Your Unlikely Reasonable Voice of the Day

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is not known as a friend of green transportation — and that’s putting it mildly.

young_snarl2_big.jpgGOP Rep. Don Young (AK) showed a flash of reason today. (Photo: Progressive Alaska)

During his reign as House transportation committee chairman, Young passed a $283 billion bill that helped bloat the federal bureaucracy while steering disproportionate cash to highways; stretched the limits of the law by sending $10 million to widen a Florida highway that no one wanted widened; spearheaded his home state’s "bridge to nowhere"; and declared pride in these dubious achievements.

But this afternoon, Young showed a glimmer of the political courage that led him to break from GOP orthodoxy in calling for a $1/gallon gas tax increase. Referencing the mounting clash between the transportation committee and the Obama administration, Young said:

This is the beginning of a long and arduous process. For those of you in the audience who have interest in this, it’s up to you to generate heat on the administration and the Senate.

Good point. In fact, the House could be added to that list.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Transport Bill Earmark to Help Road Project in Palin’s Hometown

|
Sarah Palin is no longer the governor of Alaska, but a project long championed by the 2008 vice-presidential nominee — and staunch earmark critic — stands to benefit from an earmark inserted into the transportation spending bill that cleared Congress over the weekend. Sarah Palin, then Alaska governor, with husband Todd at the Wasilla, AK, […]

Today’s Headlines

|
Boxer: Senate considering breaking up its jobs bill into several pieces, with an infrastructure provision that would bail out the highway trust fund for this year (Dow Jones) Conservative Rep. Don Young (R-AK), architect of the 2005 federal transportation bill, admits that Alaska’s plans for a gas tax suspension would endanger its financial support from […]

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 — […]

Amendment to Restore Bike/Ped Programs in House Transpo Bill Fails

|
An amendment that would restore the popular Safe Routes to School and Transportation Enhancements programs to the House GOP’s transportation bill has just been defeated in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by a vote of 29-27. Supporters of safer biking and walking sent thousands of messages to Congress supporting this amendment in the short time […]