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Editor’s note: Today we have a guest post from Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who has represented Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District since 1996. He is the lead sponsor of the House’s “CLEAN TEA” climate legislation and founded the Congressional Bicycle Caucus. Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Photo: Airdye.com With much excitement, today we are launching the Livable Communities … Continued

Some ideas just refuse to die.  Less than a year after the City of Los Angeles moved to end it's free-meter parking for hybrids program, a new proposal to allow only the highest tech and cleanest cars to park for free has resurfaced.  The Council resolution asking LADOT to study the program was introduced by Council President Eric Garcetti and sponsored by Downtown Council Woman Eric Garcetti and "Tom LaBonge for Bill Rosendahl."  Despite the presence of LaBonge and Rosendahl as sponsors of the legislation, they led Transportation Committee in expressing concerns with the newest free-parking for expensive, high-tech, cars scheme.

Halfway through the extra month that Congress gave itself to resolve a long-simmering dispute over funding the nation's transportation system, Democratic leaders remain deadlocked over whether -- and how long -- to wait before debating a broad reform of federal infrastructure policy.

The White House's economic stimulus law included several large new spending programs, from $4 billion for broadband to $2.4 billion for electric car batteries. But nothing has aroused so much interest -- and criticism -- as the $8 billion for American high-speed rail.

As my colleague Ryan wrote earlier, the congressional climate change bill no represents the most meaningful path for urbanists, and advocates for clean transportation in general, to make their voices heard in the national debate. President Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize today. (Photo: AP) So it bears repeating that the bill is losing momentum, … Continued

Former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who served for eight years in George W. Bush's DOT, sat down with Streetsblog Capitol Hill yesterday to urge that Congress add a dedicated funding stream of $1 billion each year for transportation technology to the next long-term infrastructure bill.

The Obama administration has brought both good news and bad news to transit riders. But here’s a positive sign you haven’t heard before, straight from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff: In the nine months of the new presidency, the FTA has fielded more requests for information “directly from the White House” than in … Continued

Much like Enci's husband Stephen Box last week, Enci probably needs no introduction to any regular reader of Los Angeles Streetsblog.  Enci has a long list of groups and projects that she works on related to the push for Livable Streets including the green production company "Rebel Without a Car," and the oft-discussed Bike Writers Collective.  But even putting aside these groups Enci lives a car-free life style, proving one can be a successful part of "The Business" without her own, personal, internal-combustion engine.

That's the suggestion that an anonymous "Senate aide" made to Bloomberg News this morning, recounting a possible White House change of heart as mounting job losses stoke new debate over a second stimulus bill: