Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
A couple of weeks ago I noted some of President Obama's statements about transportation and land-development which showed that he cares about, and understands, important but oft-overlooked policies that have a huge influence on how much oil the nation...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Ah, Washington. This is a lovely town, but it has its quirks. When, for example, taxes are the topic. Sen. Russell Long of Louisiana had a funny saying about the national aversion to the sticky issue of generating revenue: "Don't tax me,...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
The amendment I wrote about just a few hours ago was just passed by voice vote! That means little or no opposition against it. This is a good augury for public transportation, as I imply in the statement we just sent...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
As I’ve written about on these pages and in the Huffington Post, the transportation provisions in the recovery bill need to tilt more towards saving oil and cutting global warming pollution, meaning public transportation and rail. I’m not the only...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Walking through a checklist of items needed for my trek to downtown D.C. from the suburb of College Park (by bicycle, no less!) for the Inauguration tomorrow, I keep reminding myself of a fact of life: After the dust has...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
Heading home for the holidays, lawmakers will surely mull over the heated debate for an auto industry bailout. Regardless of how they feel about the outcome, at least it was discussed in broad daylight. Executives testified twice, submitted plans...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil , U.S. Law and Policy
"We built a really inefficient environment with the greatest efficiency ever known to man." -- Andy Karsner, Asst Sec for Energy and Efficiency and Renewable Energy at Department of Energy, as quoted in Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded Driving...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil
As the media picks up on the remarkable events in the Senate earlier tonight, it's worth putting this vote in context. The fuel economy program was put in place in 1975, in reaction to the oil embargoes that many still...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil , U.S. Law and Policy
Heads are still spinning here.This transpired in just the past hour: After a press conference announcing a compromise on fuel economy standards, featuring enough Republican supporters to protect it from an assault led by Senators Pryor, Levin, Bond and Voinovich,...continued→
Posted by Deron Lovaas in Moving Beyond Oil , U.S. Law and Policy
The Senate is debating the energy bill again, and fuel economy is likely to come up. Amazingly, Senator Barbara Mikulski of my home state of Maryland just announced her position, which as the Washington Post pointed out is a key...continued→
