House of Representatives

When three agencies in President Obama's Cabinet -- DOT, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency -- banded together to promote "sustainable communities," the initiative sounded promising but somewhat lacking in concrete ideas.

The Census Bureau has just released new data showing a resurgence of the nation's cities, with New York leading the way and Chicago reversing five years of population decline.

The climate change bill that squeaked through the House on Friday night allows U.S. states to use a share of their carbon emissions allowances to invest in green transportation, thanks to the combined efforts of a group of senior Democrats. 

Kate Sheppard from Grist is Tweeting the heck out of the climate bill debate on the floor of the House of Representatives today (218 votes and counting). Barbara Boxer, who is working on the Senate version of this bill, yesterday reminded sustainable transport advocates that this is probably going to be their only chance in the next 18 months to get something done in Congress.

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is not known as a friend of green transportation -- and that's putting it mildly.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday struck a deal ahead of Friday’s make-or-break vote on climate change legislation to give greener transportation a place at the table. The climate bill gives the states 10 percent of its carbon emissions allowances, the total worth of which is projected to hit $70 billion by … Continued

Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House transportation committee, made an interesting comment earlier this month in the Journal of Commerce:

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar's (D-MN) new federal bill, which he previewed Wednesday despite pushback from the Obama administration, is officially out.

As a new non-partisan analysis of the House climate change bill -- proving that capping CO2 can save money for the poorest fifth of the nation -- continues to make waves on the Hill, it's worth noting that the legislation could yield even greater savings by focusing on reducing transportation-based emissions.