House Jobs Bill Could Make General Electric’s Amtrak Wish Come True
The House is poised to take up a jobs bill later today that provides $37.3 billion in new transportation spending, including $27.5 billion for roads, $8.4 billion for transit … and a holiday gift for General Electric? Could this cleaner GE locomotive be coming soon to Amtrak? (Photo: Inhabitat) GE’s transportation division recently joined its … Continued
December 16, 2009
Ray LaHood Visits ‘The Daily Show’ to Talk Transportation
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Jon Stewart on The Daily
Show last night to talk about his department's role in the stimulus
debate, infrastructure modernization, and development of a U.S.
high-speed rail system. Check out the video above (and let us know what
you think in the comments).
December 16, 2009
House Jobs Bill Mimics the Stimulus: $27.5B for Roads, $8.4B for Transit
The House is slated to vote as soon as tomorrow on a job-creation package that includes $27.5 billion for highways and $8.4 billion for transit, according to a transportation committee document obtained by Streetsblog Capitol Hill. House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) (Photo: Bike Portland via Flickr) That funding divide mirrors the spending levels … Continued
December 15, 2009
The Footnote to All Those Complaints About Tax Cuts as Stimulus
Transportation reformers and status quo-lovers alike smacked their
foreheads in frustration when the White House's first stimulus plan
lowballed infrastructure to make
room for tax breaks that had little demonstrable effect on job creation
-- particularly the $70 billion adjustment of the alternative minimum
tax (AMT).
December 15, 2009
Transport Bill Earmark to Help Road Project in Palin’s Hometown
Sarah Palin is no longer the governor of Alaska, but a project long
championed by the 2008 vice-presidential nominee -- and staunch earmark
critic -- stands to benefit from an earmark inserted into the transportation spending bill that cleared Congress over the weekend.
December 14, 2009
House and Senate Agree on $2.5B for High-Speed Rail — And More
(Editor’s Note: At the end of Elana’s article, I’m attaching a statement by CALPIRG declaring partial victory) After lengthy negotiations, the House and Senate agreed last night on a massive “omnibus” spending bill [PDF] that includes $2.5 billion for high-speed rail — a compromise between the two chambers — as well as $150 million for … Continued
December 10, 2009
Livable Streets All-Stars, Blumenauer and Sadik-Khan, Launch Cities for Cycling
Addressing a packed house in Washington last night, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus, posed a Zen-like 'universalist cyclist question'.
December 9, 2009
White House Backs $50B For ‘Merit-Based Infrastructure Investment’
President Obama today threw his weight behind significant new
transportation spending as part of a broad jobs bill taking shape in
Congress, with $50 billion slated for transit, roads, bridges, and
ports and the administration endorsing "merit-based infrastructure
investment that leverages federal dollars."
December 8, 2009
NY and CA: How Did They Spend Transportation Stimulus Money?
In an economic recovery report released
today by New York Gov. David Paterson (D), the state broke down its
plans for the estimated $31 billion it received as part of the Obama
administration's first stimulus law.
December 8, 2009
EPA Makes it Official: Emissions Threaten Public Health
Acting under a Supreme Court mandate, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) ruled today that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public
health and contribute to the harmful environmental effects of climate
change, paving the way for pollution regulations under the Clean Air
Act.
December 7, 2009