John Hennessy III,
P.E.
OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Within the reinvestment spending of the Recovery Act, over $100 billion is invested in innovative and transformative programs. This report explores four areas within those innovative programs in which game-changing breakthroughs are being sought, and in some cases, new American industries are being born.
The American High-Speed Rail Alliance has launched Action for American High-Speed Rail, a grassroots advocacy center with the goal of unifying “all advocacy efforts that promote a comprehensive national high speed rail network.”
View this complete post...PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
By Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
Most schools are out for a summer break after final grades were toted home in students’ backpacks throughout the country. Around the same time, America got its infrastructure report card — and the results aren’t good.
Imagine sitting around the kitchen table reviewing Junior’s grades. His last report card shows a cumulative average of D. As a family, parent, teacher or community, wouldn’t we do all we could to try to help this student improve? Of course we would.
It’s the same with the state of the country’s infrastructure. Consider some of these “grades,” as reported in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ most recent infrastructure report card: transit, D; energy, D+; dams, D; bridges, C; aviation, D; drinking water, D-; hazardous waste, D; schools, D; and wastewater, D-.
I’d say this defines our infrastructure situation as one in crisis.
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POLICY MATTERS OHIO
America once led the world in production of rail cars, buses and other forms of transportation capital stock. As national attention shifted to highways and air transit in the second half of the twentieth century, investment in rail and public transit dwindled. New interest sparked by climate change and the dangers of dependency on fossil fuel and foreign oil have brought attention to pent-up demand and investment needs in this sector. National investments to repair existing stock and implement plans already in the works would provide sufficient demand to start rebuilding the public transit manufacturing sector…
25 x ’25
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – also called the stimulus package – included $37.5 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. However, the expiration of a critical production tax credit has depressed the production of biodiesel from soybeans and other farm products, and Congress has not yet adopted comprehensive energy and climate legislation that will establish a long-term national energy plan to guide America’s transition to a cleaner and more secure energy future.
John Horsley is Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). From 1993 to 1999 he served as Associate Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation. A native of the Northwest, Horsley was elected to five terms as County Commissioner in Kitsap County, a community just west of Seattle. He is Past President of the National Association of Counties, and was founding Chairman of the Rebuild America Coalition.
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UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
Existing modes of transportation currently consume more than two-thirds of our nation’s oil supply and are responsible for nearly a third of our carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, we need to make tomorrow’s transportation infrastructure more energy efficient, more environmentally sustainable, and less reliant on foreign oil. Future federal transportation investments should address energy, economic, and climate concerns through reforms and programs that emphasize sustainable transportation environments.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS
Expanding the ability of the transportation system to meet the needs of the traveling public is critical to the health of our economy and the quality of life of our citizens. Meeting future needs will require a balanced approach, which preserves what has been built to date, improves system performance, and adds substantial capacity in highways, transit, freight rail and intercity passenger rail.
Congressman James Oberstar represents Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. Now in his 17th term, he is the longest serving member of Congress in Minnesota history. In the 34 years he has served in Congress, Jim has become known as the body’s leading expert on transportation policy. From 1989 through 1995, he chaired the Subcommittee on Aviation, passing important legislation that has led to better maintenance and safer aircraft. Later, as the ranking democrat of the full Transportation Committee, he worked in a bipartisan manner to take the Highway Trust Fund off budget to ensure that gas taxes are used to fix roads and bridges and not to make the budget deficit look smaller. In January 2007, Jim was elected chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He is also the first member of Congress to have served both as a committee’s administrator and its chairman.
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SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION
In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created two programs that have helped the solar industry create U.S. jobs and deploy technologies: (1) a cash grant to be used in lieu of tax credits for renewable energy projects (TGP); and (2) tax credits for renewable energy manufacturing investments (MITC). Although the U.S. unemployment level remains high, the TGP is set to expire in December 2010 and the MITC funding allocation has been completely exhausted.
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