Vermont
States and cities are reacting to President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement on Thursday. Three states formed the U.S. Climate Alliance; by Monday, it had grown to 13. Initially 30 mayors signed in support; it's now over 200.
Planetizen
Rutland, Vermont is scheduled to become home to 100 Syrian refugees, a prospect that has awoken passionate responses from the town's residents.
The Nation
Plans drawn up for a new, futuristic 20,000-person community in Sharon, Vermont, based on town plans originally conceived by Church of Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, have hit a roadblock with locals and the church itself.
Inverse
An early approval from the Federal Railroad Administration has set the Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative in motion.
Hartford Business Journal
A recent study discovered that towns and cities around the country had removed the pavement on thousands of roads in the last five years.
Wired
Connecticut state legislators may not like vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fees, but that hasn't stopped the state Department of Transportation from joining other states in applying for $2.1 million from the U.S. DOT to study the road user fee.
The Hartford Courant
Call it the low-hanging fruit of traffic safety: a number of states around the country post traffic fatality figures on the message boards posted along highways. Questions remain whether such safety campaigns actually work.
CityLab
A bill to phase out coal-powered electricity by 2030 is advancing in the legislature. It would also double the state's renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent by 2040 for Oregon's two largest utilities.
Think Progress
In case you were wondering if any state gas taxes, other than Utah as previously posted, changed on New Years Day—eight others did, but only slightly, due to required, automatic adjustments. Most telling was that more went down than up.
Tax Justice Blog
Act 178, approved by Vermont in 2006, required that all ancient roads be catalogued by July 1, 2015 to be included in the state map. The exploration of old roads leading up to that deadline makes a compelling story.
The New Yorker
Carl Davis, Research Director of the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) writes where gas taxes used to fund transportation infrastructure increased, if only by decimal points, and about the aberration—the six-cent plunge in California.
Tax Justice Blog
Vermont's Transportation Secretary points to increased fuel efficiency as reason to look for an alternative revenue option, favoring Oregon's Road Usage Charge. Meanwhile, U.S. DOT reactivated its "ticker" to warn of funding cutoff after July 31.
VPR
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne made a strong case for taking decisive climate change action when she signed an historic agreement to join the Quebec program that trades carbon with California.
The Globe and Mail
Vermont's legislature will take up the carbon tax proposal this week. The tax is construed as largely revenue neutral, i.e., offset by tax decreases and credits, and apply to heating and transportation fuels. Gov. Peter Shumlin has doubts.
WCAX-TV
The city of Burlington, largest in the Green Mountain State, is the only city in the U.S. to provide electricity from entirely renewable sources, notwithstanding criticism from some environmentalists. PBS Newshour Weekend investigates.
PBS NewsHour
Resilient communities build on local strengths to anticipate change, reduce the impact of major events, and come back from a blow stronger than ever. Here are seven ideas from cities and towns working to boost local resilience.
CommunityMatters
A University of Minnesota study published in PNAS looks at alternatives including ethanol and electricity and determined that "it's hard to beat gasoline." Even electric vehicles can do better or worse depending on how utilities source electricity.
AP via ABC News
Electric cars are expected to play a key role in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the country's transportation system. Recent trends around the country indicate increasing adoption of the technology.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
With federal highway funds likely to be cut off in August unless Congress can reach an agreement on a stopgap solution, some states, e.g., MO, VT, GA, AR have taken matters into their own hands to ensure that vital construction projects continue.
The Wall Street Journal
Governor Peter Shumlin approved the largest transportation bill in Vermont history earlier this week. So what does the money go to?
Office of Governor Peter Shumlin
