Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
DC Streetsblog

No Details Yet on House Transportation and Oil Drilling Bill

House leaders did not unveil a bill at their press conference this morning.

false

House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica said the bill, when it is released, will:

    • consolidate duplicative parts of the federal transportation system
    • shift responsibility to states and local governments to move transportation projects forward
    • increase the ability to leverage financial resources
    • significantly streamline the process for projects, cutting red tape and federal paperwork
No word on the dollar amount or duration of the bill. Mica did note that the bill is a "key component of our Republican jobs proposal, which I’m pretty confident will put Americans back to work with a long term and fiscally responsible plan."

House Speaker John Boehner said he still hopes the House will act on the bill before year's end.

All the questions from reporters that Boehner took were about the supercommittee.

Meanwhile, environmental groups and transportation advocates are already responding. Jesse Prentice-Dunn of the Sierra Club wrote that "the Speaker is right that we desperately need to invest in our crumbling transportation infrastructure, but wrong in suggesting that we must sacrifice our environment to do so":

Our addiction to oil is threatening our climate, our coasts, and our wallets. Transportation, driven primarily by our passenger cars and trucks, consumes roughly two-thirds of oil used nationwide and is responsible for roughly one-third of our nation's carbon pollution. At the same time, nearly half of Americans lack access to public transit, forcing them to pay any price at the pump to get around.

Instead of offering a plan to upgrade our infrastructure into the 21st century, Speaker Boehner laid out a one-two punch that will leave us addicted to oil for decades to come.

We'll have more information about the bill later today.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Metro Updates: 25 Months of Ridership Growth, and More

Metro ridership is growing steadily, plus Metro 605/5/10/60/105 Freeway expansion, Metro Micro, bus electrification, C Line, and Metro wildfire response

January 18, 2025

SGV Connect 132: A Fond Farewell to Melanie Curry

This week’s SGV Connect Podcast features the entire Streetsblog in California team saying goodbye to the Streetsblog California editor, Melanie Curry, as she heads into retirement.

January 16, 2025
See all posts