Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
“Dying is easy; parking is hard.” --Art Buchwald, in his last days. Last week, the California State Senate passed SB 518, authored by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and sponsored by NRDC. SB 518 aims to reduce traffic congestion, greenhouse...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
It’s nice to go to a hearing in Sacramento every once in awhile and find yourself in a cloud of nearly universal agreement. I was able to experience that rare feeling earlier today when the Senate Committee on Budget and...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Governor Schwarzenegger released his 2010-2011 State Budget on Friday, which includes a disastrous $1.5 billion cut to California’s transit agencies. Everyone knows the story: California’s state government is in the midst of a fiscal nightmare, and Californians themselves are facing...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Now, we already know that taking public transit is good for the environment, safer than car travel and even better for your health. But now we know something else: as far as putting people to work, investing in transit easily...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Last month, the California Department of Insurance finalized and released new regulations permitting California insurance companies to offer their customers the option of verifying the miles they drive. This has been called “Pay As You Drive Insurance,” even though there...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Last April, I wrote about SB 728, a bill from Long Beach State Senator Alan Lowenthal to expand compliance with California’s Parking Cash-Out program. I’m happy to report that the bill, co-sponsored by NRDC and Environmental Defense Fund, was signed...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
As Sacramento’s nearly $3.4 billion in cuts to California transit agencies over the past three years begin to take their toll, the California Transit Association has created an interactive “Aftermath” map of what’s happening on the ground. Despite overwhelming support...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
An article in Monday’s Orange County Register about the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Bus Ridership Drops 20% After Fare Increase, Service Cuts, teaches us some basics about market economics: offer people with limited means the chance to pay more...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Last week, President Obama signed the Supplemental Appropriations bill, which, readers of this blog will certainly remember, contains a provision permitting transit agencies to use 10% of their stimulus funding for operations. Up until the President’s signature, stimulus funds were...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
In a pair of revealing reports, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) tells us that: a) Despite lower gas prices, rising unemployment, the economic “situation,” and declining revenues, public transportation ridership is basically the same as it was last year...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
(Thanks to Allen Greenberg at the US Department of Transportation for this lead) (Updated as of October 9, 2009) In a previous post, I described Pay as You Drive Insurance (PAYD), its environmental benefits, and some of the progress made...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
In a previous post, I emphasized the need to provide operating funds for transit, not just capital funds. There’s no sense buying more buses when you’re laying off the people who drive them and repair them. But both the Federal...
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
NRDC’s Smart Growth Director, Kaid Benfield, first drew my attention to these fascinating new maps from Chicago’s Center for Neighborhood Technology. For dozens of American metropolitan areas, they’ve compiled census-block-by-census-block data on where CO2 emissions from driving are the highest....
Posted by Justin Horner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
As I’ve posted repeatedly, for almost a year-and-a-half, Americans generally, and Californians in particular, have been driving less. This is a really big deal: there have been times where the rate of growth has been faster or slower, but there...
