Three pieces on last night's State of the Union address by President Obama focused largely on what wasn't said, than what was, concerning Energy, Infrastructure, and Urbanism.
At The Transport Politic, Yonah Freemark is glum about the diminished expectations for meaningful transportation improvements in the face of a general election and Congressional opposition. "For the first term at least, the Administration's transportation initiatives appear to have been pushed aside."
In The Atlantic Cities, Nate Berg looks back wistfully at last year's soaring rhetoric about providing High Speed Rail and fixing crumbling infrastructure. "The lack of any real discussion of cities in the 2012 State of the Union suggests that those plans, should the president even win a second term, have been placed firmly on the back burner."
Writing in The Washington Post, Brad Plumer focuses on a subject actually mentioned in the State of the Union -- a "clean energy standard" -- and wonders what exactly the President has in mind. "Early versions required electric utilities to get a certain portion of their power solely from renewable sources like wind or solar (something that 24 states currently do). More recent versions have expanded the list of options to things like nuclear power or natural gas. But a large standard could do a lot to reshape the nation's electricity supply," creating a market for innovation and curbing greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
FULL STORY: On Infrastructure, Hopes for Progress This Year Look Glum
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
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