Public Health
Basics
Study: Even in Car-Centric Atlanta, Transport Reform is Health Reform
The connection between transportation reform -- an emphasis on land use that makes biking and walking as viable as auto travel for routine trips -- and health reform is one that's not often made, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration.
February 16, 2010
First Lady Launches Childhood Obesity Push With Nod to Biking & Walking
First Lady Michelle Obama took to the mikes this afternoon to kick off a national campaign to combat childhood obesity, emphasizing new initiatives to promote biking and walking alongside a strong focus on healthier food options in schools.
February 9, 2010
New Study Shows $56 Billion in Hidden Health Damage from Autos
Transportation's effects on public health are rarely discussed by policy-makers, but they remain very real -- and the National Research Council (NRC) put a number on them today, reporting that cars and trucks have about $56 billion in "hidden" health costs that are not reflected in the price of oil or electricity.
October 19, 2009
Obama Adviser Proves it: Transportation Reform is Health Reform
Over the summer, Streetsblog Capitol Hill published a riff on the rhetorical stylings of White House budget director Peter Orszag that coined a new phrase: "Transportation reform is health reform."
October 15, 2009
Could Ending the ‘War on Drugs’ Help Ease Urban Budget Crises?
Despite talk of a nascent economic recovery, the brutal toll exacted on state budgets by the recession continues -- with palpable consequences for transit riders and already lower-income urbanites. Could the cure for cities' fiscal woes be a dramatic shift in drug policy?
August 17, 2009
New Report on Transpo-Health Dynamic Makes Case for National Targets
The link between transportation and public health, explored on this page days ago, is plumbed further in a report released today by PolicyLink and the Prevention Institute with an introduction by Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House transport committee.
July 21, 2009
An Orszag-ian Principle: Transportation Reform is Health Reform
During the Washington budget debate earlier this year, a phrase widely attributed to White House budget director Peter Orszag was rolling off many a reporter's keyboard: "Health reform is entitlement reform."
July 17, 2009
Blumenauer and Co. Face Off With Utility Industry Over Clean Water
As anyone who's tried to get around during a water main break knows, good old H2O has its own infrastructure and its own role in local transportation.
July 15, 2009
Taking GOPer Bachmann a Bit Too Seriously
Back when the Senate kicked off its health care debate, Republicans tested out a new line of attack against health committee chairman Edward Kennedy's (D-MA) draft bill: Its investment in encouraging walking and biking amounts to inexcusable government waste.
July 10, 2009
GOP’s New Attack on Health Care Reform Bill: It Promotes Walking!
Despite a growing awareness among conservatives that walking and biking are causes worth backing, Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to condemn bike-ped programs as wasteful "pork". The GOP's latest potshots at sustainable transportation come during debate over a health care bill that focuses mainly on insurance and hospitals, but also includes a public health grant program aimed at encouraging exercise.
June 16, 2009