Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Energy

Inhofe: California is Dictating to Feds on Auto Fuel Efficiency

By Elana Schor | Mar 22, 2010 | 2 Comments

The senior Republican on the Senate environment panel has criticized the House transportation bill for strengthening federal involvement at the expense of states — but when it comes to last year’s agreement to raise national fuel-efficiency standards, Sen. Jim Inhofe (OK) is making the opposite argument, accusing the White House of letting one state dictate […]

Environmental Group Offers Congress a Map to Cleaner Freight

By Elana Schor | Mar 16, 2010 | 2 Comments

The federal government can reap significant pollution-reduction benefits by focusing on a national freight plan that replaces older diesel equipment with newer, cleaner-burning train cars while building out regional networks more efficiently, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said yesterday in a new report [PDF]. Freight rail in Chicago, home of the stimulus-funded CREATE freight project. […]

Study: Clean-Car Subsidies Alone Can’t Meet White House’s Climate Goals

By Elana Schor | Mar 9, 2010 | No Comments

Government subsidies for hybrid and electric cars, while "politically seductive," will fail to achieve the Obama administration’s national pollution-reduction goals if they are not coupled with a significant increase in fuel prices, according to a new study by Harvard University researchers. (Photo: Pop and Politics) The team at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International […]

Two Troubling Transportation Numbers for the Obama Administration

By Elana Schor | Feb 4, 2010 | 1 Comment

Today brought news of two grim transportation numbers from the Obama administration: 2 and $53 million. Atlanta’s Metro won a share of the emissions-cutting transit grants that the White House proposes to cut next year. (Photo: Atlanta Metblogs) The first figure is the percentage of federal transport stimulus contracts that have gone to disadvantaged and […]

EPA Strengthens Nitrogen Dioxide Rules for First Time in 35 Years

By Elana Schor | Jan 25, 2010 | No Comments

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new "one-hour standard" aimed at limiting Americans’ short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant created by cars, power plants, and other industrial sources. (Photo: TreeHugger) NO2, a main ingredient in smog, is linked to adverse respiratory health effects such as chronic asthma. In creating a new […]

Dodd and DeLauro Vow to Get Infrastructure Bank Done This Year

By Elana Schor | Jan 20, 2010 | 1 Comment

Supporters from every corner of the transportation universe joined Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) today at a press event aimed at jumpstarting a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), which the two Connecticut lawmakers vowed to steer to passage this year. Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), above, founded BAF with […]

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