Event Alert: Embassy of Switzerland Invites You To A Bike-To-Work Week Forum & Reception

April 23, 2009 at 12:28 pm

EMBASSY OF  SWITZERLAND INVITES YOU TO A BIKE-TO-WORK WEEK FORUM & RECEPTION

Building a Bicycle-Friendly World

As a completely emission-free form of transportation, bicycling is one of the simplest ways to reduce our carbon footprint and make our communities more livable. Yet, to make bicycling feasible requires specific infrastructure, financing, and a commitment of political and public will. Please join Swiss and American experts from government and the private sector to discuss strategies for making our cities and nations more bicycle friendly. Panel presentation will  be followed by audience Q & A and discussion:

When:        

Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 

4:30 p.m. (Doors Open/Bicycling Exhibit)

5:00- 6:30 p.m.(Expert Panel & Discussion)

Reception to follow at Ambassador’s residence

Who:          

Elmar Ledergerber-Mayor of Zurich, Switzerland

Consistently voted “Word’s Most Liveable City,” Zurich has a proactive bicycle plan overseen by Ledergerber, its “Bicycling Mayor.”

Tommy Wells-Councilmember, Washington, D.C.

A long-time advocate of green transportation, Mr. Wells sits on D.C.’s committees on Public Works & Transportation and Government Operations & The Environment

Michelle Kranz-Manager, Media Relations, Switzerland Tourism

Switzerland Tourism is a partner in Switzerland’s national network of bicycle trails, created by a unique public-private cooperation.

Thomas Gotshi, Ph.D.-Director of Research, Rails-To-Trails Conservancy

Dr. Gotschi authored the report “Active Transportation for America,” which quantifies the nationwide benefits from walking and bicycling.

Michael Jackson, (Moderator)-Director, Bicycle/ Pedestrian Access Committee

Office of Planning and Capital Programming, MDOT

Congressman Earl Blumenauer-(D, OR)

Congressman Blumenauer was instrumental in forming the Congressional Task Force on Livable Communities and the bipartisan Bicycle Caucus.

Where:      

Embassy of Switzerland

2900 Cathedral Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20008

The forum is free and open to the public; reservations required at was.events@eda.admin.ch.

Ride Your Bike and Receive a Special Gift!

For more information, please visit the Embassy of Switzerland’s website. 


Also join us for Bike-To-Work Day, Friday, May 15, 2009

 

Join Switzerland at the Bike-to-Work Day celebration on Freedom Plaza at 9 a.m.
when we will dedicate our gift of 10 artistic bicycle racks to the city of
Washington, D.C.

                         

Bicycle Racks by Swiss-American Artist Annina Luck

 These events are produced by the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. as part of the U.S.-wide program ThinkSwiss-Brainstorm the Future. As a leading country in science, research and technology, Switzerland is working with its American counterparts to address key global topics like public transportation, to better understand trends and arrive at solutions.

The ThinkSwiss program is produced under the auspices of the Swiss Confederation.

For further information, visit the website www.thinkswiss.org or contact: 

Suzanne Zweizig 

Communications Manager

Embassy of Switzerland

2900 Cathedral Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Tel +1 (202) 745-7920

Suzanne.Zweizig@eda.admin.ch

 
Co-Sponsors:
      

Sweet deal! Now you can become a Ford dealer for $1

April 22, 2009 at 7:51 pm

(Source: Autoblog)

Ford’s dealer development program works to help people become dealer principles who might not otherwise have the chance. The 64 members of the program, most of them black or Hispanic, are set up with stores by Ford and then buy out Ford’s interest in the dealership with revenues. To give them a boost and, presumably, free up Ford money, Automotive News is reporting that Ford is offering dealers in the program an offer they’ll have a hard time refusing: complete ownership of their stores for $1.

To take advantage, though, the dealers will need to have private financing for their operating capital in place by September 30. If they can prove to Ford that they have enough private resources, they will take complete control of their stores and Ford will forgive any money the dealer still owes to The Blue Oval. Even though Ford would technically lose money on any dealer who accepted the offer, the automaker would no longer need to be involved in the dealership or in its floorplan financing.

Click here to read more.

FAA gets the bird! Transportation Dept. Reverses FAA on Bird Strike Data

April 22, 2009 at 5:22 pm

(Source: Washington Post; USA Today & Airsafe.com)

 The people should have access to this kind of information

Department of Transportation is preparing to reject a proposal by the Federal Aviation Administration that would keep secret data about where and when birds strike airplanes.   Among the high-profile boosters of releasing the information is Transportation Secretary  Ray LaHood, whose agency oversees the FAA.  He said the comments ran “99.9 percent” in favor of making such information accessible.  

“I think all of this information ought to be made public, and I think that you’ll soon be reading about the fact that we’re going to, you know, make this information as public as anybody wants it,” LaHood said in an interview for The Washington Post’s “New Voices of Power” series. “The people should have access to this kind of information.

“The whole thing about the bird strike issue is it doesn’t really comport with the president’s idea of transparency,” the secretary said. “I mean, here they just released all of these CIA files regarding interrogation, and . . . the optic of us trying to tell people they can’t have information about birds flying around airports, I don’t think that really quite comports with the policies of the administration. . . . It’s something that somebody wanted to put out there to get a reaction. We got the reaction, and now we’re going to bring it to conclusion.”

Here is the Secretary’s interview to Washington Post’s Lois Romano on this issue:

 The FAA last month quietly posted a proposal in the federal register, requesting public comment, that would bar the release of its records on bird collisions. The proposal followed a prominent incident in January when a flock of geese brought down a commercial flight, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River. The agency immediately came under fire because the recommendation runs counter President’s Obama vows of government transparency.

For those interested in reading the FAA’ proposal on Federal register, here it is:

 Note: TransportGooru appreciates the Sec. of Transportation’s stand against this move by FAA.  Public have the right to know and it is not nice that FAA can withhold  sharing this data, even after the overhwleming public response.

Now available! Policy Briefs and Audio/Video recordings from the Transportation For America Webinar on Transportation and Housing/Development

April 22, 2009 at 4:19 pm

Transportation for America’s webinar on Transportation and Housing took place last week.  This is the third one in a series of webinars that explore the deep impacts of our transportation system on our housing and job markets, public health, energy needs, climate, economic competitiveness, and nearly every other pressing issue facing our country today.   This particular webinar on Transportation and Housing/Development had almost 300 people in attendance, who heard from development experts on the connections between transportation policy, real estate development, and affordable housing.  The following links will take you to the products (policy briefs and A/V recordings) from the session.

With economic crisis putting jobs in jeopardy, homes in foreclosure and entire communities in peril, Americans are facing extraordinary challenges in finding affordable and accessible housing options. Now more than ever, we need federal leadership to help make the critical link between our housing and transportation policies and creating revitalized communities where people can find good places to live and convenient ways to get around.

Shelley Poticha, President and CEO of Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit Oriented Development moderated the discussion and provided an overview of the Transportation for America Campaign.

Christopher Leinberger, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Partner of Arcadia Land Company; discussed the benefits of walkable urbanism and the linkages between land value and transportation systems. Ann Norton, Senior Staff Attorney at the Housing Preservation Project, provided a snapshot of Blueprint planning from the Minneapolis / St. Paul Metropolitan Area that links up transportation and land-use planning. Finally, John McIlwain, Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute discussed policy options for locating housing around transportation nodes and creating compact, mixed use, mixed income neighborhoods.

There are still more webinars on tap.  Sign up for more sessions on the webinars page. The next session is April 30  (2-3:30PM) on Transportation, Public Health and Safety.  Here is a brief description of the upcoming session:  Transportation influences the health and safety of communities by affecting physical activity levels, traffic speeds, and air pollution. This session will investigate the needs of paratransit and transit-dependent populations, the success of Complete Streets and non-motorized transportation programs, and the connections between transportation and active living.

(Source: Transportation for America)

Good news, Earthlings – A California engineer makes a $100-million bet on mass producing fuel from trash

April 22, 2009 at 2:02 pm

(Source: Los Angeles Times)

As the state moves to reduce the carbon footprint of fuel, an engineer hopes to build a plant in Lancaster that will convert garbage into an alcohol-based mixture.

Arnold Klann has a green dream.
It began 16 years ago in a sprawling laboratory in Anaheim. This year, he hopes, it will culminate at a Lancaster garbage dump.  There, in the high desert of the Antelope Valley, Klann’s company, BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, plans to build a $100-million plant to convert raw trash into an alcohol-based fuel that will help power the cars and trucks of the future.

It’s just the sort of improbable concoction that California is now demanding. On Thursday, the state is expected to adopt the world’s first regulation to reduce the carbon footprint of fuel. And, just as California created the first market for catalytic converters decades ago, this rule, a likely model for national and even global calculations, could jump-start a huge demand for new technologies.

Fuel is a critical front in the battle against global warming. Nearly a quarter of the man-made greenhouse gases that the United States spews into the atmosphere comes from transportation. And although cars have reduced unhealthy pollutants such as nitrogen oxides by 99% in recent decades, the gasoline they burn emits as much carbon dioxide as it did a century ago.

California’s proposal “is the first time anyone has attempted, for environmental purposes, to change the content of what goes into cars and trucks,” says Mary D. Nichols, state Air Resources Board chairwoman. “It would revolutionize transportation fuel.”
 
President Obama has also called for a low-carbon standard for the nation’s $400-billion transportation fuel market. A version similar to California’s is incorporated in climate legislation pending before Congress.

But by measuring the “cradle-to-grave” effect of various fuels, the new rule would favor ethanol such as Klann’s, made from non-food sources. Even “low-carbon” corn ethanol — such as the kind produced in California using gas-fired electricity and efficient machinery — has a far higher carbon footprint than so-called cellulosic fuel from landfill waste, trees, switchgrass or sugar cane.

“This is fantastic for us,” said Klann, who uses recycled sulfuric acid to transform paper, construction debris and grass clippings into ethanol. “The paradigm is changing from oil to sustainable fuels. The ones with the lowest carbon footprint will be the winners.”

By 2020, the air board estimates, new-technology fuels along with electricity to power hybrid and electric cars would replace a quarter of the gasoline supply. And that is a critical element of the state’s sweeping plan to reduce its global warming emissions. 

Battered corn ethanol investors have mounted an intense lobbying effort against California’s proposal. Several, including Pacific Ethanol, California’s biggest, had planned to diversify from corn into cellulosic ethanol. They argue that by diminishing the value of their existing plants, the new rule also would cripple their advanced biofuel efforts. 

At issue is the Air Resources Board’s complex modeling, which would calculate each fuel’s carbon footprint not only by its “direct” emissions from drilling or planting to refining to burning, but also “indirect” emissions caused by clearing forests or fields to compensate for food crops such as corn or soy that are diverted to fuel. Opponents say the science behind the indirect modeling is inaccurate. 

Among entrepreneurs like Klann, the mood has never been more hopeful. In an Anaheim lab, the 57-year-old electrical engineer guides a visitor through a maze of pipes, filters, heat exchangers, fermentation tanks and vats of acid like a small boy showing off a chemistry set. “We’re in the forefront of this industry,” he said of his patented “concentrated acid hydrolysis” process. “We expect to have the first plant to produce cellulosic ethanol on a commercial scale.”  

Financing for his Lancaster plant, which recently obtained its final permits, has been delayed by the credit crunch. But if it comes through, the facility will process 170 tons of garbage a day to produce 3.7 million gallons of ethanol a year. Estimated cost per gallon: about $2, Klann says.  

He already has plans for 20 more facilities across the country. Next on the block: a plant outside Palm Springs, partly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, that would produce 19 million gallons annually. 

Click here to read th entire article.  For interested readers, here is a TransportGooru article on California’s ambitious new fuel regulation standards. 

Tightening the “Green” Screw! California regulators consider instituting first-in-the nation low-carbon fuel standards

Tightening the “Green” Screw! California regulators consider instituting first-in-the nation low-carbon fuel standards

April 21, 2009 at 8:16 pm

(Source: San Jose Mercury news Calif. ARB)

SACRAMENTO—California air regulators are taking another step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, considering first-in-the nation standards to require the use of so-called low-carbon fuels.

The California Air Resources Board, which will debate the standards Thursday, considers the regulation a framework for a potential national policy advocated by President Barack Obama on the campaign trail last year. Democrats have included a goal for low-carbon fuels in the latest climate bill they have introduced in Congress.

“We see this as a model for the rest of the country and the world to follow,” said Air Resources Board member Dan Sperling, a transportation expert and professor at the University of California, Davis.

 The proposed regulation calls for reducing the carbon content in California’s transportation fuels 10 percent by 2020, but representatives of the petroleum and ethanol industries are objecting to how the state proposes to achieve that.

California oil producers and refiners are skeptical that cleaner fuels and vehicles powered by hydrogen and natural gas will be available in time to meet the new standards. They are asking the Air Resources Board to delay a decision until next year.

“This is the most transforming fuel regulation we’ve ever done,” said Kathy Rehis-Boyd, executive vice president of the Western States Petroleum Association. “We think there’s still more homework to do on this. There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

“We have a long history of what I call ‘fuel du jour’ approaches,” Sperling said. “What we need is a broad policy framework that doesn’t pick winners.”

The Air Resources Board is not just targeting the emissions of the fuel once it is burned in a vehicle. It also wants to account for all carbon emissions related to the production of the fuel.

For example, refineries could choose to stop buying a heavy crude oil extracted from Canadian oil sands, which takes more energy to convert into gasoline. But accounting for emissions during the entire production cycle of a fuel also would discourage certain fuels from being used in California.

Corn-based ethanol, for example, burns cleanly in a car engine. But making it can take a heavy toll on the environment: Massive tracts of land must be cleared, which requires fuel-powered tractors, then coal- or natural gas-fired plants convert the corn into fuel and petroleum is used to transport the end product to distant markets.

The board’s attempt to estimate emissions from such indirect land use has sparked debate in California and elsewhere.

More than 100 scientists—including those from the National Academy of Engineering, Sandia National Laboratories and a host of universities—petitioned the California Air Resources Board to rethink its position.

They said regulators are acting prematurely because scientists remain divided over how best to calculate carbon emissions tied to biofuels. They also criticized the board for penalizing biofuels by not applying the same standard to oil and natural gas production, although the air board does factor in the emissions tied to drilling, transporting and refining oil and gas.

Click here to read the entire article. For those interested in learning more, visit the California ARB website on this issue.  Shown below is the45-day Notice of Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of a Proposed Regulation to Implement the Low Carbon Fuel Standard   that is made public on the agency website.

Legal blow to Police! Supreme Court Limits Searches of Suspect’s Car After Arrest

April 21, 2009 at 7:58 pm

(Source: Washington Post)

The Supreme Court today sharply limited the power of police to search a suspect’s car after making an arrest, acknowledging that the decision changes a rule that law enforcement has relied on for nearly 30 years.

 In a decision written by Justice John Paul Stevens, an unusual five-member majority said police may search a vehicle without a warrant only when the suspect could reach for a weapon or try to destroy evidence or when it is “reasonable to believe” there is evidence in the car supporting the crime at hand.  Stevens was joined by two of his most liberal colleagues — Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and two of his most conservative — Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

The court noted that law enforcement for years has interpreted the court’s rulings on warrantless car searches to mean that officers may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle as part of a lawful arrest of a suspect. But Stevens said that was a misreading of the court’s decision in New York v. Belton in 1981.

“Blind adherence to Belton’s faulty assumption would authorize myriad unconstitutional searches,” Stevens said, adding that the court’s tradition of honoring past decisions did not bind it to continue such a view of the law.

“Police could not reasonably have believed either that Gant could have accessed his car at the time of the search or that evidence of the offense for which he was arrested might have been found therein,” Stevens wrote.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the four dissenters, said the court’s insistence that its precedents had been misinterpreted was simply a cover for getting rid of a decision with which it disagreed.

Click here to read the entire article. 

Laying tracks to the future of cargo shipping – The Take Away

April 21, 2009 at 7:34 pm

Rick Karr, correspondent for Blueprint America, discusses his report on nation’s ailing freight-rail system airing on PBS’ The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Last week, President Obama announced an ambitious goal to build a high-speed passenger rail line in ten regions across the country. But even if President Obama’s plans for passenger rail materialize, it won’t necessarily help the entire rail system. America’s freight, the cargo that moves goods across the country by rail, is in big trouble. To look at the state of the rails, The Takeaway talks with Rick Karr, a correspondent for Blueprint America. His report on the nation’s ailing freight-rail system will air on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer tonight, offers insight into the  bottlenecks on America’s freight rail network and how they may be hindering the nation’s economic competitiveness.

In the Midwest, Chicago has been a freight rail hub for around a hundred and fifty years. In the old days, some lines brought raw materials to the city – like cattle to the stockyards – while others carried finished products to market. The city’s rails are still laid out that way: a couple of lines come in from the west and a couple of others from the east. Even though Chicago still handles about a third of the nation’s freight, a lot of it has to stop there – wait there – and shift from one railroad to another.

As a result, traffic on Chicago’s rails is even slower than traffic on its roads: A two-thousand-two study found that freight trains pass through the city at an average of just nine miles an hour.

But there is no agency in Washington, D.C. responsible for untangling, modernizing, or maintaining the nation’s freight rail system – or for paying for those improvements. And so, Federal support for improving freight has to come through the back door – tacked on to other transportation projects.

The Obama Administration’s plan announced last week for the expansion of high-speed passenger rail in several key corridors – including Chicago and the Midwest – is likely to improve the speed of freight as both kinds of trains share the same tracks in much of the country.

Click below to listen. 

Officer finds NH woman passed out at traffic light & charged on DWI

April 21, 2009 at 7:24 pm

(Source:  Assosicated Press & Union Leader)

 Sgt. Paul Thompson was on routine patrol early Monday when he noticed a car stopped at a red light at the intersection of Bridge and Union streets in Manchester, N.H.  The car didn’t move when the light turned green. So the police officer checked it out and found the driver asleep at the wheel, with one foot still on the brake. The 22-year-old driver, Victoria LaGrange, eventually woke up, showing signs of intoxication, and was arrested Monday on a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.

Virgin America Becomes First US Airline to Report Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions

April 21, 2009 at 3:29 pm

 (Source: Virgin America & Tree Hugger)

California-based Virgin America (which is an entirely separate company than Virgin Atlantic, by the way…) has announced that it has become the first US airline to join The Climate Registry, committing to report all of its greenhouse gas emissions:

Young Fleet Helps Lower Emissions
Founded in 2007, Virgin Atlantic touts its fuel saving measures: It operates a very young fleet of aircraft (Airbus A320s) which on a fleet-wide basis means that Virgin America emits about 25% fewer emissions than other domestic carriers on the routes it flies. It also undertakes techniques such as single-engine taxiing, a limiting cruising speeds.

The Virgin America press release states that the airline’s move to voluntarily report emissions comes at a critical time as U.S. legislators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have recently solicited public input about mandatory GHG emissions reporting policies. In addition, Congressmen Waxman (D-CA) and Markey (D-MA) recently proposed legislation that would require EPA to create greenhouse gas emissions standards for aircraft and aircraft engines by the end of 2012. 

“We are very pleased to welcome Virgin America as our first airline Member. The company is known for being a pioneer in delivering innovative service. Being a pioneer in environmental responsibility, though, makes a significant impact in addressing our very urgent issue of climate change. For taking such a visible leadership role among its peers and other businesses across the U.S., Virgin America should be recognized and serve as a model for other highly visible businesses,” said Diane Wittenberg, Executive Director of The Climate Registry.