Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor
Apr 30, 2010

The details on that post-Toyota auto safety reform bill that Congress is drafting (Free Press)

LaHood speaks out on distracted driving in a HuffPost op-ed

Sen. Graham (R-SC) tells Ezra Klein that White House’s vehement rejection of carbon fees as a "gas tax" helped push him away from the negotiating table on climate change

Green Buildings Council, Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council release a new guide to sustainable neighborhood design (USGBC Press)

LaHood advises North Carolina’s various metro planning orgs to "speak with one voice" in order to get a greater shot at winning federal transportation funding (W-S Journal)

Could Pennsylvania make a fourth attempt at winning federal support for new tolls on I-80? (Trib-Review)

Sen. Voinovich (R-OH) continues to step up his calls for a gas tax increase (Dispatch)

Treasury Dept. defends its fuzzy math on General Motors’ bailout loan repayment (SF Chron Blogs)

American Lung Association reports that six in 10 individuals living with polluted air (AP)

Oberstar takes aim at EPA for blog post on the benefits of vegetarianism (Star-Trib Blogs)

Meanwhile, the EPA is evaluating the new, possibly-carbon-fee-having Senate climate bill … but they’re not using actual legislative language (MoJones Blog)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Mica Won’t Say Where Transpo Funding Will Come From; LaHood Defends TE

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 14, 2011

House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) said this morning that getting permission from Republican leadership to find more revenues to fund the transportation bill was a “major breakthrough” but still won’t say where the money will come from. Mica told an audience at a Washington Post-sponsored forum on transportation that passing yet another extension […]

Even the Godfather of Rail~Volution Wouldn’t Raise the Gas Tax Right Now

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 19, 2011

At Rail~Volution yesterday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) — also known as the godfather of the “rail~volution” — said even he wouldn’t raise the gas tax right now. “We should make some adjustments to a gas tax that hasn’t increased since 1993,” Blumenauer said. “Half the people think the gas tax goes up every year.” He […]

Transport and the Tea Party: How Conservatives Talk About the Gas Tax

By Elana Schor | Mar 25, 2010

The passage of health care legislation this week, while elating Democrats, has proven an equally potent motivator for conservatives advocates of states’ rights. Appearing on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) was asked about the viability of the legal challenge to the health bill filed by 14 mostly conservative attorneys […]

Alongside LaHood in L.A., Boxer Talks Timing for the Next Transport Bill

By Damien Newton | Feb 22, 2010

Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA), at podium, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at her right, joined Metro bus repair staff and transit officials on Friday. (Photo: LA Streetsblog via Flickr) Friday was billed as a day to discuss the next long-term federal transportation legislation, but the day turned in to a stirring defense […]

What Voinovich Wants From the White House: A New Politics for Transport

By Elana Schor | Feb 25, 2010

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), a longtime supporter of quick action on a new federal transportation bill, helped give Democrats a major victory this week when he voted for the Senate’s jobs measure after securing a promise for transportation votes in the upper chamber this year. Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) (Photo: CNN) But viewing Voinovich’s move […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor | Dec 3, 2009

More coverage of yesterday’s release of transit and road projects "ready to go" for Congress’ jobs bill (WSJ, Det. News, WashPost, Free Press, Politics Daily) A crucial footnote in the debate over using bailout money on infrastructure: $1 for TARP isn’t $1 for budgeting purposes (Ezra Klein) Maryland governor cheers the prospects for a new […]