Elana Schor

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.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), who is in Washington today continuing his push for a "front-loaded" federal transportation bill, told Streetsblog Capitol Hill that he sees momentum building for a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to be created as part of the jobs bill now moving forward in Congress.

Rep. Sutton (D-OH) working on a deal to divert unused federal stimulus funds to save endangered bus transit in Lorain County (Chronicle-Telegram) Cornell University economist on the best way to leveraged borrowed money during an economic recession: focus on infrastructure projects with economic multiplier effects, such as removing rail bottlenecks in the northeast corridor (NYT) … Continued

Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) have officially unveiled their new bill taxing Wall Street transactions to pay for the next long-term transportation bill and other infrastructure needs, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is poised to introduce the legislation next week in the upper chamber of Congress.

As the Obama administration and Congress keep a close eye on jobless numbers and the shrinking American manufacturing base, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that 32 rail companies that have promised to expand U.S. operations if they are chosen to help states build high-speed train networks.

The conservative "tea party" movement, last seen complaining about the government-funded local transit system that they took during an anti-government march in Washington D.C, is veering back to form in Florida with an organized protest against the state's proposal for broad new investments in rail transit.

A must-read from Harold Meyerson: How the power of states’ rights, on infrastructure and other issues, threatens economic recovery (Prospect) More coverage of the transport news from yesterday’s White House jobs summit (Reuters, Bloomberg, Free Press) NYC health department releases new numbers that prove the connection between transportation reform and health reform (Streetsblog NY) High-speed … Continued

During today's White House jobs summit, President Obama stopped into an infrastructure session where 21 representatives from business, labor, state and local governments, social equity groups, and think tanks were sharing ideas on how to maximize the benefit of transportation spending.

Senior Democrats in Congress are warming to a new two-year federal transportation bill as a vehicle for upwards of $100 billion in infrastructure spending aimed at job creation -- and a key player in building that momentum makes his home far from the Capitol.

On the issue of clean transportation, from transit to bike paths to clean water, few members of Congress are as knowledgeable or active as Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). Chief of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus and founder of the new Livable Communities Task Force, the Portland lawmaker is on the front lines of Washington's biggest infrastructure debates. Streetsblog Capitol Hill spoke with him yesterday about the prospects for transportation in the coming jobs bill, which he has said could be paid for in part with Wall Street bailout money. Below is a lightly edited transcript of the discussion.