Related Links: ASCE 2013 infrastructure report card Infrastructure Facing $1.1-Trillion Funding Gap in 2020, ASCE Says The latest infrastructure “report card” from the American Society of Civil Engineers shows small improvements in the overall condition of America’s infrastructure.The report card, released on March 19 in a digital format, showed that the state of infrastructure in six sectors,—drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, roads, bridges and rail—improved slightly. Those improvements brought the overall grade to a D+, up from a D four years ago.The grades in 2013 range from a high of B- for solid-waste infrastructure to a low of D- for
Related Links: Transcript of Obama remarks at Perez announcement Perez bio (from Dept. of Justice) President Obama announced on March 18 that he has picked Tom Perez, the head of the Justice Dept.'s civil rights division, to be the next Labor secretary.If confirmed, Perez would be instrumental in setting policy for such key construction issues as safety and health, prevailing-wage enforcement, workforce development and training and oversight of guest-worker programs.Under Hilda Solis, who stepped down as Labor secretary on Jan. 22, the department was viewed as being tough on employers. For example, during Solis' tenure, the department's Occupational Safety and
Related Links: Information on BPC Energy Project Energy Project Initiative Report Former Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) want Congress to pass new, wide-ranging energy legislation.Dorgan and Lott, who chair the Washington, D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center's Strategic Energy Policy Initiative, noted at a Feb. 27 briefing that the last comprehensive energy measure was enacted in 2007. They said the time is ripe to work on a new bill.Lott said, "We have a unique opportunity to work with Congress to produce a bill." The center's energy group released a report that the ex-lawmakers said could form the basis of
The Keystone XL pipeline is one step closer to reality, following the State Dept.'s release of a draft supplemental environmental impact statement on the project.
Related Links: Geothermal Energy Industry Production and Development 2013 Report Installed geothermal capacity in the United States grew by 5%, or 147.05 MW, since March 2012, according to the Geothermal Energy Association, which released its annual industry update in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 26.The growth in 2012 builds on a trend of steady, incremental geothermal growth over the past decade, mainly in the western U.S. According to the Energy Information Agency, geothermal power now accounts for 3.5% of renewable-energy generation in the U.S.But for that trend to continue, the market must surmount a number of obstacles, speakers at the Geothermal
Related Links: EPA Bio on Gina McCarthy MIT Bio on Ernest Moniz President Obama has tapped Gina McCarthy, current assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air and Radiation, to serve as the agency's administrator. Obama also picked Ernest Moniz, former undersecretary of energy during the Clinton administration and currently a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to lead the Dept. of Energy.While both are expected to be confirmed, some environmental groups have expressed reservations about Moniz's support for natural-gas development and nuclear power. McCarthy could face some tough questioning from lawmakers about upcoming EPA regulations, including
Following weeks of speculation, President Obama has nominated a top current Environmental Protection Agency official and a former Clintoon administration Energy Dept. official to fill the top posts at EPA and DOE.Gina McCarthy, currently assistant administrator at EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, has been tapped to serve as administrator of EPA; Ernest Moniz, former under secretary of energy during the Clinton administration, and currently a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to lead the DOE, Obama announced at a March 4 White House briefing.Both are expected to be confirmed, industry sources say, although some environmental groups express
Related Links: Sen. Vitter Press Release on James Martin Resignation A political flap over Environmental Protection Agency officials' use of "alias" emails has generated more fallout.Last fall, GOP lawmakers blasted then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for using a secondary email account. They claimed the account, under the name "Richard Windsor," was a ploy to circumvent agency transparency rules.On Feb. 15, James Martin, the head of EPA's Denver-based Region 8, said he would resign. An EPA spokeswoman says Martin resigned for "personal reasons" and did not comment further. But some Republicans speculate that the email probe was a factor in Martin's decision.
Photo by Getty Images Utilities are scrambling to adapt to the effects of drought and flooding. Related Links: New Climate Cycle Marked by Storms, Floods & Drought EPA's Climate Change National Water Program Strategy Clearing Out Superstorm's Soggy Mess Drought, wildfires and extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy are pushing water utilities to find ways to cope with the effects of climate change, industry sources say."We can argue about whether or not [these events] are actually being caused by climate change, but the fact of the matter is, we have some extreme events happening to our water environment," says Matt
Montgomery County, Md. The Silver Spring, Md. transit center as it appeared in April 2011. Team members building the Silver Spring Transit Center, a major mass transportation hub in the heart of Silver Spring, Md., a Washington, D.C., suburb, continue to point fingers at each other as the project remains in limbo.Project contractor Foulger-Pratt, Rockville, Md., has filed numerous notices of claims against Montgomery County, the owner, for unnecessarily delaying the project.The most recent of those, filed on Jan. 18, contends that the county owes the contractors $7,525 per day if the project continues to be delayed after Feb. 26.
