I'm the Federal Transportation Policy Director for NRDC and have worked at the intersection of transportation, energy and environmental policy for 20 years. While here I have been chief strategist for advancing bipartisan oil savings legislation as well as renewal of the nation's transportation law (in 2005, and right now). Prior to my decade at NRDC I had the privilege of working, among other places, for the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club and Maryland's Department of Environment. I am a graduate of the University of Virginia who grew up as a foreign service kid in nations including Honduras, Panama and Niger.
Posted May 11, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
The transportation and energy debate has suffered this past year. Analysts and industry types from Dan Yergin to the National Petroleum Council, and many others, have pointed breathlessly to methods developed by the industry (horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing) and consequent...continued→
Posted May 7, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
The authors of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study released last week must have been sniffing gas fumes when they drastically overestimated the effects of the proposed fuel economy standards on the Highway Trust Fund. The study claims that proposed changes...continued→
Posted May 3, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Did you see this eye-catching opinion piece about the polarization in Congress drawn from a new book by a couple of authors who wrote The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and How to Get it Back on Track (which is worth a...continued→
Posted April 26, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Here’s the state-of-play with the transportation bill:The Senate and House have appointed conferees from leadership and the various committees with jurisdiction over the bill, 14 from the Senate (8 Democrats and 6 Republicans) and 33 from the House (20 Republicans...continued→
Posted April 24, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
The Miller Center at the University of Virginia (full disclosure: my alma mater) rolled out its latest report, fittingly entitled “Are We There Yet? Selling America on Transportation” (pdf here). It’s based on a conversation they convened last fall, which...continued→
Posted April 18, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Here's the state-of-play with transportation law: The Senate passed a bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, MAP-21, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 74-22. This lobbed a nice easy proposal to the chamber on the other side...continued→
Posted March 29, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
It's simply inexcusable. Senators from both sides of the aisle worked hard to pass a two-year transportation bill, MAP-21. The President supports it. And in the House, it would very likely pass by a wide margin with Republican and Democratic...continued→
Posted March 28, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
In another of a series of reminders that this is an election year, Republican Budget Chairman Paul Ryan rolled out his bid for the fiscal year 2013 federal budget. Much of this is kabuki theater, as Taxpayers for Common Sense...continued→
Posted March 27, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
It's only Tuesday and already it's another disappointing week for transportation law. The House GOP has shelved its 90-day extension due to - surprise! - inability to get the votes to pass it. A 60-day extension is in the offing...continued→
Posted March 22, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
The Senate passed MAP-21 last week by a whopping 74-22 margin. This week several Congressmen introduced it as a House bill, and so far almost one-quarter of that chamber have jumped on a co-sponsors of the bill. President Obama and...continued→
Posted March 16, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
One of the pieces of good news about the transportation bill passed by the Senate this week is that it restored the tax break for employees who commute by public transportation. This is an important incentive, especially since the tax...continued→
Posted March 14, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
*UPDATE* A few hours ago the U.S. Senate passed MAP-21 by a large margin -- 74-22 -- which means we finally have a balanced, bipartisan transportation bill from Congress, which Secretary LaHood has said he favors meaning the President could sign...continued→
Posted March 12, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
The vote-a-rama on the Senate's transportation bill, which got underway last Thursday, continues tomorrow. The good news is that several harmful amendments were deflected last week, as NRDC President Frances Beinecke wrote about here. These were non-germane amendments that would...continued→
Posted March 8, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
As I sit here watching the Senate debate on the national transportation bill (a long series of debates and votes on amendments dubbed "vote-o-rama" by insiders), for the first time I see a glimmer of light at the end of...continued→
Posted March 6, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Everyone is fixated on the numerator in the price-per-gallon equation, especially the media and politicians. I would argue, fellow consumers, that they are dead wrong to turn a blind eye to the denominator. It calls out for attention, since we...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
