of GHG emissions, the law requires MnDOT to do the following:
- Mitigate the GHG emissions impacts of all capacity expansion projects on Interstate, U.S. highway, state highway, and business highway routes.
- Establish interim targets to meet the state GHG emissions reduction goal. We must specify a target for the Metropolitan Council’s seven-county area and may set other regional targets.
Meeting the state emissions goal
To mitigate the impacts of climate change, MnDOT set interim GHG emissions targets in the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan for 2025, 2030, 2035 and 2040. The legislature updated the state goal to include interim targets, which align with the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan and the Climate Action Framework. These interim targets will help Minnesota reach net zero emissions by 2050.
What it means for our partners
Many GHG emissions reduction strategies focus on creating more travel options, supporting cleaner air and an increased quality of life. GHG emissions reduction projects could include adding electric vehicle charging stations, supporting walking and biking on local roadways or shaping future development to allow shops and other destinations in town centers close to where people live.
Transportation partners
Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), regional development organizations (RDOs) and area transportation partnerships (ATPs) are critical implementers of this legislation:
- MPOs, RDOs and ATPs play a specific role in selecting transportation projects to fund. They are partners in reducing GHG emissions from projects.
- MPOs, RDOs and ATPs may support implementation by funding strategies such as multimodal transportation projects, local land use policies and electric vehicle infrastructure. These partners can also coordinate with local governments to prioritize projects that support the reduction of GHG emissions in combination with other benefits, such as safety, economic vitality, health and access.
- As required by the legislation, we must set a target for the Metropolitan Council’s sevencounty planning area. We may also set regional targets for other areas of the state. MPOs, RDOs and ATPs will coordinate with us to meet the interim targets for their areas.
Tribes
We'll work in collaboration with Minnesota’s Advocacy Council for Tribal Transportation, to seek feedback on how Minnesota’s 11 Tribal Nations would like to be involved in the implementation of the legislation.
The public
Local governments and communities are important partners in reducing GHG emissions. The public can encourage their community leaders to select and fund projects that reduce emissions and improve air quality and provide more travel options