Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Prospects for Oberstar’s Transportation Reauthorization Dimming
House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) has been fighting the good fight in trying to keep the hopes for a 2009 transportation bill alive, but the odds appear to be dimming by the day.
July 23, 2009
White Roof, Green Roof: Cities Share Climate Solutions on the Hill
When Energy Secretary Steven Chu observed that simply painting roofs white would go a long way in reducing emissions, he was mocked by conservatives but hailed by advocates who have long understood the power of small-scale actions to mitigate the warming climate.
July 22, 2009
Livable Streets Win: Concealed Weapons Amendment Falls in the Senate
Debate over the incendiary urban policy issue of gun possession came to a head today in the Senate, as a proposal to let individuals carry concealed firearms into states with strong weapons limits -- such as New York and Illinois -- was defeated by a narrow margin.
July 22, 2009
Cardin & Carper Bullish on Transit’s Prospects in Senate Climate Bill
Addressing a climate change forum this morning, two Democrats on the Senate environment committee said they are pushing for transit and other green modes of transport to get 10 percent of the revenue generated by the upcoming Senate bill regulating carbon emissions.
July 22, 2009
Oberstar to Request $3B Patch for Highway Trust Fund
House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) will ask his revenue-minded colleagues on the Ways and Means panel tomorrow to approve $3 billion to keep the nation's highway trust fund afloat until September 30, according to a report in today's CQ.
July 22, 2009
Government Still Taking Hands-Off Approach to Cell Phoning While Driving
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was prepared six years ago to seek broad limits on cell phone use by drivers -- with or without a hands-free device -- but shelved its plans for fear of alienating Congress and chat-loving voters, the New York Times reported today.
July 21, 2009
New Report on Transpo-Health Dynamic Makes Case for National Targets
The link between transportation and public health, explored on this page days ago, is plumbed further in a report released today by PolicyLink and the Prevention Institute with an introduction by Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House transport committee.
July 21, 2009
Americans Still Use a Lot of Gas
The release of the Department of Energy's Transportation Energy Data Book is a transportation stat geek's dream -- 300-plus pages of numbers detailing the way the country burns this or that moving people and freight from city to city.
July 21, 2009
Senate Agrees on $26.8 Billion Highway Trust Fund Rescue
The Senate took a major step forward last night in its battle with the House over transportation funding, releasing a plan to give $26.8 billion to the dwindling highway trust fund and -- perhaps most importantly, for the long term -- to restore the fund's ability to keep the interest it earns.
July 21, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Federal highway safety regulators knew that cell phone use while driving — even on a hands-free device — was a massive safety risk, but they hid it from Congress (NYT) LaHood’s stimulus tour stops in Sarasota, Florida (Herald-Trib) Don’t fret, New Yorkers: The $8 billion Hudson transit tunnel is on track for federal money whether … Continued
July 21, 2009