John Hennessy III,
P.E.
BROOKINGS-ROCKEFELLER PROJECT ON STATE AND METROPOLITAN INNOVATION
A 21st century state transportation strategy that strengthens metropolitan America and is tightly linked to the vital elements of the next economy is critical for our nation to emerge from the rubble of the recession. Yet state transportation systems face two overarching challenges: they are both broke and broken.
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, PIPELINE SAFETY TRUST, SIERRA CLUB
Tar sands crude oil pipeline companies may be putting America’s public safety at risk. Increasingly, pipelines transporting tar sands crude oil into the United States are carrying diluted bitumen or “DilBit”—a highly corrosive, acidic, and potentially unstable blend of thick raw bitumen and volatile natural gas liquid condensate—raising risks of spills and damage to communities along their paths.Currently, tar sands crude oil pipeline companies are using conventional pipeline technology to transport this DilBit. These pipelines, which require higher operating temperatures and pressures to move the thick material through a pipe, appear to pose new and significant risks of pipeline leaks or ruptures due to corrosion, as well as problems with leak detection and safety problems from the unstable mixture.
THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
…two in three voters say that making improvements in infrastructure is very important, and most voters say that in its current state the nation’s transportation system is barely adequate. Voters seek better and safer roads and more public transportation options, widely agreeing that the United States would benefit from an expanded and improved public transportation system.
The President said he will make sure that his program will be “fully paid for” and pledged to work with Congress to ensure that funding for surface transportation does not increase the deficit. But these vague expressions of intent are hardly appropriate in a Budget message which traditionally was meant to offer Congress and the public concrete explanations on how the Administration intends to fund its proposed program initiatives.
View this complete post...WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
After two of the most difficult years in generations for our Nation’s economy, we are at the end of the first phase of the journey, back from the devastating recession. We no longer face the collapse of our financial system or the start of a second Great Depression. Swift and decisive action has turned the tide, and the Nation’s economy is recovering.
CERES
The report finds that investments driven by the EPA’s two new air quality rules will create nearly 1.5 million jobs, or nearly 300,000 jobs a year on average over the next five years – and at a critical moment for a struggling economy. The end product will be an upgraded, cleaner American industry, along with good paying jobs and better health for the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
“As President Obama said in his State of the Union, there are key places where we cannot afford to sacrifice as a nation – one of which is infrastructure…As a long time Amtrak rider and advocate, I understand the need to invest in a modern rail system that will help connect communities, reduce congestion and create quality, skilled manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced. This plan will help us to do that, while also increasing access to convenient high speed rail for more Americans.”
-Vice President Joe Biden
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