Climate Change
Basics
What Will Our Future Be Like If We Don’t Change How We Get Around?
How will Americans get around in the year 2030? A recent report from the RAND Corporation lays out two "plausible futures" developed though a "scenario analysis" and vetted by outside experts. While RAND takes a decidedly agnostic stance toward the implications of each scenario, the choice that emerges is still pretty stark.
December 5, 2013
“Bike-Washing” the Keystone Pipeline [Updated]
Houston-based architecture firm SWA Group has heads spinning today: Is their proposal to build a bikeway next to the Keystone Pipeline pure satire or a serious attempt to "bike-wash" the most reviled fossil fuel distribution project of our day?
October 29, 2013
Obama’s Climate Speech: Mostly Mum on Transportation
President Obama announced a sweeping package of measures to address climate change today. But with a couple of exceptions, he was largely silent on the 27 percent of carbon emissions that come from the transportation sector.
June 25, 2013
Will Big Highway Projects Have to Consider Climate Change?
Since 1970, the National Environmental Protection Act has required federal agencies to consider the impacts of their projects on air, water, and soil pollution -- but not on climate change.
March 21, 2013
Will Driverless Cars Add Another Color to Australia’s Heat Maps?
Here's the big news of the day: Autonomous cars are making a big splash at the Consumer Electronics Show right now. Audi is testing its self-driving cars on Nevada roads. Google's already done it in California. Toyota and Lexus are getting ready too.
January 10, 2013
Weathering the Next 108-Year Storm
Deron Lovaas is the Federal Transportation Policy Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. This article is cross-posted from his blog on Switchboard.
November 2, 2012
The Connection That Can’t Be Ignored: Sandy and Climate Change
If there's any good news to come out of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, it's that political leaders and the press are actually talking about climate change. At the end of a long campaign season with barely a mention of the issue, it's a relief to hear some sane discussion of the issue based on the premise that global warming is real.
November 1, 2012
International Funders Shift Investments Toward Sustainable Transportation
If you think the United States is doing a bad job shifting toward sustainable transportation, take a look at the developing world. The places with the most to lose from auto-oriented development are doubling down on it -- to the enormous detriment of their citizens, especially the poorest.
August 13, 2012
Civil Rights Groups Rally Against Threat to Environmental Review
A coalition of civil rights and environmental groups is crying foul over proposed changes to an important environmental protection as lawmakers attempt to hammer out a last minute deal on the transportation bill.
June 21, 2012
Patent Troll Sues Transit Agencies For Releasing Real-Time Transit Info
Lloyd Dobbler, John Cusack’s generation-defining character in Say Anything, notably said, “I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career.”
April 16, 2012