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Lawmakers Cross Party Lines on Transpo Funding as Debate Rages
An 18-month extension of existing transportation law cleared the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today, but not before
spirited debate on a proposal billed as a compromise with House members
who remain strongly opposed to the Senate's stopgap.
July 15, 2009
Your Unlikely Reasonable Voice of the Day
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is not known as a friend of green transportation -- and that's putting it mildly.
June 24, 2009
Steven Chu Forced to Recant Belief in Higher Gas Prices
The
indignities are piling up for Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate Secretary
of Energy whom environmentalists applauded as one of Obama's best
cabinet picks. His security detail won't let the lifelong cyclist bike to work. And on Earth Day, he fielded questions like this one (via Talking Points Memo)
during a House hearing on the proposed climate bill. Texas
representative Joe Barton asked Chu where oil comes from, and the
Energy Secretary delved into plate tectonics. Barton boasted afterward
that he had "baffled" Chu.
April 24, 2009
Regional Transportation Funding Problems Keep Getting Bigger
In a sobering revision of the 25-year Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) at yesterday's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) meeting, MTC staff explained that the elimination of the State Transit Assistance (STA) fund and much lower than expected sales-tax revenues forced the planning body to significantly revise down its projections for operational spending and expansion projects (PDF). The MTC revised down expected revenues by $8 billion (even despite over $3 billion in expected stimulus funds) and announced that BART's
extension to San Jose is running a cool $1.5 billion over budget.
March 26, 2009