Oil
Streetsblog Basics
The U.S. Wants to “Borrow” From Transit to Pay for Highways
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said yesterday that due to declining gas tax revenues, the Highway Trust Fund would need to borrow money from its mass transit account to pay for road projects. Today's big news story was buried at the bottom of page A17 in the New York Times:
July 29, 2008
The Biggest Fare Hike Factor? It Could Be MTA Debt
Saturday's Times delved into the history of the MTA's mounting debt burden, which, along with rising fuel costs and plummeting revenues from the real estate transactions tax, has severely squeezed the authority's finances:
July 28, 2008
How to Ease Pain at the Pump Without Deepening Oil Dependence
As the drumbeat for domestic drilling grows louder, can the Democratic leadership come up with a better alternative than tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Over at the Huffington Post, Shelley Poticha and Geoff Anderson of Transportation for America propose a few ideas that will actually pay dividends. Pols who are serious about reducing the impact of high gas prices should listen up:
July 23, 2008
McCain: Drilling Is the Cure for What Ails U.S.
The Gas Tax Holiday may have petered out, but John McCain still has a lot of petroleum-based populism left in the tank. His latest campaign ad, "Pump," primes the audience with a little wishful thinking.
July 22, 2008
Al Gore Connects the Dots
"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in
ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change."
July 21, 2008
Richard Florida: Decline of the Burbs is Not Just About Gas Prices
Via Planetizen, Richard Florida argues the decline in the popularity of
suburbs is not just a product of rising oil prices, but a result of a
new "spatial fix" that is reorganizing how and where people live their
lives. From Florida's column in the Globe and Mail:
July 18, 2008
Obama, Ethanol, and the “New Metropolitan Reality”
In a weekend speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Senator Barack Obama continued to distinguish himself on urban policy, talking up cities as vital economic centers worthy of investment. Harry Moroz of DMI Blog has the story.
June 26, 2008