“Texas’ Department of Transportation has largely been a department of building highways for a long time,” said Matt Casale, who leads the climate program at the Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit advocacy coalition. Texas is the biggest recipient of those funds, followed by California, Florida and New York. A fifth of it will go to highway and bridge programs, according to FHWA, with much of the money being funneled through long-standing funding formulas that historically have fueled state efforts to pave more lanes.

The landmark infrastructure law authorized $550 billion in new spending. It is the fact that almost every state has an I-45 on the agenda, something the president and DOT secretary will not acknowledge,” said Osborne, who now directs Transportation for America, a group that advocates for slower and safer roadways. “I-45 alone will not tip the balance on climate change. It’s fueling a rush of highway projects like Houston’s expansion of Interstate 45 that could undercut the administration’s environmental goals, said Beth Osborne, a former acting assistant secretary for transportation policy at the Department of Transportation. Despite the administration’s climate commitments, the largest tranche of infrastructure money is being given to states under long-standing funding formulas that allow highway departments in Texas and elsewhere to keep building freeways.

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