Government / Politics

What will it take to greatly reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles? Efficiency, alternative fuels, and strong governmental policies reports the National Research Council. And it will be highly unlikely.

March 22, 2013 - The Daily Climate

As the Indiana Senate begins to consider whether to allow residents to vote on a tax referendum to expand mass transit in Central Indiana, Tea Party-aligned groups are trying to derail the legislation.

March 21, 2013 - IndyStar.com

On Tuesday, several members of Congress overseeing the approval of Frank Gehry's design and the budgetary requirements for the Eisenhower Memorial expressed their disapproval at a subcommittee hearing.

March 21, 2013 - Architectural Record

In the first entry in a series exploring the connection between the processes and products of Placemaking and city governance, PPS explores how "Place Governance" can increase leadership, equity, and cohesion among citizens.

March 20, 2013 - Project for Public Spaces blog

Fox News ran two articles on the climate for increasing state gas taxes, almost exactly a year apart. The 2012 article is pessimistic about the ability to increase gas taxes while the March 14th one is decidedly upbeat. Why the change, what happened?

March 20, 2013 - Fox Business

Here's a news item that's sure to make for interesting conversation at your next dinner party. A new study has found that liberal homeowners tend to use at least five percent less electricity than conservatives.

March 20, 2013 - Pacific Standard

Over the course of the year, the editors of Planetizen review and summarize thousands of articles, books, studies and editorials related to planning and urban development. Here are our picks for the most notable planning trends of the past year.

March 19, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

Gas prices may rise due to the ethanol requirement. But there is no shortage - in fact, there's a glut, as we reported in Nov., 2009. It's the ethanol credits that have surged in price. What - you didn't know there was an ethanol credit market?

March 19, 2013 - Is It Time To End Ethanol Requirement For Gasoline?

A major reason given by Keystone XL pipeline supporters is that the Canadian oil it will deliver to Gulf refineries will help make the U.S. 'energy independent', yet data shows that those refineries are now exporting 60% of the gasoline they produce.

March 18, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Did the rezoning of the Williamsburg waterfront backfire? Stephen Jacob Smith reflects on the lack of transition between the neighborhood's skyscraping waterfront and its low-rise inland, a missing middle mandated by recent upzoning.

March 17, 2013 - New York Observer

Juliet Eilperin reports that the Obama administration's much lauded proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants will miss an upcoming deadline for finalization, and will likely be revisited.

March 17, 2013 - The Washington Post

Falcons owner Arthur Blank and city leaders in Atlanta are pushing to build a new $1 billion football stadium to replace the 20-year-old publicly-financed Georgia Dome. Amid tight budgets some elected officials are concerned with the plan.

March 16, 2013 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It what would be a significant policy shift that could impact major projects that are subject to federal oversight, the Obama administration is expected to guide all federal agencies to consider the impact on global warming in their NEPA reviews.

March 16, 2013 - Bloomberg

At a visit to the Argonne National Laboratory today, President Obama was expected to unveil his plan to spend $2 billion in oil and gas revenues "to find ways to replace hydrocarbons as the primary fuel for the nation’s cars, trucks and buses."

March 15, 2013 - The New York Times

Democrats in Congress have returned to long-stalled efforts to craft a federal carbon-pricing scheme. With Obama having indicated in his State of the Union that climate change would be a focus of his administration, is there hope for progress?

March 14, 2013 - Grist

Providence, Rhode Island's vision for improving early childhood literacy has been selected as the winner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayor's Challenge, a nationwide contest seeking innovative and replicable ideas for improving cities.

March 13, 2013 - The New York Times

With the MTA comprising a significant portion of the city's workforce and viability, NYC mayoral candidates remain reluctant to commit to invest in the transit authority. Their comments at a recent transit forum disappointed advocates.

March 13, 2013 - Next City

The need to put Detroit under emergency management wasn't the result of a single failed strategy, but the culmination of decades of poor leadership, bad decisions, and "crossed fingers," report Monica Davey and Mary Williams Walsh.

March 12, 2013 - The New York Times

Using funds made available by savings captured through administrative reforms and other sources, New York's beleaguered Housing Authority has made considerable progress in tackling one of its most pressing problems - its backlog of maintenance jobs.

March 12, 2013 - Crain's New York Business

Under the cover of darkness two years ago, Tallahassee's StarMetro completely overhauled its entire bus system, replacing its out of date hub-and-spoke model with a grid-like system over one evening. This year, the system was honored by the APA.

March 12, 2013 - Governing