Gas Prices
Stimulus Lesson: When Time is of the Essence, Invest in Transit
To be effective, fiscal stimulus must be timely.
June 30, 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
Ped-Bike Mockery Flops for 7-Term House Incumbent
The National Republican Congressional Committee ran this ad against Democratic challenger Kathy Dahlkemper in the race for Pennsylvania's third congressional district. It hits a few Gingrichian notes on how to address the country's energy problems before the announcer tells us incredulously:
November 5, 2008
PBS Exposes the Joys of Transit
The latest episode of NOW is surely the most effective takedown of car-dependent planning ever broadcast in news magazine format. Adhering to the familiar contours of pocketbook journalism, "Driven to Despair" starts with a sympathetic portrayal of the Schleighs, a family who moved to a southern California exurb seven years ago. With their adjustable rate mortgage about to reset and gas prices already busting the family budget, they need a way out.
October 10, 2008
Going Back-to-School in the Age of the $4 Gallon
Today is the first day of class for New York City public school students, while other districts across the country have been in session for weeks. The Times reports that some are grappling with how to get kids to and from school in the face of $4-per-gallon gasoline.
September 2, 2008
Leaving Cars Behind, Seniors Find Streets Inhospitable
A recent poll conducted by AARP finds that Americans over the age of 50 are cutting down on car trips due to rising gas prices, but are finding public infrastructure, or lack thereof, to be an obstacle.
August 20, 2008
Transit Stimulus Bill Needs Co-Sponsors in Senate
Two weeks ago, Hillary Clinton introduced a bill in the Senate to provide emergency funds for local transit agencies. Since then, the rest of the delegation from New York and New Jersey appears to have lined up behind the legislation. "We believe that Senators Schumer, Lautenberg, and Menendez support it," says Larry Hanley of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which helped to push the bill forward in both chambers of Congress (the House passed it in June). That leaves 56 votes to achieve a filibuster-proof Senate majority.
August 15, 2008
Energy Policy Straight Talk From Elizabeth Kolbert
Back in his Straight Talkin' days Senator John McCain acknowledged that offshore drilling wasn't a viable solution for America's energy troubles. In 2003, he broke with the Bush Administration and co-introduced legislation to reduce carbon emissions, by, in effect, imposing a price on them. McCain had a reputation for being a politician who told the American people the truth, even when the truth wasn't something that people particularly wanted to hear. But the past few weeks have seen a fundamental change in McCain, writes Elizabeth Kolbert in an outstanding piece in this week's New Yorker:
August 6, 2008