Friday, February 5, 2010
Howard Learner
ELPC convened a panel of experts at the National Press Club on February 4, 2010 to review the economic, environmental and regional ramifications of the Obama Administration’s high-speed rail stimulus awards. “The $8 billion awarded by the Obama Administration is the first step,” said ELPC President Howard Learner, who moderated the Press Club event. “It’s the beginning of a restructuring of the transportation system for the 21st Century.”
The panelists included:
Anne Canby, President, OneRail Coalition
Arthur Guzzetti, Vice President for Policy, American Public Transportation Association
John Horsley, Executive Director, American Assoc. of State Highway and Transportation Officials
Joseph McHugh, VP Government Affairs/Communications, Amtrak
John Risch, Alternate National Legislative Director, United Transportation Union
Listen to the Briefing
Click here to listen to audio of the press briefing, or the question-and-answer session.
Click here to view photos from the event
Thursday, February 4, 2010
ELPC’s Howard Learner on E&E TV
ELPC President Howard Learner discussed the U.S. Department of Transportation’s recent awards of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects on E&E TV’s OnPoint. Watch the interview.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Northwest Indiana’s hopes of obtaining $2.8 billion in federal funding for a Chicago-Cleveland railroad corridor have not been derailed.
The state’s top transportation official vowed Friday he’d work to improve a bid for the project, but said it might have to built in increments rather than one big chunk.
Read the full story in the Gary Post-Tribune.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Obama administration has awarded $400 million in federal money for Ohio’s proposed 3C passenger rail corridor that would link Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati by train.
The administration awarded grants to 13 passenger rail projects that span from the Pacific Northwest and California to the Midwest and Florida. The money awarded to Ohio is part of $8 billion in federal support for rail projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Read the full story in Crain’s Cleveland Business.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Fast and reliable.
It’s what Missouri train riders might expect from $2.6 billion in high-speed rail money that the federal government announced Thursday is coming to the Midwest.
Missouri will get $31 million for track work between Kansas City and St. Louis that’s intended to prevent delays caused by heavy freight traffic and potentially cut time off the trip.
Read the full story in The Kansas City Star.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
President Obama’s $8 billion plunge into 13 high-speed rail projects nationwide has the potential to become either his “Eisenhower moment” – moving the US into a new phase of transportation modernization – or just a dead end “drop in the bucket.”
Read the full story in The Christian Science Monitor.
Monday, January 18, 2010
he residents of Normal, Ill., have one word to describe their community’s train station:
“Amshack.”
Don’t get them wrong. Amtrak’s intercity passenger trains provide essential transportation in central Illinois for the twin cities of Bloomington, which includes Illinois Wesleyan University, and Normal, home to Illinois State University.
Airline service to the area from Chicago and other big cities has declined in recent years, contributing in part to the train station in downtown Normal ranking as the fourth-busiest Amtrak terminal for passenger boarding in the Midwest, behind Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis.
But the station is in bad shape and it’s inadequate to serve future needs, officials said.
Normal Mayor Chris Koos traveled the approximately 135 miles to Chicago on Friday to participate in a conference that Gov. Pat Quinn called to improve passenger and freight rail operations in Illinois, and to be prepared to get off on a fast start when $8 billion in federal stimulus grants for high-speed rail are awarded to the states sometime before spring.
Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Indiana State Senator Sue Errington has authored a bill that would require Indiana utilities to increase the amount of renewable electricity they use. Indiana’s neighboring states, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Iowa have all passed similar legislation, known as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
By creating a guaranteed market for renewable energy, RPS legislation has attracted large amounts of private investment in these states and created manufacturing, installation and maintenance jobs to supply the renewable energy industry.
ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner said that Indiana needs a renewable portfolio standard to take advantage of its wind power potential. As Learner said, “There is widespread agreement that if we want to have extensive wind power development across the Midwest, in order to seize job creation, economic development and environmental value, we need to have a smart shift in policy to help grow the green economy.”
Read coverage in the Muncie Star Press
Monday, January 11, 2010
Crain’s Chicago Business examines the prospects for offshore wind power in Lake Michigan. ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner says that wind farms near Chicago would trigger public opposition. ”There’s a reason lakefront property is so valuable in Chicago,” said Learner.
Offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes are less likely to be built because the Midwest has excellent sites for wind power available on land, where wind power development is much cheaper than offshore. Read the article in Crain’s Chicago Business.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner joined Chicago Tonight at the nation’s largest urban solar plant, currently under construction on the south side of Chicago. The project is an excellent example of how economic and policy changes are creating an opportunity to ramp up solar power development in the Midwest. Watch the segment.
