GOPers Re-Name the Climate Bill Again: Now It’s a ‘Gas Tax’!
Seven months after first trying
to re-brand congressional climate change legislation as an "energy
tax," Senate Republicans were back at it today with a new report and op-ed that attempts to expose the climate bill as a "$3.6 trillion gas tax."
October 21, 2009
The Top 10 States for Energy Efficiency — And Some Surprising Achievers
As Congress continues to debate climate change legislation that
would include energy efficiency measures, states are already making
progress in reducing the consumption of vehicles, utilities, and other
fuel users.
October 21, 2009
16 Cities That Are Leading the Way in the Climate Change Fight
Long before Congress started to take the threat of climate change
seriously, American mayors were already recognizing the need to
decrease fossil-fuel consumption, promote efficiency, and generally
create more livable places.
October 20, 2009
The Political Climate That Makes Transportation Reform Run
When House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) recently accused his colleagues of lacking the “political will” to pursue long-term reform of infrastructure policy, he wasn’t simply employing a D.C. rhetorical flourish. To understand what Oberstar meant, let’s travel to Berlin for a moment. A German-made high-speed rail car. (Photo: Spiegel) Colby Itkowitz, CQ’s crack … Continued
October 20, 2009
New Study Shows $56 Billion in Hidden Health Damage from Autos
Transportation's effects on public health are rarely discussed by policy-makers, but they remain very real -- and the National Research Council (NRC) put a number
on them today, reporting that cars and trucks have about $56 billion in
"hidden" health costs that are not reflected in the price of oil or
electricity.
October 19, 2009
Transportation Allowances in the Climate Bill: A Tale of Two Modes
To understand why the climate change bill is a top priority
for urbanists, it's crucial to understand the emissions allowances that
the legislation distributes. The allowances essentially put the "trade"
in "cap-and-trade" --
whichever industry or state government holds them can benefit from
their monetary value or use them to emit pollution under the "cap."
October 16, 2009
Transport Debate Still Stalled As Oberstar Decries ‘Lack of Political Will’
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.
October 16, 2009
The Oversight Gap in Team Obama’s High-Speed Rail Plan
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.
October 15, 2009
What Washington Can Do For — And Alongside — Metro Area Planners
At one point midway through yesterday's Brookings Institution forum on metropolitan planning, moderator Chris Leinberger
quipped that Portland was deliberately not represented. It's not that
Portland isn't a model of sustainability, he explained, but that "we
all have Portland fatigue" -- that urban policy thinkers are eager to
expand the models of local development beyond Oregon.
October 14, 2009
Obama Ally Breaks With White House on Timing of New Transport Bill
Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the upper
chamber of Congress and a close ally of the president, broke with the
White House yesterday and called for a new long-term transportation
bill to pass by early next year -- not after the Obama administration's
preferred 18-month delay.
October 13, 2009