Post Tagged with: "Funding"

President Obama Announces $2.4 Billion in Funding to Support Next Generation Electric Vehicles

March 20, 2009 at 1:40 pm

(Source: U.S. Department of Energy; Photo Courtesy: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty via Autoblog)

DOE Support for Advanced Battery Manufacturing and Electric Vehicle Deployment to Create Tens of Thousands of U.S. Jobs

On March 19th, President Barack Obama announced the availability of $2.4 billion in funding to put American ingenuity and America’s manufacturers to work producing next generation Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and the advanced battery components that will make these vehicles run. The initiative will create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs and help us end our addiction to foreign oil. Americans who decide to purchase these Plug-in Hybrid vehicles can claim a tax credit of up to $7,500.

“This investment will not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil, it will put Americans back to work,” President Obama said. “It positions American manufacturers on the cutting edge of innovation and solving our energy challenges.”

While visiting Southern California Edison’s Electric Vehicle Center, the President announced the following:

  • The Department of Energy is offering up to $1.5 billion in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce these highly efficient batteries and their components.
  • The Department of Energy is offering up to $500 million in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce other components needed for electric vehicles, such as electric motors and other components.
  • The Department of Energy is offering up to $400 million to demonstrate and evaluate Plug-In Hybrids and other electric infrastructure concepts — like truck stop charging station, electric rail, and training for technicians to build and repair electric vehicles.

 

Click here to read the entire DOE press release. Or, Click here to read the President’s remarks.  Shown below is Part I of the video from the event, courstey of  You Tube (Part I & Part II).

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House Budget Writers told $545 Billion Needed for Nation’s Transportation Programs

March 18, 2009 at 1:02 pm

The US Capitol Against a Pink and Purple Morning Sky (71/365)(Source:  AASHTO)

Enactment of the FY 2010 budget resolution “will be the starting point as the House considers the new surface transportation authorization bill,” Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller testified today before the House Budget Committee.

Appearing on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Miller outlined a six-year, multi-modal transportation investment that includes:

  • $375 billion for highways;
  • $93 billion for transit;
  • $42 billion for freight, from outside the Highway Trust Fund; and
  • $35 billion for intercity passenger rail, also from outside the Highway Trust Fund.

Miller noted that even before addressing authorization, however, the Congress must ensure that the Highway Trust Fund has sufficient revenue to fund the current program. An $8 billion transfer made by Congress last September may not be sufficient to last through the year, she said.   

Miller’s complete testimony may be accessed at tinyurl.com/miller-2009-03-17. For information on AASHTO’s authorization recommendations go to www.transportation.org.

Click here to read the entire article.

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AASHTO: Budget Change Could Cripple Multi-Year Transportation Contracting Leaders Warn

March 12, 2009 at 5:22 pm

(Source: AASHTO)

In a letter this week which commended President Barak Obama for his “expressed support for significant increased investment in transportation infrastructure,” eight major transportation and construction organizations also warned the President that a proposal contained in the Administration’s budget request to eliminate multi-year contract authority, “would undermine the very fabric of the financing mechanisms” for transportation at the very time that the nation is looking to transportation investments to help rebuild the economy.

Contract authority is a little-known budget keeping mechanism which allows states to plan and execute projects that take several years for completion. It is based upon the fact that transportation programs are funded by dedicated user fees, such as the motor fuel tax, rather than by annual appropriations. The contract authority solution for multi-year capital investment was first enacted in 1956 for highways and later extended to transit and aviation.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, the transportation leaders state, “The predictability that contract authority provides is essential for states and local governments to make long term commitments to major transportation investment projects. In 1998 with the passage of the TEA 21 legislation, Congress recognized this unique budget situation and established funding guarantees tied to the trust funds.”

Click here to read the entire press release and/or click here to download the PDF letter. 

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