Streetsblog Capitol Hill
EPA Chief Urges a More Urban Environmentalism to Fight Climate Change
With Congress returning to work next week after a month away from Washington, a national dialogue long dominated by health care is about to open to the long-awaited Senate debate on climate change.
August 31, 2009
Senator Dukakis? What Kennedy’s Loss Could Mean for Transport Policy
As the nation mourns the loss of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), a discussion has begun over how to fill his outsized shoes, both in Massachusetts' Senate seat and atop the Senate health committee -- two vacancies that could have notable consequences for transportation policy-making.
August 31, 2009
Toward a Positive Argument for High-Speed Rail
In recent weeks, I've been busily making what you might call a negative argument for high-speed rail -- pointing out the many ways in which arguments against HSR are deficient. That's all well and good, but positive cases for HSR need to be made, as well.
August 28, 2009
The Power of Transit-Oriented Development
Back in the late 1970s, when Washington's Metrorail system first began operating in Arlington County, Virginia, the future of Arlington and other old, inner suburbs was far from certain. Across the Potomac, the District of Columbia was suffering from depopulation, rapidly rising crime rates, and serious fiscal difficulties.
August 25, 2009
The Washington Post Features Rail Hack Job
This is the big problem with Ed Glaeser's New York Times posts purporting to analyze the costs and benefits of a high speed rail system.
August 24, 2009
Few Cries From Congress for a Second Resurrection of “Cash for Clunkers”
One day after the Obama administration announced it would end the "cash for clunkers" program for good, the auto-state lawmakers who championed its creation have largely aligned with the decision and refrained from pushing for a third installment of the taxpayer-subsidized auto-purchase rebates.
August 21, 2009
Know Your Transportation Lobbyists: The American Trucking Association
Earlier this week, we took a closer look at the congressional lobbying teams employed by the transport sector's biggest players, AASHTO and APTA. Today, it's time to meet the representatives of the American Trucking Association (ATA), which reported $1.32 million in lobbying spending during the first half of this year on its congressional disclosures -- more than AASHTO and APTA's combined K Street bills.
August 21, 2009
D.C. City Government Considers “Cash for Close-in Urban Living”
The nation's capital is proposing to use money from the Obama administration's economic stimulus law for a pilot program that would give grants of up to $3,000 for suburban commuters to move closer to transit or their place of work.
August 21, 2009
Jindal’s Not Alone: Guvs Who Shunned Stimulus Warm to High-Speed Rail
Think Progress took note yesterday of a change of heart from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who blasted the economic stimulus law for its $8 billion in "wasteful spending" on high-speed rail -- only to later seek $300 million of that money for a rail link between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
August 20, 2009
Stimulus Spotlight: Oregon’s Solar Highway
Washington's normally frenetic pace slows down in August, when humid
weather and the absence of Congress combine to give the capital some
recharging time.
August 20, 2009