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05/31/2006 - House OKs Alternative Fuels Mandate
"Legislation mandating that gasoline sold in Louisiana contain alternative fuels once production in the state reaches a certain level narrowly received final approval by the House on Tuesday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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05/29/2006 - The Killing Floor
"While many of the suggestions about how Congress might best address high gasoline prices are far fetched, there are a few ideas bubbling just below the radar screen that are a bit more substantive and worthy of attention." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/25/2006 - Senate OKs Bill Mandating Ehtanol
"Legislation touted as a way to help Louisiana farmers by promoting the production of alternative fuels was overwhelmingly approved Wednesday by the Senate, despite objections from oil and gas industry interests that it would be a cumbersome burden." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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05/25/2006 - Officials Shift Pollution Focus to Daily Activities
"State environmental officials have concentrated for years on reducing industrial pollution as a way to meet federal ozone standards in the Baton Rouge area." Read on in The Advocate.
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05/22/2006 - Corn Laws for the 21st Century
"President Bush's recent proposal to suspend the tariff on imported ethanol was dead on arrival in the House of Representatives." Read on in the New York Times.
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05/11/2006 - Gauge Match
"Cringe as we might over record-high gasoline prices, they could be the best thing to happen to automobile fuel economy since the Arab oil embargo." Read on in Grist Magazine.
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05/06/2006 - 2 La. Biofuel Plants Planned
"Two plants announced Friday by a Shaw Group subsidiary could make Louisiana a major player in biofuels production, with eventual capacity of as much as 1.5 billion gallons a year from an overall $1.5 billion investment." Read on in The Advocate.
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05/05/2006 - An Opportunity on Oil
"A funny thing happened while policymakers hemmed and hawed about an energy policy: Price signals created one." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/03/2006 - Bill Pushes Mixing Gas, La. Ethanol
"The House endorsed legislation Tuesday that would require a portion of the gasoline sold in the state to include ethanol." Read on in The Advocate.
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05/02/2006 - La. Lawmakers Regret Passing Anti-Windfall Profit Legislation
"Much to the surprise of numerous Louisiana lawmakers, they have urged Congress to oppose a windfall profits tax on oil companies that are racking up record multibillion-dollar profits." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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04/29/2006 - Your Reasoning May Vary
"Savvy car buyers always check out the federally rated gas mileage for the models they’re considering – and then snigger knowingly. The ratings are generally fine for figuring out whether a car is a major gas guzzler, but when it comes to real-life fuel economy, the small-print caveat emptor of the automotive." Read on in the Los Angeles Times.
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04/27/2006 - Phony War on Gas
"No doubt it makes everyone feel better when the president states his concern for Americans, who are now paying more than $3 a gallon for gasoline. Unfortunately, the measures President Bush chose to announce this week to combat high prices are either meaningless or possibly dangerous in the long run, even if they do offer a bit of temporary relief." Read on in the Washington Post.
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04/26/2006 - A Bid to Ease Gas Prices
"Price gouging! Windfall oil profits! Those are words that make many Americans see red, especially when prices skyrocket at the pump." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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04/16/2006 - Life in the Green Lane
"If you make your way over to the Javits Convention Center for the New York International Automobile Show – or if you’ve gone to any auto show in the last year or so – you’ll know that hybrid cars are the hippest automotive fashion statement to come along in years." Read on in the New York Times.
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04/11/2006 - Push Revived for N.O. to B.R. Train
"The idea of passenger rail service linking New Orleans and Baton Rouge still is percolating among railroad and state transportation officials." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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04/09/2006 - A Start and a Stall
"In announcing its revised fuel economy standards for light trucks, the Bush administration had a chance to give substance to the president’s promise to wean America from its oil addiction. It didn’t entirely miss the chance, but it didn’t seize it by the throat, either." Read on in the Washington Post.
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03/31/2006 - Better Escalade Than Never
"The Bush administration yesterday raised fuel-economy standards for SUVs, minivans, and many pickup trucks – the most significant boost to efficiency requirements for the big vehicles in three decades." Read on in Grist Magazine.
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03/12/2006 - Taxpayers Foot Bill for More Than $1 Million in Car Leases
"Taxpayers paid more than $1 million last year for members of Congress to lease vehicles, including dozens of gas-guzzling SUVs and expensive luxury cars." Read on in the Seattle Times.
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03/06/2006 - States Appeal to U.S. Top Court on CO2 Car Emissions
"A dozen U.S. states appealed to the Supreme Court Friday on a case that seeks to force the U.S. government to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks, an environmental group says." Read on in the Environmental New Network.
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03/02/2006 - EPA Seeks Less Benzene in Gasoline
"The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday proposed cutting toxic emissions from cars nearly in half by 2030, drawing praise from many environmentalists while sparking concern among gasoline refiners." Read on in the Washington Post.
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02/19/2006 - We Need Workers; They Need Transit
"We who participated in a panel discussion at Loyola University Thursday night were asked to talk about the effects Hurricane Katrina had on the “working poor” in and around New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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02/05/2006 - Your Parking Lots or Your Lives
"For three months, we’ve heard engineers and politicians sing the praises of the storm-protection system built by tiny, low-lying Holland. As a New Orleans native and professor of urban geography focused on land use and transportation debates, I appreciate what I have recently learned about that country, which operates in some ways quite differently that we do here." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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01/29/2006 - The Next Big Thing From Detroit
"The next big thing from Detroit won’t be innovative technology. It will be a request for a bailout. The Big Three automakers are facing financial collapse. Their bond ratings are in junk status, their suppliers are going bankrupt and their vehicles are sitting unsold on lots – even when larded with thousands of dollars of incentives." Read on in the Washington Post.
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01/25/2006 - Cities Join Push for Plug-In Hybrids
"A partnership of cities, municipal utilizes and organizations – including the cities of Los Angeles and Irvine – kicked off a national campaign Tuesday urging automakers to build plug-in hybrid vehicles." Read on in the Los Angeles Times.
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01/11/2006 - E.P.A. Planning Closer Estimage of Car Mileage
"The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first major overhaul in 20 years in the way it calculates fuel economy ratings for cars and trucks, a shift the agency said would reduce mileage estimates by 5 to 30 percent, depending on the type of driving and kind of vehicle." Read on in the New York Times.
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12/20/2005 - The Long Walk
"‘Tis the season for gift-buying, so on a recent cold, clear morning, I set off for the Mall of Louisiana from my Garden District house. But I did not take the car. I walked." Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.
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12/16/2005 - Elders Donate Their Cars, Get Free Rides
"As his health declined, Irving Anzmann of Portland, Maine, decided it was no longer safe to drive. But he still needed to visit a dialysis center three times a week. It was there that he learned about a local service for the elderly that would give him and his wife door-to-door rides in exchange for donating their car." Read on in Stateline.org.
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11/16/2005 - Senate Panel Clears Bid-Process Change
"The state Department of Transportation and Development would be able to shorten the bid process for highway construction in parts of the state adversely affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita under a bill approved Tuesday by a Senate committee." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/01/2005 - Free Bush Line Links BR, N.O.
"Taswana Fields got a chance Monday to visit her New Orleans apartment for the first time since Hurricane Katrina thanks to a free bus ride paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency." Read on in The Advocate.
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10/02/2005 - Transportation on Track
"Living in Baton Rouge and working in New Orleans will further complicate life for displace New Orleanians – from the hours they’ll spend on traffic-clogged highways to the expense they’ll face buying gas for the 160-mile round trip." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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10/01/2005 - Ford to Increase Production of Hybrid Vehicles
"Ford Motor Company's recent announcement that it will produce 250,000 or more gas/electric Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles by 2010 may mean more of the hybrids for local dealerships." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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09/30/2005 - B.R. to N.O. Commuter Train Proposed
"A group of rail and mass transit organizations hopes to begin a twice-daily rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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09/28/2005 - Smaller Cars Enjoy New Chic
"John Mathews of Universal Toyota in San Antonio has witnessed the day that auto industry executives in Detroit said would never come." Read on in the Washington Post.
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09/27/2005 - Road Trip
"Baton Rouge is hoping federal funds for Katrina relief will provide an efficient, progressive transportation network. But it won’t be that simple." Read on in the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.
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09/23/2005 - Driving 55 m.p.h. Is Looking Pretty Good
"The hurricane disruption of Gulf Coast oil and gas supplies should force Americans to rethink their concept of energy security, from new sources to new lifestyles. With war, terrorism, geopolitics, and - especially now - weather having impeded oil flow ever since the 1970s, the old way cna no longer be the only way." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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09/22/2005 - Ford Launches Hybrid Initiative
"Ford Motor Co. jumped on the hybrid-car bandwagon yesterday with a promise to boost production tenfold to 250,000 cars and trucks per year by 2010, a decision that moves hybrids closer to the mainstream of the U.S. auto market." Read on in the Washington Post.
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09/22/2005 - Clean Car, But Will Its Fuel Be?
"They're experimental and cost about $500,000 apiece. But if affordable hydrogen vehicles ever make it out of the lab and into the showroom, then the United State will breathe a bit easier. Replacing gasoline with hydrogen would reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil - and cut pollution." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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09/18/2005 - EPA Plans to Revamp Mileage Testing
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The Environmental Protection Agency says it will propose by the end of this year significant changes to the way it estimates automobile fuel economy ratings – the miles-per-gallon numbers shoppers see on price stickers in the windows of trucks and cars." Read on in the Boston Globe.
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08/30/2005 - Contraflow Needs Work; Officials Respond Well
"The hurricane damage toll from soggy and shredded south Louisiana communities will continue, but it’s not too early to begin some preliminary assessments of Katrina’s collision with Louisiana." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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08/24/2005 - New Fuel Economy Standards Proposed
"The Bush administration proposed higher fuel economy standards for SUVs and minivans yesterday with a new regulatory system that sets different mileage goals for six sizes of vehicles, replacing the current single standard for all light trucks." Read on in the Washington Post.
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08/18/2005 - Modifications to Hybrid Vehicles Can Get up to 250 Miles per Gallon
"Politicians and automakers say a car that can both reduce greenhouse gases and free America from its reliance on foreign oil is years or even decades away." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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08/16/2005 - As Gasoline Prices Rise, Businesses Get Creative
"As gasoline breaks the $2.50 a gallon barrier, creative energy-saving ideas are beginning to flow from US businesses that could help Americans spend less that the pump." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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08/11/2005 - Road Bill Reflects The Power of Pork
"Three years ago, President Bush went to war against congressional pork. His officials 2003 budget even featured a color photo of a wind-powered ice sled- an example of the pet projects and alleged boondoggles he said he would no longer tolerate." Read on in the Washington Post.
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08/08/2005 - Diesel Won't Solve Our Gasoline Woes
"Automakers are eager to sell you a diesel-powered vehicle. One of their responses to the rising price of gasoline has been to tell American motorists they can keep their large, powerful vehicles and at the same time save on fuel by buying a car or truck that burns diesel instead of gasoline. The new energy bill establishes tax credits as large as $3,400 for diesels, matching the break allowed for hybrids." Read on in the Washington Post.
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07/30/2005 - La. to get $580 Million for Highways
"Louisiana will be getting $580 million a year to spend on highways and public transportation through 2009 – a 30 percent increase over previous allocations – under a highway bill that won overwhelming congressional approval Friday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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07/23/2005 - Marsh Highway Project to be Rebid
"After proposals to build an elevated road and bridge through the marshlands of southern Louisiana came back nearly $100 million over budget, the state Department of Transportation and Development now hopes to reduce costs by breaking the Louisiana 1 project up into many phases and slightly reducing its scale." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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07/15/2005 - Decimating the Tracks
"Louisiana has struggled but failed to remove itself from the list of states with the highest rates of train-car accidents. Last year the state, which isn't especially large or populous, ranked third in the country for the number of accidents at railroad crossings. The state ranked fifth in the number of fatalities." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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07/12/2005 - With Sierra Club's Help, Ford Pushes a New Hybrid
"When the Sierra Club approached the Ford Motor Company last year and offered to help promote the company's first hybrid electric vehicle, the company spurned the olive branch." Read on in the New York Times.
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07/12/2005 - Rail-Crossing Fatalities Spur Vitter to Seek Closures
"Citing the high number of deaths caused by collisions between trains and automobiles in Louisiana in the past 18 months, U.S. Sen. David Vitter announced Monday that he will introduce a bill to close 10 percent of the nation’s railroad crossings over 10 years and pump $178 million into safety improvements." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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07/12/2005 - Senate Rethinks Proposed Cuts In Mass-Transit Security Funds
Washington Post"The Senate is having second thoughts about cutting mass-transit security funding after last week’s London bombings." Read on in the Washington Post.
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07/05/2005 - Washington's Deadly Bridge
"The weakest point in America's defense againgst terrorism may be an inconspicuous little bridge a few blocks from the Capitol. Rail tanker cars filled with deadly chemicals pass over the bridge, at Second Street and E Street SW, on their journeys up and down the East Coast. The bridge is highly vulnerable to an explosion from below, and if deadly chemicals were released on it, they would endanger every member of Congress and as many as 250,000 other federal employees." Read on in the New York Times.
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