Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Energy

Electrification in the Climate Bill: Thinking Bigger Than a Car

By Elana Schor | Oct 14, 2009 | No Comments

At today’s Senate energy committee hearing on climate change, there was much talk about electricity — how it could be generated under a cap-and-trade system and how prices could remain within consumers’ reach even as the nation begins to put a price on carbon. An electrified rail line. (Photo: Metrolinx) In fact, Sen. Mary Landrieu […]

Senate Climate Bill Released With Much Fanfare, Little Focus on Transport

By Elana Schor | Sep 30, 2009 | 2 Comments

Flanked by fellow Democrats, members of the military, and a crowd hoisting signs with buzzwords like "clean energy" and "green jobs," Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) today released the first draft of their legislation to curb U.S. emissions and combat climate change. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), center, and John Kerry (D-MA), left, […]

LaHood Praises NYC But Shrugs at Transport Reform to Empower Cities

By Elana Schor | Sep 24, 2009 | No Comments

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised the New York City area’s clean-transportation strategy today in a speech to the region’s metropolitan planning organization (MPO), promising a stronger focus on urban priorities even as he all but ruled out two reforms long sought by the nation’s cities. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (Photo: Zimbio) LaHood’s speech to the […]

New Report: 10% Transit Growth Would Help Meet House Climate Target

By Elana Schor | Sep 22, 2009 | 1 Comment

(Image: U.S. EIA via Climate Progress) A 10 percent annual increase in U.S. transit ridership would reduce CO2 emissions by 180 million tons each year, taking the nation halfway to the target set by the House climate change bill within three years, according to a report [PDF] released today by Environment America and the Coalition […]

Fly on the Wall Alert: Obama, LaHood, and Tom Friedman Tee Off

By Elana Schor | Sep 21, 2009 | 2 Comments

In yesterday’s New York Times, columnist Tom Friedman published an impassioned plea for American policy-makers to reconsider their knee-jerk opposition to raising the federal gas tax or debating a carbon tax to set a more appropriate price for energy use. Friedman writes: The president on the links. (Photo: Gawker) According to the energy economist Phil […]

The New White House Fuel Efficiency Rule: Count the Loopholes

By Elana Schor | Sep 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

The final fuel-efficiency rule released by the Obama administration this morning includes what some lobbyists have nicknamed "the German provision," giving automakers that sell less than 400,000 vehicles in the U.S. an exemption for 25 percent of their fleet. GM CEO Fritz Henderson’s company can earn fuel-efficiency "credits" for its Chevy Volt. (Photo: IB Times) […]

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