Oil
Obama’s Clean Energy Policy Elevates Efficient Cars Over Efficient Modes
It has a nice ring to it: using oil and gas revenue to shift transportation off oil and gas dependence. President Obama announced a plan to do just that on Friday -- but the details of his plan are disappointing if you want to see the conversation on clean transportation go beyond cars.
March 18, 2013
Interior Secretary Nominee Is a Friend to Cyclists — and Oil Drillers?
President Obama's choice for Interior Secretary could be an unexpected breath of fresh air for cyclists. Sally Jewell, nominated to the position yesterday, is the CEO of adventure outfitter REI, a business-minded conservationist -- and a veteran of the fossil fuel industry.
February 7, 2013
Not a Word About Transit in Obama Jobs Plan
President Obama released a blueprint for his second term yesterday, a 20-page booklet focused on job creation [PDF]. Let's be clear: This came from his campaign machine, not the White House.
October 24, 2012
What Went Unsaid at Last Night’s Debate
At last night's presidential debate in Nassau County, the best opening for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to talk about transportation policy came when undecided voter Phillip Tricolla asked the following question of the President:
October 17, 2012
NRDC Gives Gas Consumption Maps a Helpful Revision
The overwhelming sentiment that greeted our story on the gas consumption maps the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club put out last week went something like this: These are almost useful. Just about everyone agreed that looking at total fuel consumption per county wasn’t very informative without weighing that number against population.
October 5, 2012
Which Counties Have the Biggest Oil Addiction Problem? We Still Don’t Know.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “What I really need is a map showing what U.S. counties use the most gasoline, so that I can target my sustainability efforts there?” Funny, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club were thinking the same thing. What they came up with gets us partway there.
September 28, 2012
Mitt Romney’s Other Running Mate: The Fossil Fuel Industry
Last month, Mitt Romney held a $50,000 a plate lunch with major donors in Houston. What does a $50,000 lunch buy you besides steak and shrimp? Well, according to a new report from the New York Times, it'll buy you the presidential contender's ear. And a lot of folks from the energy industry are eager for that opportunity.
September 14, 2012
Romney Energy Plan: More Drilling, More Oil Dependence
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney unveiled his energy plan today [PDF]. The idea is to break our addiction to foreign oil -- by increasing our addiction to domestic oil. If by "domestic" we mean Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
August 23, 2012
Menendez Launches Big Oil Subsidy Tracker
As we head into the Memorial Day holiday, and move from one congressional recess to another [PDF], Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has given us something to do with our extra free time: Watch taxpayer subsidies to big oil climb higher and higher.
May 25, 2012
Political Jockeying Over Gas Prices Is Divorced From Reality
Though many transportation reformers, economists and environmentalists would say that gas prices aren’t nearly high enough to disincentivize single-occupancy-vehicle use and to pay for the external harms, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill take it for granted that gas prices are too damn high. In fact, it's one of the very, very few things that they do agree on these days. And it's a message that resonates with their constituents, who are suffering under a sluggish economy.
May 4, 2012