Today’s Headlines

  • Mark your calendar, ’cause the Senate climate bill hearings start on Oct. 27 (Politico)
  • Some states are declining to post road signs that note when projects are being funded by federal stimulus money (NYT)
  • Breaking down the Kerry-Graham op-ed on climate cooperation — is it really a "game-changer" or just a sign of unnecessary compromises to come? (NRDC)
  • New report finds that oil demand in industrialized nations peaked back in 2005, but the developing world is still getting thirsty for more fossil fuels (NYT)
  • LaHood promises to send help with the service cuts D-Day facing Detroit bus riders (Free Press)
  • Honolulu gets federal approval to start preliminary engineering on a new $5.5 billion commuter rail line (Advertiser)
  • Dallas is using $2 million in federal stimulus money to install solar-powered streetlights, with impressive annual electricity savings (Morn News)
  • Bill McKibben reminds the president: You can’t negotiate a compromise deal with the planet (TNR)
  • Michigan could become the first home of "green highways," retooled roads reserved for electric vehicles, bikes, and other cleaner modes of transport (Time)
  • The "bridge in a backpack" that you read about first here on Streetsblog Cap Hill is hitting the big time (NYT)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Should a Climate Bill Even Try to Fight Sprawl?

By Elana Schor |
The potential for a cap-and-trade climate bill to set aside significant amounts of money for reforming local land use and transportation planning is often touted by Democrats, environmental groups, and this particular Streetsblogger. Should the approach California used in SB 375 (being signed into law above) be applied to a congressional cap-and-trade climate bill? (Photo: […]

Adding More Transportation to the Climate Change Mix

By Elana Schor |
…How about this one? (Photo: Wellsy’s World) Is this senator gettable for the climate bill? (Photo: Washington Post) Nate Silver’s new analysis of the state of play on climate change in the Senate makes a convincing argument that a carbon cap-and-trade system can become law this year. In fact, it raises the question of whether […]

Senate’s Next Climate Hearing to Feature Big Oil-Backed Critics

By Elana Schor |
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) may have voted against the Senate environment committee’s climate bill yesterday, but The New Republic picked up on some pretty optimistic (for Washington) rhetoric from him on the issue this morning: (Photo: Baucus ’08) "There’s no doubt that this Congress is going to pass climate change legislation," he […]
Nobody wants this.

Mayors Seek Transit Funds To Fight Climate Change

By Aaron Short |
A coalition of mayors wants Congress to declare a "Marshall Plan" against climate change by spending on mass transit to curb air pollution in their cities. The mayors of Atlanta, Honolulu, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Portland, Ore., implored senators at a climate hearing on Capitol Hill last week to invest in renewable-energy programs in order to create jobs and fund bus and rail systems, with the goal of weening people off gas-polluting vehicles.