Barbara Boxer

Will Barbara Boxer Stand Up for Sustainable Transportation?

Behind the scenes, we're hearing a lot of sustainable transportation advocates sounding alarms over California Senator Barbara Boxer these days. As chair of the Senate's Environment and Public Works committee, Boxer is going to play a critical role in this year's federal transportation funding effort. Environmentalists want to see transportation policies and funding formulas that encourage reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But the highway lobby, AASHTO and the EPW committee's ranking Republican and vocal climate change denier, Senator James Inhofe, don't want anything get in the way of their pork-tastic federal highway projects. Environmentalists have come away from meetings and conversations with Boxer and her staff with the sinking sensation that she's going to cave to Inhofe and friends when it comes time to write the transportation bill.

By Aaron Naparstek

3:17 PM EDT on May 6, 2009

Behind the scenes, we’re hearing a lot of sustainable transportation advocates sounding alarms over California Senator Barbara Boxer these days. As chair of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works committee, Boxer is going to play a critical role in this year’s federal transportation funding effort. Environmentalists want to see transportation policies and funding formulas that encourage reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But the highway lobby, AASHTO and the EPW committee’s ranking Republican and vocal climate change denier, Senator James Inhofe, don’t want anything get in the way of their pork-tastic federal highway projects. Environmentalists have come away from meetings and conversations with Boxer and her staff with the sinking sensation that she’s going to cave to Inhofe and friends when it comes time to write the transportation bill.

Over at Streetsblog San Francisco,
Matthew Roth has the first installment of what will surely be an ongoing story…

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.