transportation

The White House quickly shot down Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s proposal to tax mileage, but the debate over the idea continues.

Citing insufficient funding for roadways, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has proposed a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, based on the number of miles a person drives rather than fuel consumption.
In an interview with The Associated Press yesterday, LaHood rejected the possibility of raising the gas tax in the economic downturn, preferring to “[think] outside the [...]

The confirmation hearings for Transportation Secretary-designate Ray LaHood, set to begin today, may have gotten a bit more complicated this morning. The Washington Post reports that as an Illinois GOP congressman, LaHood was a big fan of earmarks — often to the benefit of some of his largest campaign contributors. LaHood retired from the House [...]

In his fifth press conference in as many days this week, President-elect Obama completed his cabinet appointments, tapping Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as secretary of labor and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as secretary of transportation. He also named former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, a cabinet-level post, and selected Karen Mills [...]

My previous post reports on a UC Berkeley study showing how California’s environmental policies have boosted that state’s economy.
The National Conference of State Legislatures, in conjunction with the University of Maryland and the Center for Integrative Environmental Research, is releasing reports that also show that economic and environmental interests are aligning in other states.