Green Highway
Environment – President Obama will ask EPA to allow states, California setting the precedent by seeking a waiver from less stringent standards in 2007, to require cars to meet a 35 mpg standard for 2011 models making faster progress toward cutting auto carbon emissions. The United Auto Workers have been against this measure because of demand for less fuel efficient bigger vehicles (i.e., trucks and mini-vans).
Economy – Governor Schwarzenegger is seeking a waiver from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to move forward quickly with 10 highway projects in his state ($1.2 billion of funding was already approved by voters) to get people working now (an estimated 21,600 jobs would be created). CEQA requires environmental impact reports before projects can be approved by government agencies. These reports can take approximately a year to prepare and can lead to legal challenges. (see http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_11554846)
Balance – As Karrie Jacobs writes in Metropolis, January, 2009, citing RepowerAmerica.org – Is it possible to retrofit highway infrastructure to modernize our electric grid, perhaps by burying transmission lines, to transport clean energy from it’s source to its users creating jobs and cutting carbon emissions?
