Elana Schor
Recent Posts
GOP Senators Protest Evaluating the Climate Impacts of Transport Projects
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The 40-year-old National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), which requires the federal government to evaluate the environmental consequences of future projects, is a valuable tool for local residents and green groups that work to defeat highway expansions — but as Streetsblog L.A. noted earlier this year, NEPA can be an equally valuable tool for opponents of […]
Senate Climate Bill Triples the House’s Investments in Clean Transportation
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The Senate environment committee released new details of its climate change legislation over the weekend, including the share of "emissions allowances" — the revenue generated by regulating carbon in a cap-and-trade system — that the bill would reserve for various sectors of the American economy. Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the climate […]
Obama: Climate Pessimism More Dangerous Than Climate Deniers
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In a speech much anticipated by those tracking the D.C. environmental debate, President Obama today took on opponents of congressional action on climate change, decrying "naysayers" who "make cynical claims" that ignore scientific evidence of the harm caused by emissions. (Photo: BusinessWeek) But "far more dangerous" than the rhetoric of climate deniers or skeptics, Obama […]
Takeaway From This Week’s EPA Hearing: Fuel Efficiency is a Money-Maker
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A major step towards more fuel-efficient U.S. vehicles is being taken today in Detroit, where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. DOT are holding their first in a series of public hearings on the new emissions standards the Obama administration released in May. These GM executives long resisted higher fuel-efficiency standards. Now a […]
GOPers Re-Name the Climate Bill Again: Now It’s a ‘Gas Tax’!
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Seven months after first trying to re-brand congressional climate change legislation as an "energy tax," Senate Republicans were back at it today with a new report and op-ed that attempts to expose the climate bill as a "$3.6 trillion gas tax." Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) (Photo: GOP Lounge) Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and […]
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: California Doing the Most
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As Congress continues to debate climate change legislation that would include energy efficiency measures, states are already making progress in reducing the consumption of vehicles, utilities, and other fuel users. Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, where new building energy efficiency codes were recently adopted. (Photo: About.com) The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) singled out the […]
Think Tank Responds to Report on Hidden Costs of Fossil Fuels: Yawn
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The National Academy of Science’s new report on the hidden health costs of U.S. reliance on fossil fuels has generated high-profile media coverage around the country, most of it focusing on the $62 billion annual estimate for coal rather than the $56 billion projection for vehicles. (Photo: SILive.com) But Greenwire’s write-up is particularly interesting, if […]
New Study Shows $56 Billion in Hidden Health Damage from Autos
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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. (Photo: MetroDCLiving.com) In […]
Transport Debate Still Stalled As Oberstar Decries ‘Lack of Political Will’
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Halfway through the extra month that Congress gave itself to resolve a long-simmering dispute over funding the nation’s transportation system, Democratic leaders remain deadlocked over whether — and how long — to wait before debating a broad reform of federal infrastructure policy. The Transportation Secretary and the president have a stalemate on their hands. (Photo: […]
The Oversight Gap in Team Obama’s High-Speed Rail Plan
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The White House’s economic stimulus law included several large new spending programs, from $4 billion for broadband to $2.4 billion for electric car batteries. But nothing has aroused so much interest — and criticism — as the $8 billion for American high-speed rail. (Photo: Streetsblog LA) Under the circumstances, one might think that lawmakers would […]
Obama Ally Breaks With White House on Timing of New Transport Bill
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Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the upper chamber of Congress and a close ally of the president, broke with the White House yesterday and called for a new long-term transportation bill to pass by early next year — not after the Obama administration’s preferred 18-month delay. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin […]
Senate Climate Bill Delayed Yet Again As Obama Takes Nobel
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As my colleague Ryan wrote earlier, the congressional climate change bill no represents the most meaningful path for urbanists, and advocates for clean transportation in general, to make their voices heard in the national debate. President Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize today. (Photo: AP) So it bears repeating that the bill is losing momentum, […]