SQUIRREL-KILLERS 2012 AFFIRMATIVE CASEBOOK

Dr. John F. Schunk, Editor Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure investment in the United States. AFFIRMATIVE CASES A01. LONG-TERM INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT A02. UNSAFE ROADS AND BRIDGES A03. I.T.S. (INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS) A04. HIGH-SPEED RAIL A05. ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) INFRASTRUCTURE A06. BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE EXTENSION BRIEFS A07. TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS A08. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INADEQUATE A09. LONG-TERM INVESTMENT VITAL A10. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK EFFECTIVE A11. INFRASTRUCTURE BENEFITS U.S. ECONOMY A12. UNSAFE ROADS AND BRIDGES A13. GAS TAX REVENUES INADEQUATE A14. I.T.S. (INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS) A15. HIGH-SPEED RAIL A16. ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) INFRASTRUCUTRE A17. BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE A18. OBESITY A19. UNEMPLOYMENT A20. OIL DEPENDENCY A21. AIR POLLUTION A22. CLIMATE CHANGE A23. STATE AND LOCAL INVESTMENT INADEQUATE A24. FEDERAL FUNDING MECHANISMS

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SK/A01. LONG-TERM INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN: 1. The federal government will adopt President Obamas six-year $476 billion infrastructure investment plan, including (a) establishment of an infrastructure bank and (b) promotion of public-private partnerships. 2. Funding will come from allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. 3. Enforcement will be by all necessary means. I. U.S. FACES A TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS A. U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE IS WOEFULLY DEFICIENT SK/A01.01) HUMAN ECOLOGY, Spring 2011, p.3, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. America's roads, bridges, and highways are failing: In its 2009 report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. transportation infrastructure a "D." B. FUTURE TRANSPORTATION NEEDS WILL ACCELERATE SK/A01.02) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, May 1, 2011, p. 14, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Looking to the future, Oberstar [former Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee] said that the U.S. population is slated to grow by more than 40 percent in the next 30 years to roughly 420 million people, with freight volumes expected to rise about 70 percent from current levels in the next 10 years. "That growth is going to put additional demands on our intermodal system," said Oberstar. "If we don't make the investments and don't look ahead and do what's right to deliver those investments, then goods will move more slowly, congestion will resume, people will spend more time in traffic, air quality will deteriorate, fatalities will increase, and our quality of life will be diminished." C. INVESTMENT LEVELS ARE PITIFULLY INADEQUATE SK/A01.03) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, August 1, 2010, p. 17, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] report, entitled Unlocking Freight, paints a dire portrait of what ails transportation infrastructure in the United States. And AASHTO said that the situation is so dire that the current U.S. transportation system is facing a crisis, with highways, railroads, ports, waterways, and airports requiring investment significantly above current levels to maintain and improve their performance.

II. STOPGAP FINANCING IS DOOMED TO FAILURE A. FEDERAL FUNDING HAS BEEN CHRONICALLY SHORT-TERM SK/A01.04) Tom Ichniowski, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, March 5, 2012, p. 1, LexisNexis Academic. The last multiyear transportation authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2009, and since then, a series of extensions has kept programs operating. The next deadline is on March 31, when the latest stopgap runs out. B. STOPGAP FUNDING DESTROYS LONG-RANGE PLANNING SK/A01.05) Tom Ichniowski, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, March 5, 2012, p. 1, LexisNexis Academic. Because of the protracted series of stopgap bills, state DOT chiefs have had to manage for more than two years without knowing how much long-term federal aid they will have to work with. Federal funds are critically important for states, typically accounting for 80% of highway and bridge projects' costs as well as smaller shares of transit projects. The stop-and-start funding has had an impact on most states, though it varies from place to place. Michigan DOT Director Kirk T. Steudle says his agency normally aims to have 80% of its highway and bridge projects out for bid by the end of March. But now, he says, We have less than 50% [out for bids] because that's all the money that we have. C. STATES LACK RESOURCES TO FILL THE GAP SK/A01.06) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "The ARRA funding certainly was a help," says Oklahoma Senator Gary Stanislawski. "But a onetime infusion of resources did not help solve the transportation infrastructure problem that the states--and our nation--are facing. No state possesses the resources to keep pace with the structural funding gap." III. LONG-TERM INVESTMENT WILL MEET INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS A. PRESIDENTS PLAN FOSTERS LONG-TERM INVESTMENT SK/A01.07) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, March 1, 2011, p. 17, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Included in this new six-year plan are: * funding for highways, transit, highway safety, passenger rail; * a National Infrastructure bank that would be allocated $30 billion in loans and grants to support individual projects and broader activities of significance for the Nation's economic competitiveness; and * a proposal to boost transportation spending by $50 billion above current law spending in the first year of the authorization for roads, railways, and runways, among other components.

B. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WILL BE EFFECTIVE SK/A01.08) HUMAN ECOLOGY, Spring 2011, p.3, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In his new book, The Road to Renewal: Private Investment in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure (AEI Press, Jan. 2011), R. Richard Geddes, associate professor of policy analysis and management, offers a host of solutions to repair our decaying transportation system and address the political gridlock that delays upgrades. Geddes's key recommendation is for public-private partnerships that can inject fresh capital and hold government accountable to citizens. Otherwise, he wrote, government spending for roads will continue to fall short and lead to more crowded and hazardous commutes. C. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK WILL BE EFFECTIVE SK/A01.09) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, April 2011, p. 143, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Interestingly, the President's proposed budget includes support for establishment of a transportation infrastructure bank, which would allow the US to expand and upgrade the US transportation systems and networks, such as US roads, railways, and runways. The vision and goal of creating such an entity would be to enable the US to have the best infrastructure in the world. D. LONG-TERM FUNDING ENABLES LONG-TERM PLANNING SK/A01.10) Tom Ichniowski, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, February 13, 2012, p. 5, LexisNexis Academic. Stephen Sandherr, Associated General Contractors CEO, says if a joint conference finds credible funding sources to cover a long-term bill, it may be better than a two-year bill followed by possible deep spending cuts after it lapses. He says, If you can get a long-term solution, it will give the industry some certainty and the ability to plan for the future. IV. MEETING INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS BENEFITS THE U.S. ECONOMY A. IT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT 1. UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS AT CRISIS LEVELS SK/A01.11) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 9, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In yet another data dump on a Friday afternoon, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its March jobs report which shows a high unemployment rate of 8.2%. The unemployment rate has remained above 8 percent for nearly three years, which is the longest stretch since monthly records began in 1948. Although the rate has dropped by a tenth of a point, the unemployment rate doesn't take into account those who are no longer looking for work.

2. UNEMPLOYMENT IS DEVASTATING TO HEALTH SK/A01.12) US NEWSWIRE, March 13, 2009, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. At the Health Industries Council meeting on March 11, in Irving, Harvey Brenner, Ph.D. and professor of public health and behavioral sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center's School of Public Health, announced new findings that indicate that mortality is directly related to the economy. Specifically, unemployment and reduced spending on health care have a direct effect on the country's mortality rate. "We have seen this correlation in cardiovascular disease," Brenner related. "But these are the first findings that show a direct correlation between reduced health care expenditures and reduced labor force participation on increases in mortality." 3. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INCREASES JOBS SK/A01.13) Eric Peterson [President, American High Speed Rail Alliance], MASS TRANSIT, June 2010, p. 44, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The Department of Transportation estimates that for every $1 billion invested in infrastructure development and maintenance, 20,000 jobs are created or retained. Additionally, according to the American Association of Railroads, each of those jobs support an additional 4.5 jobs in the general work force. B. IT WILL RESTORE THE U.S. ECONOMY 1. INVESTMENT WILL LIFT U.S. OUT OF RECESSION SK/A01.14) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Our national economy is staggering. Americans need jobs. President Franklin Roosevelt showed us how to build our way out of a depression while creating needed infrastructure. 2. INFRASTRUCTURE IS CRITICAL TO NATIONAL WELFARE SK/A01.15) Paul Yarossi [Chairman, American Roads and Transportation Builders Association], NEWSDAY, February 9, 2012, p. A30, LexisNexis Academic. Meeting the nation's infrastructure needs is vital to interstate commerce, safety, security and global competitiveness. Our best-regarded presidents supported infrastructure and fully understood its ROI [return on investment]. From George Washington's survey for the first proposed national road from Maryland to Indiana to Thomas Jefferson's efforts to develop the nation's early canals to Abraham Lincoln's support of the transcontinental railroad, our greatest political leaders understood that a strong infrastructure promotes a more nimble military, creates jobs, sparks the economy and advances America's competitiveness.

SK/A02. UNSAFE ROADS AND BRIDGES PLAN: 1. The federal government will substitute a mileage-traveled tax for the current federal gasoline tax to fund the Federal Highway Trust. 2. Revenues will be used to increase investment in repair and renovation of highways and bridges by a minimum of $58 billion annually over the next six years. 3. Enforcement will be by all necessary means. I. U.S. ROADS AND BRIDGES ARE IN DIRE NEED OF INVESTMENT A. U.S. ROADS REQUIRE INCREASED INVESTMENT 1. ROADS ARE IN A SERIOUS STATE OF DISREPAIR SK/A02.01) Lorraine Moffa, AMERICAN HISTORY, June 2009, p. 46, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. One third of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 36% of highways are congested. The average driver is delayed more than 50 hours annually. More than 2 billion gallons of fuel is wasted each year because cars are stuck in traffic jams. Vehicle miles traveled in the United States increased 95% since 1980, but road capacity increased only 3%. 2. CRUMBLING ROADS ARE A DRAIN ON THE U.S. ECONOMY SK/A02.02) STATES NEWS SERVICE, September 8, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Cramer [president of the Associated General Contractors of Iowa] said that aging and under-capacity roads cost the U.S. economy over $80 billion annually and force drivers to waste over 2.8 billion gallons of fuel each year. 3. UNSAFE ROADS KILL THOUSANDS ANNUALLY SK/A02.03) Matt Sundeen, STATE LEGISLATURES, October-November 2007, p. 18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The larger concern may be the everyday problems caused by poorly maintained infrastructure. Road conditions are a significant factor in approximately one-third of traffic deaths, killing approximately 14,000 people every year.

B. U.S. BRIDGES REQUIRE INCREASED INVESTMENT 1. BRIDGES ARE IN A SERIOUS STATE OF DISREPAIR SK/A02.04) Ed Brock, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, April 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. More than 11 percent of the nation's highway bridges are considered "structurally deficient" - meaning they require significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement - by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), according to a report released in late March by Washingtonbased Transportation for America (T4 America). More federal money is needed to repair and maintain older bridges before they require more expensive rehabilitation, according to T4 America and other experts. 2. DEFICIENT BRIDGES ARE A DRAIN ON THE U.S. ECONOMY SK/A02.05) Sheila Rimal Duwadi [Federal Highway Administration], PUBLIC ROADS, May-June 2010, p. 20, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The highway system in the United States includes approximately 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of roads, including 47,000 miles (75,600 kilometers) of interstates and 117,000 miles (188,300 kilometers) of other National Highway System roads, plus approximately 600,000 highway bridges and 366 tunnels. Certain links in this network--that is, bridges on essential routes--are critical in that their incapacitation would cause great physical and economic disruption. 3. UNSAFE BRIDGES THREATEN MILLIONS OF AMERICANS SK/A02.06) McKay Coppins & Ryan Tracy, NEWSWEEK, August 9, 2010, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. It's been three years since a busy bridge collapsed in Minnesota, killing 13 people and sparking widespread calls to fix the nation's crumbling infrastructure. But so far little has improved, according to congressional testimony by the Federal Highway Administration this month. In Minnesota the number of "structurally deficient" bridges--featuring, for instance, corroding steel supports--actually rose from 1,156 in 2007 to 1,206 last year. And an analysis of FHWA data shows a similar uptick in 18 other states, leaving the U.S. with about 71,000 substandard bridges--virtually the same number as in 2007. II. INCREASED INVESTMENT REQUIRES A MILEAGE-TRAVELED TAX A. BILLIONS MORE ARE NEEDED FOR ROAD AND BRIDGE REPAIR SK/A02.07) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. America's transportation infrastructure is at a crossroads. Years of underinvestment coupled with declining revenues and a "no new taxes" attitude have built into a crisis. The average annual cost of maintaining the nation's roads, bridges and transit systems is about $277 billion, but the annual amount of transportation revenues at all levels of governmentincluding federal and state fuel taxes, tolls and fares--is only about $219 billion, according to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.

B. FEDERAL GAX TAX FACES INHERENT SHORTFALLS SK/A02.08) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, April 2011, p. 143, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The President's budget also includes a proposal to boost transportation spending by $50 billion above current law spending in the first year of the authorization for roads, railways, and runways. Taking such an approach would not only hopefully generate hundreds of thousands of jobs in the near term, it would directly address the continuing decline of gasoline tax revenue, which has been the primary source of funding of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The HTF has been on the brink of solvency since SAFETEA-LU expired on September 30, 2009. C. CURRENT FEDERAL FUNDING SYSTEM IS UNSUSTAINABLE SK/A02.09) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "The systemic failure of current financing has made clear," stated a blue ribbon study in Arkansas, "that the traditional approach to highway, road, street and bridge maintenance and construction is, in its present form, no longer sustainable when measured against a changing economic and technological environment, erosion of purchasing power and continuing escalation of costs." Current revenues simply fail to meet current needs. At least a dozen other recent state studies on transportation essentials and revenue options come to the same conclusion. D. MILEAGE-TRAVELED TAX WILL PROVIDE RELIABLE FUNDING SK/A02.10) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A mileage pricing system assesses a tax based on the number of miles a vehicle is driven. The system is considered one of the best ideas for replacing the gas tax, according to numerous studies, research and actual trials. It's been widely embraced by transportation advocates and subject to analysis in as many as 16 states. It was tested in a Portland, Ore., pilot project in 2007. The state's transportation department concluded the mileage fee concept was "feasible as an alternative revenue collection system for replacing the gas tax as the fundamental way the state pays for road work." III. INCREASED INVESTMENT IMPROVES NATIONAL WELFARE A. IT WILL INCREASE JOB GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENT SK/A02.11) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, December 2011, p. 47, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As I have previously stated, the importance of providing a funding mechanism to support our nation's deteriorating infrastructure is a critical element in making the US globally competitive. A direct result of increased funding and support for transportation infrastructure projects will be increased job growth and opportunities.

B. IT WILL BOOST GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT SK/A02.12) Paul Yarossi [Chairman, American Roads and Transportation Builders Association], NEWSDAY, February 9, 2012, p. A30, LexisNexis Academic. Healthy infrastructure supports a healthy economy, attracting new employers and improving the overall quality of life in our communities. We consistently see paybacks along our roads, rails and bridges. These dividends - safe, secure, efficient transportation - pay us back in our day-to-day lives well in excess of every dollar we invest. Moody's estimates every additional dollar spent on infrastructure generates a $1.44 increase in gross domestic product. C. IT WILL REDUCE FATAL INJURIES SK/A02.13) Terri Bunn et al., MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT, April 29, 2011, p. 497, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Highway transportation crashes are the leading cause of fatal injuries in the United States for both workers and the general population.

SK/A03. I.T.S. (INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS) PLAN: 1. The federal government will establish a nationwide I.T.S. (Intelligent Transportation Systems) program and will guarantee a minimum of $2.5 billion annually over the next six years. 2. Funding will come from elimination of fossil fuel subsidies. 3. Enforcement will be by all necessary means. I. INCREASED INVESTMENT IN I.T.S. IS VITAL A. I.T.S. REQUIRES INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT SK/A03.01) TRAFFIC ENGINEERING & CONTROL, January 2012, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The term Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) refers to information and communications technology applied to the transport infrastructure and vehicles that improve the transport outcomes in terms of transport safety, transport productivity, travel reliability, informed travel choices, social equity, environmental performance and network operation resilience. This is why technology is increasingly seen as a good investment from an infrastructure point of view as a cheaper option for improving the road capacity than digging up the landscape to increase the width of the motorways and trunk roads. B. 21st CENTURY TRANSPORTATION REQUIRES I.T.S. SK/A03.02) Seyed Mostafa Mousavi Kahaki [University Kebangsaan, Malaysia] & Md. Jan Nordin, JOURNAL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, June 2011, p. 949, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As vehicle population increases, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) become more significant and mandatory in today's overpopulated world. Vital problems in transportation such as mobility and safety of transportation are considered more, especially in metropolitans and highways. The main road traffic monitoring aims are: the acquisition and analysis of traffic figures, such as number of vehicles, incident detection and automatic driver warning systems are developed mainly for localization and safety purposes. C. U.S. LAGS FAR BEHIND OTHER NATIONS SK/A03.03) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The United States lags world leaders in aggregate ITS [intelligent transportation systems] deployment, particularly the provision of real-time traffic information by transportation agencies, progress on cooperative vehicle-highway integration, adoption of computerized traffic signals, and maximizing the effectiveness of already fielded ITS systems.

II. CURRENT FINANCING FOR I.T.S. IS WOEFULLY INADEQUATE A. PRIVATE INDUSTRY REQUIRES GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE SK/A03.04) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Compared to other countries that recognize the key role of government in assisting their countries through IT [information technology]-enabled economic transformation, the United States has largely believed, incorrectly, that this is something the private sector can do on its own. To the extent the United States has developed an ITS [intelligent transportation systems] plan, it is not connected to a national IT strategy, is relatively late in coming, cautious in its goals, and not yet a plan for national ITS deployment. B. STATES AND LOCALITIES LACK NECESSARY REVENUES SK/A03.05) Jason Juffras, THE PUBLIC MANAGER, Summer 2011, p. 10, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Because states are still facing gaps triggered by the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, in FY 2012 leaders again cut services, raised fees and (sometimes) taxes, and spent down remaining reserve funds. In many cases, the economic downturn exposed the strains on state budgets caused by rising healthcare, education, pension, and prison costs, which had been masked during the years of soaring housing prices, easy credit, and revenue growth. Although the recession ended in June 2009, the state fiscal crisis has continued due to an anemic recovery. With federal stimulus aid running out, unemployment stubbornly high, and more residents in need, many states are projecting budget gaps through 2015. C. CURRENT FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN I.T.S. IS INADEQUATE SK/A03.06) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Policy action is urgently needed if the United States is to reposition itself as one of the world's ITS [intelligent transportation systems] leaders. To get there, Congress should take these steps: Significantly increase funding for ITS at the federal level, by $2.5 to $3 billion annually, including funding for large-scale demonstration projects, deployment, and the operations and maintenance of already deployed ITS systems. Specifically, the next surface transportation authorization bill should include at least $1.5 billion annually in funding for the deployment of large-scale ITS demonstration projects. The authorization should also provide dedicated, performance-based funding of $1 billion for states to implement current ITS systems and provide for operations, maintenance, and training for already deployed ITS systems at the state and regional levels.

III. INCREASED INVESTMENT IN I.T.S. BENEFITS THE U.S. ECONOMY A. I.T.S. REDUCES TRAFFIC CONGESTION SK/A03.07) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. ITS [intelligent transportation systems] improve the performance of transportation networks by maximizing the capacity of existing infrastructure, reducing the need to build additional highway capacity. For example, applying real-time traffic data to U.S. traffic signal lights can improve traffic flow significantly, reducing stops by as much as 40%, reducing travel time by 25%, cutting gas consumption by 10%, and cutting emissions by 22%. ITS can contribute significantly to reducing congestion, which in the United States costs commuters 4.2 billion hours (a full work week per driver) and 2.8 billion gallons of fuel each year, costing the U.S. economy up to $200 billion annually. One study found that traffic jams could be reduced as much as 20% by 2011 in areas that use ITS. B. I.T.S. REDUCES CARBON EMISSIONS SK/A03.08) Jorgen Pedersen [Director, Automatic Terminal Information Service] & Tip Franklin, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, November 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In addition to improving traffic flow through adaptive traffic signaling, ITS [Intelligent Transportation Systems] can benefit commercial travelers who are often required to get their loads to a port, dock or other location by a specific time. With a connected infrastructure that uses data from multi-regional and multi-jurisdictional roads and transitways, ITS can identify accurate arrival times. The information could be relayed to the port, dock or recipient so they can make real-time changes to ensure that the shipment is accepted early or plan for a late arrival. That type of sensible application of integrating ITS, data and communication could save businesses money, provide a more flexible, adaptable and efficient environment, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

C. I.T.S. REDUCES TRAFFIC FATALITIES SK/A03.09) Jorgen Pedersen [Director, Automatic Terminal Information Service] & Tip Franklin, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, November 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. By using the entire ITS [Intelligent Transportation Systems] environment, the system and its operators would have all the information available to fully assess incidents, slow-downs and increased congestion, and identify whether the current situation falls outside normal trends. The system also could identify similar trend patterns based on previous events and use that data to manage the entire network. The system would then disseminate information to individual travelers, identifying the issue and suggesting a course of action, such as alternate routes or modes of transportation. That could allow traffic managers to prevent accidents before they occur. Reducing traffic-related fatalities is a priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). In a recent speech, Peter Appel, head of USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration, discussed how improvements in automotive design have reduced the annual traffic-related fatalities from nearly 45,000 in 2005 to a little more than 32,000 in 2010. He also said that the only way to further reduce the number of fatalities was to reduce the number of collisions. D. I.T.S. INCREASES EMPLOYMENT SK/A03.10) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has estimated that the ITS [intelligent transportation systems] field could create almost 600,000 new jobs over the next 20 years, and a study of ITS in the United Kingdom found that a $7.2-billion investment would create or retain 188,500 jobs for one year. E. I.T.S. IS THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE FORM OF INVESTMENT SK/A03.11) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. ITS [intelligent transportation systems] deliver superior benefit-cost returns when compared to traditional investments in highway capacity. Overall, the benefit-cost ratio of systems-operations measures enabled by ITS has been estimated at about 9 to 1, far above the addition of conventional highway capacity, which has a benefit-cost ratio of 2.7 to 1. The benefits of traffic signal optimization alone outweigh costs by 38 to 1.

SK/A04. HIGH-SPEED RAIL PLAN: 1. The federal government will adopt President Obamas six-year $53 billion high-speed rail plan, including promotion of public-private partnerships. 2. Funding will come from allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. 3. Enforcement will be by all necessary means. I. HIGH-SPEED RAIL IS A NECESSITY FOR 21ST CENTURY AMERICA A. POPULATION GROWTH REQUIRES HIGH-SPEED RAIL SK/A04.01) Eric Peterson [President, American High Speed Rail Alliance], MASS TRANSIT, June 2010, p. 44, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the American population will grow by at least 100 million between now and 2050. While some would suggest that, based on today's practices, people will still prefer to drive everywhere, and that the grossly inadequate level of rail service today could not imaginably be improved in the future, reason would suggest that is not the case. Changes in life styles, changes in energy sources and use, sensitivity over the environment, limits on how much can be done to continue building and maintaining other forms of over-burdened, inefficient transportation and other societal needs will require the development of a transportation alternative like high-speed rail. B. U.S. LAGS BEHIND OTHER NATIONS SK/A04.02) Katherine Bagley, POPULAR SCIENCE, May 2011, p. 70, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Even the U.S., which has lagged behind other nations, has acknowledged the need for high-speed rail to improve the nation's infrastructure, strengthen the economy, and enhance international competitiveness. C. FUTURE GENERATIONS WELFARE COMPELS HIGH-SPEED RAIL SK/A04.03) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Just as the United States implemented a stateof-the-art interstate highway system in the 1950s, the time has come for America to implement this new, more user-friendly modal core for our national transportation system. We owe it to our beleaguered economy, to our local and global environment and to our children. All Americans should support this creative solution to our country's longterm transportation challenge.

II. CURRENT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IS INADEQUATE A. INFRASTRUCTURE IS VITAL TO HIGH-SPEED RAIL SK/A04.04) Mark Reutter [former editor of RAILROAD HISTORY], THE WILSON QUARTERLY, Autumn 2009, p. 26, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. High-speed trainsets are only as good as their supporting infrastructure: right of way, track quality, and propulsion. Requirements for each component become more exacting as the speed of a train increases. B. RAILROADS LACK INCENTIVE TO UPGRADE SK/A04.05) Mark Reutter [former editor of RAILROAD HISTORY], THE WILSON QUARTERLY, Autumn 2009, p. 26, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The freight railroads that own the track that Amtrak uses for its passenger trains (except along the Northeast Corridor, which Amtrak owns) have little incentive to upgrade track to high-speed standards. The current track works just fine for them. In fact, many railroads reconfigured their track after Amtrak was formed in 1971, relieving private railroads rocked by the bankruptcy of the Penn Central Railroad of the need to operate passenger trains. Banked curves, which kept the centrifugal force on passengers to a tolerable level at high speed, were flattened to better accommodate slowmoving freights. Amtrak now must brake for curves that streamliners once navigated with ease. C. FEDERAL FUNDING HAS BEEN ELIMINATED SK/A04.06) Kevin Smith, INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY JOURNAL, May 2011, p. 4, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The United States' high-speed passenger rail programme is a major casualty of the last-minute budget deal reached between Republican and Democrat legislators on April 8 that averted a federal government shutdown following six months of political wrangling. No funds will be allocated towards the programme for the remainder of 2011, while around $US 400 million set aside in 2010 is no longer available. III. INCREASED INVESTMENT WILL MAKE HIGH-SPEED RAIL A REALITY A. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WILL SPUR INVESTMENT SK/A04.07) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of the Erie, Pa.-based company, expects opportunities for public-private partnerships will evolve over time. Simonelli also believes that some of these lines will turn an operating profit as they catch on with the public. "Once people start seeing the benefits, I think [high-speed rail] will really gain traction."

B. HIGH-SPEED RAIL WILL ACHIEVE RIDERSHIP SK/A04.08) AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, December 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Nearly two-thirds of adults (62 percent) said they would definitely or probably use high-speed rail service for leisure or business travel if it were an option, according to a survey from the Washington-based American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released Oct. 28. C. OTHER COUNTRIES DEMONSTRATE EFFICACY SK/A04.09) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. International examples show that well-designed, well-run routes attract and retain customers, notes Petra Todorovich, director of the America 2050 initiative. "All indications point to people choosing this service if it exists and it's reliable and convenient and it connects people to the places they want to go." IV. HIGH-SPEED RAIL BENEFITS THE U.S. ECONOMY A. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES ENERGY USAGE SK/A04.10) Kevin Bullis, TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, November-December 2009, p. 66, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Traveling between cities by high-speed rail uses as much as a third less energy per passenger-mile than the same trip by car. B. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES CARBON EMISSIONS SK/A04.11) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. HSR also helps the United States become a meaningful player in controlling climate change, which has become a crisis throughout the world. In fact, the vast European and Japanese high-speed rail networks are a primary reason both areas meet the old Kyoto Accords. While the United States is 4 percent of the world's population, it creates almost 30 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. It's time the United States assumed responsibility as a global citizen regarding this most serious climate challenge. C. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES TRAFFIC FATALITIES SK/A04.12) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Not only is that new technology amazingly fast, less polluting and more fuel efficient, but it's also impressively safe. The Japanese and French high-speed trains have carried many billions of riders and have experienced not one fatality. Meanwhile in the United States, 43,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were maimed on the nation's freeways last year alone. That is equivalent to a major epidemic.

D. HIGH-SPEED RAIL INCREASES EMPLOYMENT SK/A04.13) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. William Millar, president of American Public Transportation Association, agreed. "Every major change in transportation has been accompanied by or has led to a major increase in GDP. We know from our work in transit that $1 billion in capital investment supports 36,000 jobs and those jobs yield roughly $3.6 billion in business activity. Will the effect of high-speed rail be exactly like that? Probably not, but I think we can expect a similar order of magnitude."

SK/A05. ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN: 1. The federal government will adopt a nationwide program of infrastructure for EVs (electric vehicles), including promotion of public-private partnerships, and will guarantee a minimum of $2 billion annually over the next six years. 2. Funding will come from elimination of fossil fuel subsidies. 3. Enforcement will be by all necessary means. I. EV DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES MORE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT A. EVs ARE ON THE BRINK OF MASS PRODUCTION SK/A05.01) QUALITY, June 2011, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Plug-in electric vehicles may just be entering the market, but most U.S. consumers are ready to buy them. E Source recently analyzed data from the Nielsen Energy Survey and found that 85% of U.S. consumers say they would purchase a battery-driven car either right away (3%), when their current car needed replacement (57%), or when the technology is proven and it becomes more mainstream (25%). B. INFRASTRUCTURE IS VITAL FOR DEVELOPMENT SK/A05.02) MECHANICAL ENGINEERING-CIME, March 2012, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. One of the disincentives to becoming an early adopter of technology is the lack of supporting infrastructure. That's especially true with electric vehicles: a drained battery far from home might leave an owner stranded. The potential market of EVs can be linked to the growth of recharging stations, making an array of initiatives going on in the United Kingdom especially noteworthy. C. INCREASED INVESTMENT IS VITAL TO MEET DEMAND SK/A05.03) Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, BUSINESS ECONOMICS, July 2011, p. 167, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Public charging, although limited today, will be important as the population of plug-in vehicles grows. Providing additional charging locations will help overcome anxiety over limited range among battery electric vehicle owners and will provide opportunities for charging plug-in HEVs to enable them to shift as many miles as possible from gasoline miles to electric miles. When considering the role of government and private investment in charging infrastructure, Ford believes that public-space charging stations should be the key focus area.

II. EV DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS NATIONAL WELFARE A. EVs REDUCE DANGEROUS OIL DEPENDENCY 1. U.S. IS DEPENDENT UPON OIL IMPORTS SK/A05.04) Gale A. Buchanan [Dean, College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, U. of Georgia, Tifton] & James R. Fischer, RESOURCE: ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD, March-April 2012, p. 14, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The standard of living in the United States and around the world will be vulnerable in a petroleum-limited future. Why? Because global economic stability rests mainly with a nation's ability to supply energy to fuel its economy, especially the supply of crude oil. Here in the United States, our vulnerability to disruption in the energy supply is severe. Last year, we consumed more than 25 percent of the world's total output of petroleum, yet the United States has only 5 percent of the world's population. And over 60 percent of the petroleum that we use is imported! That is not sustainable. 2. FOREIGN DEPENDENCY THREATENS U.S. SECURITY SK/A05.05) Eric S. Fowler & Steve A. Yetiv [Professor of Political Science & International Studies, Old Dominion U.], POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY, Summer 2011, p. 287, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. From Washington to Beijing to Paris, officials and citizens around the world are increasingly aware of the perils of oil dependence. For his part, President Barack Obama set the tone on this issue for the American people in particular in January 2009 when he called for the United States to become energy independent, asserting that it could not be held "hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes, and a warming planet." 3. EVs REDUCE OIL CONSUMPTION SK/A05.06) Richard Ward [Director of Energy Initiatives, Aspen Science Center], EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, Spring 2011, p. 49, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In an average month, the US imports more than 300 million barrels of oil. In 2011, we will send approximately a third of a trillion dollars out of the country to pay for our gasoline and diesel. Switching to electric cars and to natural gas powered trucks would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improve national security, reduce our trade deficit, strengthen our economy, and radically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

B. EVs REDUCE DEADLY POLLUTION 1. AUTO EMISSIONS INCREASE DEATH AND SUFFERING SK/A05.07) Lili Farhang [Human Impact Partners] et al., COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY, April-June 2011, p. 193, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. For example, automobile and truck emissions contribute to ambient air pollution (Frumkin, Frank, & Jackson, 2004), which is associated with increased rates of respiratory disease, heart disease and some forms of cancer (CARB, 2006a). Children living next to busy roadways experience greater exposure to air pollutants, increased respiratory disease symptoms, asthma hospitalizations and doctor visits, and poorer lung function than children who live further away (Delfino et al., 2009; Gauderman et al., 2007; Gunier, Hertz, Behren, & Reynolds, 2003; Zhou & Levy, 2007). These impacts are disproportionately concentrated in urban communities, and contribute to health disparities (Flournoy & Yen, 2004). 2. EVs REDUCE AIR POLLUTION SK/A05.08) Walter F. Deal III [Associate Professor of Technology Education, Old Dominion U.], TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING TEACHER, November 2010, p. 5, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. EVs emit no tailpipe pollutants, although the power plant producing the electricity may emit them. Electricity from nuclear-, hydro-, solar-, or wind-powered plants causes no air pollutants. C. EVs REDUCE CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE 1. VEHICLES ARE MAJOR SOURCE OF GREENHOUSE GASES SK/A05.09) Diane Turcbetta [Office of Planning, Environment & Realty, Federal Highway Administration], PUBLIC ROADS, March-April 2010, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation activities in 2007 accounted for 28 percent of GHG [greenhouse gases] emissions in the United States. Between 1990 and 2007, emissions from the transportation sector rose by 29 percent. This growth was due, in large part, to increased demand for travel and stagnation of fuel efficiency across the U.S. vehicle fleet. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) expects transportation energy consumption to grow by 10.8 percent between 2007 and 2030. 2. GREENHOUSE GASES ARE CAUSING CLIMATE CHANGE SK/A05.10) Anton A. Chiono [The Pacific Forest Trust] & Laurie A. Wayburn, DUKE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & POLICY FORUM, Summer 2010, p. 385, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The warming of the global climate system has been recognized from observations of increased global average air and ocean temperatures, melting of snow and ice, and a rising global average sea level. Most of the increases in global average temperature since the mid-twentieth century have been attributed to rapidly increasing concentrations of anthropogenic greenhouse gases.

3. CLIMATE CHANGE ENTAILS ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER SK/A05.11) Isabel Hilton, WORLD POLICY JOURNAL, Spring 2008, p. 1, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The changes we have set in motion will be abrupt in planetary terms, their consequences unpredictable, and their effects irreversible. They are likely to include mass extinction--the IPCC panel estimates 30 percent of existing species, others put it higher--falling agricultural yields, melting of glaciers that supply water to some 40 percent of the world's population, more violent storms and hurricanes, and more severe droughts. Successive disasters are likely to precipitate mass movements of populations as climate refugees seek relief in a world in which all countries will be under varying degrees of stress. 4. EVs REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS SK/A05.12) Glen Andersen, STATE LEGISLATURES, May 2011, p. 22, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, the electric car will emit about 20 percent to 60 percent less, given the average U.S. mix of electricity generation sources. This benefit is likely to increase as more renewable, natural gas and nuclear energy are added to the electric grid.

SK/A06. BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN: 1. The federal government will adopt a nationwide program of infrastructure for bicycles and will guarantee a minimum of $2 billion annually over the next six years. 2. Funding will come from elimination of fossil fuel subsidies. 3. Enforcement will be by all necessary means. I. INCREASED INVESTMENT IS VITAL TO PROMOTE BICYCLING A. INFRASTRUCTURE IS VITAL FOR BICYCLING SK/A06.01) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2010, p. 15, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C., reveals that the fault line between cycling and noncycling countries or cities is created not by industrialization, but a suite of robust transportation policies. "Advances in cycling infrastructure, marketing programs, financial incentives, and zoning are being leveraged to increase cycling rates in more and more cities," documents senior researcher Gary Gardner. "Not since the automobile hijacked transportation planning decades ago has the bicycle had so many arguments and allies for claiming its natural niche in urban transportation ecosystems." B. STATE AND LOCAL INVESMENT IS INADEQUATE SK/A06.02) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Many governments are likely to cut their budgets sharply in the next few years to pay for the massive debts they incurred during the economic downturn, and bicycling support programs will be tempting targets. C. INCREASED INVESTMENT WILL INCREASE BICYCLE USAGE SK/A06.03) Susan Weaver [Weaver Research & Consulting] & William Fulton [Solimar Research Group], PLANNING, March 2008, p. 6, PROQUEST. San Francisco, prodded by her organization [Leah Shahum of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition], has doubled lanes in the last 10 years, and has also doubled riders (this, in a city not known for its bicycle-friendly flatness). "What we've seen over and over again," she says, "is that designating space is the top way to get people bicycling." She cites 144 percent and 400 percent increases in bicycling on Valencia Avenue and Howard Street, respectively, after lanes were implemented. Overall, she says, the numbers of bicyclists increase by an average of 50 percent once lanes are installed. D. OTHER COUNTRIES PROVE EFFICACY OF INVESTMENT SK/A06.04) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2010, p. 15, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Even though half of all trips in the U.S. are three miles or under, less than two percent are made by bicycle while 72% are made in cars. In stark contrast, a number of European cities with vigorous bike-centered initiatives boast cycling rates greater than 20%, which result in benefits for cities and cyclists alike.

II. INCREASED BICYCLING WILL BENEFIT PUBLIC HEALTH A. BICYCLING INCREASES PHYSICAL FITNESS 1. OBESITY IS A NATIONAL EPIDEMIC SK/A06.05) Robert Ceniceros, BUSINESS INSURANCE, March 5, 2012, p. 1, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults and children remained steady in 2009-2010 compared with 2007-2008. Some 37.5% of adults and nearly 17% of those up to age 19 were obese, which health experts say increases the risk of co-morbid conditions that include hypertension, diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease and cancer. 2. OBESITY KILLS THOUSANDS SK/A06.06) HARVARD MENS HEALTH WATCH, January 1, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Obesity may soon overtake smoking as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Even now, overweight and obesity account for almost 216,000 deaths a year, and if present trends continue, the number is sure to rise. 3. BICYCLING REDUCES HARMS OF PHYSICAL INACTIVITY SK/A06.07) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As we have heard for many years, medical authorities are urging everyone to exercise more. They cite a growing body of scientific evidence that regular exercise prevents or mitigates a wide variety of health disorders, especially obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, substance abuse, and mild emotional and psychological disorders. Bicycling is a particularly good way to exercise because you can use your bike for transport or purely recreational purposes. Furthermore, many people will not get enough exercise for good health unless they bike to work or to and from errands, or otherwise set aside some of their leisure time for biking or another form of exercise. B. BICYCLING REDUCES URBAN POLLUTION 1. AUTO EMISSIONS INCREASE DEATH AND SUFFERING SK/A06.08) Lili Farhang [Human Impact Partners] et al., COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY, April-June 2011, p. 193, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Traffic-related emissions have been identified as one of the main sources of air pollution leading to poor health outcomes. Many counties in California are at higher risk of cancer due to vehicular emissions (EPA, 2001).

2. BICYCLING EMITS NO POLLUTANTS SK/A06.09) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Substituting walking and nonmotorized or electric motor-assisted cycling for automobile use can provide substantial pollution reductions. The Active Transportation for America study concluded that short trips of three miles or less make up half of all trips taken in the United States; shifting these short trips to biking and walking could reduce [CO2] emissions by at least 12 million and up to 91 million tons a year. C. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT REDUCES UNEMPLOYMENT 1. UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS AT CRISIS LEVELS SK/A06.10) David Andolfatto & Marcela M. Williams, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ST. LOUIS REVIEW, March-April 2012, p. 135, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The U.S. economy lost more than 8 million jobs in the latest recession and the three subsequent quarters, while the unemployment rate rose to nearly 10 percent. 2. UNEMPLOYMENT IS DEVASTATING TO HEALTH SK/A06.11) US NEWSWIRE, March 13, 2009, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "Interestingly, this economic downturn is showing how quickly the effects of unemployment and, thus, reduction of health care expenditures is resulting in mortality," Brenner [School of Public Health, U. of North Texas] said. "In the past, we saw people die within 10 years after their job loss. Now, we are seeing them die as early as the same year." When a worker becomes unemployed, he or she often loses health insurance, suffers stress and adopts unhealthy behavior as a result. They may delay preventive health care because of the cost or loss of health insurance coverage. The stress of being unemployed causes both physical and psychological issues that may eventually erupt into major medical conditions that easily could have been treated earlier. 3. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INCREASES JOBS SK/A06.12) BICYCLING, May 2011, p. 38, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Besides leading to decreased pollution, new research indicates bike lanes can help reduce unemployment. Here's how many new jobs transportation projects in Baltimore generated per $1 million spent: 14.4 BIKE LANES (ON STREET); 11.7 BIKE BOULEVARD; 11.3 PEDESTRIAN PROJECTS; 7.4 ROAD REPAIRS AND UPGRADES; 6.8 ROAD RESURFACING.

SK/A07. TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS 1. U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE IS WOEFULLY DEFICIENT SK/A07.01) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, February 1, 2011, p. 22, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Not surprisingly, infrastructure was a major theme of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address last month. "To attract new businesses to our shores, we need the fastest, most reliable ways to move people, goods, and information--from high-speed rail to high-speed internet," said Obama. "Our infrastructure used to be the best, but our lead has slipped. South Korean homes now have greater internet access than we do. Countries in Europe and Russia invest more in their roads and railways than we do. China is building faster trains and newer airports. Meanwhile, when our own engineers graded our nation's infrastructure, they gave us a 'D.'" SK/A07.02) Jeff Berman, LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, August 1, 2011, p. 16, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "We have worked together to develop MAP-21, which is a bipartisan proposal that modernizes and reforms our current transportation systems to help create jobs, jumpstart our economy, and build the foundation for long-term prosperity," said Boxer [U.S. Senator]. "This bill is an investment in America's future, because the nation's aging infrastructure has not kept up with needed improvements, and now our transportation systems are falling behind other countries." 2. FUTURE TRANSPORTATION NEEDS WILL ACCELERATE SK/A07.03) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, August 1, 2010, p. 17, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. What's more, AASHTO [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] said that the need to significantly move freight across the U.S. and globally will increase substantially in the 21st century. "Our goal [with this report] is to send a clear message to America's lawmakers and the public in general that the transportation system that supports the movement of freight all across the country is facing the potential for a crisis," said AASHTO Media Relations Manager Tony Dorsey. "Our highways, railroads, ports, and waterways need more investments and improvements. SK/A07.04) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, August 1, 2010, p. 17, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In terms of the current and future issues regarding the current transportation systems, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] report notes that that the U.S. population is expected to grow from 308 million in 2010 to 420 million by 2050, which translates into more food, clothing, and commodities, and subsequently more transportation infrastructure capacity. AASHTO also said that by 2020 the U.S. trucking industry will be moving 3 billion more tons of freight than it's currently hauling, which will require another 1.8 million trucks on the road to meet this demand. And in 40 years, the report said that overall freight demand will double from today's 15 billion tons to 30 billion tons by 2050, with truck and rail freight increasing 41 and 38 percent, respectively, from today's levels.

SK/A08. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INADEQUATE 1. INVESTMENT LEVELS ARE PITIFULLY INADEQUATE SK/A08.01) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, May 1, 2011, p. 14, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Aside from the current partisan differences, Oberstar [former Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee] said more priority needs to be placed on the movement of freight in the U.S., given the aging transportation system which is no longer keeping pace with international trade. This is key considering the U.S. transportation infrastructure system has long been the envy of the world, with Oberstar pointing out that would not be possible without the financial support of the Highway Trust Fund. "The answer is American ingenuity and know-how and the will to make it work," said Oberstar. "But today we are investing 1.9 percent of our GDP in our infrastructure. Europe is investing 5 percent, and China is investing 9 percent. You often hear things like 'we will do more with less,' but nobody does more with less with infrastructure." 2. CONGRESS REFUSES TO INCREASE INVESTMENT SK/A08.02) Jonathan Weisman, THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 15, 2012, p. A18, LexisNexis Academic. President Obama, as well as highway and transit advocates, had pressed for a big, upfront increase in infrastructure spending to lift the economy and address the nation's aging roads and bridges. But considering that House Republicans last year were considering a 35 percent cut to transportation spending, level funding may have been the best that advocates could hope for, said Rob Healy, vice president for government affairs at the American Public Transportation Association. SK/A08.03) Jonathan Weisman, THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 15, 2012, p. A18, LexisNexis Academic. Rather than raising the gas tax, as many transportation advocates suggest, the Senate jury-rigged the bill with an array of revenue provisions, tapping a trust fund established to clean up leaking underground storage tanks and adjusting the way pension fund contributions and liabilities are calculated. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, criticized the use of 10 years of revenue from such provisions to pay for a two-year transportation bill. 3. STIMULUS BILL WAS BUT A DROP IN THE BUCKET SK/A08.04) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The unprecedented investment of the federal recovery act failed to fill even a single year's gap. Even with the stimulus funds, 21 states cut transportation programs in FY 2010 and at least 11 plan to do so in FY 2011, including nine that did in 2010.

4. BILLIONS MORE ARE NEEDED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS SK/A08.05) Ellen Hanak [Public Policy Institute of California], NATIONAL TAX JOURNAL, September 2009, p. 573, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Since the late 1980s, a variety of advocacy groups have been calling for increased public spending on the nation's infrastructure, emphasizing unmet needs. Perhaps foremost among these groups is the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which issues "infrastructure report cards" for the nation and individual states. The ASCE's latest national report card, issued a month after the stimulus bill was passed, gave the United States a grade of "D" and called for $2.2 trillion in public infrastructure spending over the next five years; roughly doubling infrastructure spending relative to their estimate of baseline spending (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009). SK/A08.06) Myra Pinkham, METAL BULLETIN WEEKLY, January 9, 2012, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Ellis [American Association of Port Authorities] states that the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that there needs to be $20 billion more a year spent on the US transportation infrastructure, including $1.5 billion more per year for the nations deep draft navigational channels, just to maintain it to the current inadequate levels. SK/A08.07) Myra Pinkham, METAL BULLETIN WEEKLY, January 9, 2012, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. He [Aaron Ellis, American Association of Port Authorities] adds that in 2008 the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Committee found that there would need to be an investment of $225 billion a year in the US transportation system over the next half century to keep it in good repair, but current investments, Ellis says, fall about 60% short of that amount. SK/A08.08) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The nation faces a shortfall of $58 billion a year just to maintain highways and transit systems, and $119 billion a year to improve them, according to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. SK/A08.09) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, October 1, 2010, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A New York Times report said that if Congress were to reauthorize the now-expired SAFETEA-LU and accounted for inflation, it would cost about $350 billion over the next six years, plus the additional $50 billion up-front investment that would be offset by eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for the oil and gas industries.

SK/A09. LONG-TERM INVESTMENT VITAL 1. FEDERAL FUNDING HAS BEEN CHRONICALLY SHORT-TERM SK/A09.01) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As one of its first acts, the new House adopted a rule change that makes federal funding for transportation programs subject to the annual appropriations process for the first time since 1998. This change could result in lower spending levels for state transportation programs. If the gas tax does not increase and other sources of revenue are not found, there will be a substantial cutback in money available for roads and bridges, according to Ken Orski, a longtime transportation consultant and former Nixon administration official. SK/A09.02) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 2, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Despite the Senate passage of a highway bill on March 14, inaction in the House necessitated a ninth extension of federal surface transportation programs. On March 29, with just two days to spare before the sunset on the last continuation, the House and Senate approved an extension authorizing transportation programs through June 30, 2012. President Obama signed the legislation into law on March 30. 2. STOPGAP FUNDING DESTROYS LONG-RANGE PLANNING SK/A09.03) Tom Ichniowski, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, March 5, 2012, p. 1, LexisNexis Academic. Alabama DOT's chief engineer, Don Vaughn, says, The problem with the short-term extensions is the money comes to us in a lot of little buckets, each for a funding category, such as bridge replacement or congestion mitigation/air-quality projects. Vaughn says, Those buckets don't fill up when you have a short-term extension. As a result, a state DOT has to wait to launch a project until its gets enough money in the appropriate categorical bucket. He adds, It's very difficult to maintain and manage a program. SK/A09.04) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. With no increase in the federal gas tax, future estimated annual revenue for the Highway Trust Fund will be about $35 billion a year for highways and $5.5 billion a year for transit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Previously, revenue for the fund amounted to $39.6 billion for highways and $5 billion for transit. The shrinking revenue stream is a cause of great concern for states, but just getting a long-term federal bill would provide some measure of assurance. Officials at state departments of transportation and their contractors who provide jobs say they need certainty to plan into the future. SK/A09.05) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. States have been waiting for a long time for reauthorization of a sweeping new federal transportation bill that will supply new money and potentially change the way federal funds are distributed. Short-term extensions of the existing law have not been enough. Congress has had to transfer $35 billion from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund since mid 2008 to make up for shortfalls, mainly from the gas tax.

3. PRESIDENTS PLAN FOSTERS LONG-TERM INVESTMENT SK/A09.06) David Briginshaw, INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY JOURNAL, March 2012, p. 2, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. President Obama's 2013 fiscal-year budget includes $US 74 billion for the US Department of Transportation and is based on a $US 476 billion six-year surface transportation reauthorisation proposal. SK/A09.07) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, October 1, 2010, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The wide-ranging, six-year, $50 billion plan proposed by Obama is comprised of: rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of rail, which is enough to stretch from coast-to-coast; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of runways along with installing a nextgen system that will reduce travel time and air delays. SK/A09.08) Tom Ichniowski, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, March 5, 2012, p. 1, LexisNexis Academic. U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, addressing the AASHTO meeting on Feb. 27, criticized the House bill, contending that it "emasculated transit." LaHood said, "We like the Senate bill," but made a pitch for the Obama administration's $476-billion, six-year surface-transportation proposal.

SK/A10. INFRASTUCTURE BANK EFFECTIVE 1. PRESIDENTS PLAN PROPOSES INFRASTRUCTURE BANK SK/A10.01) John D. Schultz [Contributing Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, November 2011, p. 14, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Transportation Secretary Ray H. LaHood is vowing to go to the mat against his former House Republican colleagues in winning $10 billion in seed money to create a national Infrastructure Bank to fund freight projects of national significance. That comes in the wake of House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) calling the Infrastructure Bank idea "dead on arrival" in the House. "The Infrastructure Bank is something that President Obama has pushed very hard for," LaHood said. "We support it in the American Jobs Act [where] there is $10 billion dollars for the Infrastructure Bank." SK/A10.02) John D. Schultz [Contributing Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, November 2011, p. 14, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. LaHood [U.S. Secretary of Transportation] says that being the only Republican in the president's cabinet will be helpful as he tries to lobby his former colleagues into passing the $447 billion American Jobs Act, which includes the Infrastructure Bank seed money. SK/A10.03) John Hollenhorst [publisher], MASS TRANSIT, March 2011, p. 34, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In the current economic and political climate, this proposed budget demonstrates the president's determination to improve America's transportation infrastructure over the next six years and beyond. The blueprint replaces the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) with a newly created Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), a significant step in the right direction to give transit parity with highways, including a measure of insulation from political meddling. The TTF as proposed comprises four accounts: transit, highway, high-speed passenger rail and a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB). 2. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK WILL LEVERAGE PRIVATE CAPITAL SK/A10.04) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, February 1, 2011, p. 22, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. An infrastructure bank would increase funding that is severely needed for surface transportation projects by leveraging private and state and local capital to invest in projects critical to economic success, rather than the more traditional federal government approach of spending through earmarks and formula-based grants.

SK/A10.05) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, October 1, 2010, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "If we are to enjoy the benefits that come from a world-class transportation system, Congress must enact a long-term reauthorization that reforms and expands our infrastructure investments and returns the transportation trust fund to solvency," said White House officials. Also touted as part of this plan is a pledge for an infrastructure bank that would increase the funding that's needed for surface transportation projects by leveraging private, state, and local capital to invest in projects critical to economic success--rather than relying on the more traditional federal government approach of spending through earmarks and formula-based grants. 3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WILL BE EFFECTIVE SK/A10.06) Michael J. Garvin, JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, April 2010, p. 402, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Public-private partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure development and management have received significant attention in academic, institutional, and political circles over roughly the last two decades. This attention was prompted, to a great extent, by early experiments with PPP-type arrangements in Australia, Canada, and the United States coupled with the United Kingdom's Private Finance Initiative policy--not to mention the experience of other parts of the world such as Asia, continental Europe, and South America. PPP policies and practices have evolved in other world regions, but the United States remains a relatively slow mover in this market. SK/A10.07) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 4, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A public-private partnership (P3) is a contractual arrangement between a public agency and a private-sector entity to deliver a public service. P3s are different than privatization because public assets are not sold to a private entity. Instead, contracts are commercial leases with very detailed guidelines and regulations set by both sides. P3s are designed to be flexible to meet the particular needs of a community and the asset, and for them to be successful, private industry must be accountable, innovative and quality-focused. They provide an up-front infusion of private-sector capital and efficiency to accelerate the maintenance, improvement and expansion of roads, bridges, transit systems and other infrastructure. 4. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK WILL BE EFFECTIVE SK/A10.08) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, April 2011, p. 143, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As a world leader who continues to promote the efficacy and inherent value of democracy, security of the homeland, and defending sound economic policies and freedoms throughout the world, it is vital that the US support and maintain a fully integrated and multimodal transportation infrastructure. Establishment of a transportation infrastructure bank is a concept whose time has come and should receive the attention and support of our executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. It is not only sound economic policy; it is the right thing to do for our nation.

SK/A10.09) John D. Schultz [Contributing Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, May 1, 2010, p. 17, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Infrastructure banks are commonplace in other countries, especially in Europe where they are supported by dedicated funding sources. They make low-interest loans directly to localities for infrastructure projects. Supporters say they eliminate time and red tape from the funding process. SK/A10.10) John D. Schultz [Contributing Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, May 1, 2010, p. 17, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at the Los Angelesbased Reason Foundation, a libertarian-leaning think tank, said the nation suffers from both insufficient and poorly targeted infrastructure investments. "Multi-state projects are particularly hard to fund under the current system," Poole said. "Large, billion-dollar, multi-state, multi-modal projects would be particularly attractive to funding through infrastructure bank funding."

SK/A11. INFRASTRUCTURE BENEFITS U.S. ECONOMY 1. UNDERINVESTMENT DAMAGES NATIONAL WELFARE SK/A11.01) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "All available research confirms both the strategic benefits of transportation investment as well as the dramatic decline in available transportation revenue," says Dan Murray, a researcher at the American Transportation Research Institute. "Continued under-investment in roads and bridges has played a leading role in traffic congestion and all that comes with it; namely pollution, safety degradation, longer transit times and increased logistics costs. Worse, our recalcitrance for funding transportation will ultimately lead to higher inflation, lower productivity and a continued decline in our global competitiveness." SK/A11.02) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A Michigan transportation study found underinvestment in transportation infrastructure cost $7 billion annually in wasted fuel, lost time, vehicle maintenance costs, medical costs, lost productivity and property damage caused by congestion, poor pavement condition and crashes. 2. INVESTMENT BENEFITS WELFARE OF FUTURE GENERATIONS SK/A11.03) Fawn Johnson, NATIONAL JOURNAL, October 6, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "Yes, paving is good. It starts making road conditions a little better, a little less wear and tear on your car, said Andrew Herrmann, president-elect of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The stimulus measure plucked most of that low-hanging fruit, he said. Bigger projects to widen roads, rehabilitate bridges, and build new commuter tunnels might take more time, but they also will generate broader dividends, Herrmann said. "Infrastructure is a longterm thing. We build for, not even decades, but for 50 years, even 100 years. You can't just go out there and start dumping concrete. 3. INCREASED INVESTMENT STRENGTHENS NATIONAL DEFENSE SK/A11.04) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, December 2011, p. 47, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Building a world class transportation system and infrastructure has in the past and will in the future be a key element in making the United States an economic superpower. Continuing to support and maintain a world class military is required to support our Nation's present and future security needs. With strong leadership, both of these objectives can be met.

SK/A11.05) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, December 2011, p. 47, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The $649.2 billion fiscal year 2012 defense spending bill ... cuts $8 billion from Obama's request, setting a baseline for future years that's lower than in the past." This position is supported by the current Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Secretary Panetta was quoted in the referenced Politico article 'We must preserve the excellence and superiority of our military while looking for ways to identify savings. While tough budget choices will need to be made, I do not believe in the false choice between fiscal discipline and a strong national defense. We will all work together to achieve both."

SK/A12. UNSAFE ROADS AND BRIDGES 1. ROADS AND BRIDGES ARE IN SERIOUS STATE OF DISREPAIR SK/A12.01) Paul Yarossi [Chairman, American Roads and Transportation Builders Association], NEWSDAY, February 9, 2012, p. A30, LexisNexis Academic. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 37.3 percent of New York's 17,372 bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, while 24 percent of our roadways need major repair or replacement. The situation is similar across the country yet the nationwide debate over jobs and funding drags on. 2. CRUMBLING ROADS ARE A DRAIN ON THE U.S. ECONOMY SK/A12.02) STATES NEWS SERVICE, September 8, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "The reality is our communities can't thrive and our businesses can't grow if they are saddled with potholes and unsafe bridges," said Robert Cramer, president of the Associated General Contractors of Iowa. SK/A12.03) Matt Sundeen, STATE LEGISLATURES, October-November 2007, p. 18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Driving on bumpy roads and bridges, falling concrete, and potholes cost U.S. motorists an estimated $67 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs--as much as $333 per motorist. SK/A12.04) Roger L. Kemp, NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW, Summer 2006, p. 45, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Poor roads cost motorists $54 billion a year in repairs and operating costs, while Americans spent 3.5 billion hours a year stuck in traffic jams. 3. UNSAFE BRIDGES THREATEN MILLIONS OF AMERICANS a. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF UNSAFE BRIDGES SK/A12.05) Sheila Rimal Duwadi & Eric Munley [both, Federal Highway Administration], PUBLIC ROADS, May-June 2011, p. 20, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As noted in the National Bridge Inventory, the United States is home to approximately 600,000 bridges on public roads. SK/A12.06) THE ECONOMIST (US), November 19, 2011, p. 34(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to Transportation for America, an advocacy group, one in nine highway bridges are "structurally deficient"--a quality they seem to share with America's Congress.

b. COLLAPSING BRIDGES ARE DEADLY SK/A12.07) Barry B. Lepatner, USA TODAY MAGAZINE, May 2011, p. 70, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. On Aug. 1, 2007, the I35W Bridge collapsed during rush hour, killing 13 people, injuring 145, and bringing massive economic disruption to the Twin Cities area. SK/A12.08) Luiza Ch. Savage, MACLEANS, September 20, 2010, p. 30, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. When the eight-lane Interstate 35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis in 2009, killing 13 people and injuring 145, the American Society of Civil Engineers warned that the infrastructure deficit of aging postwar highways and bridges amounted to US$1.6 trillion. More than a quarter of America's bridges were rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. SK/A12.09) Patricia Vowinkel, RISK & INSURANCE, December 2008, p. 38, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Other bridges have collapsed over the years as well. In 1967, the Silver Bridge connecting Point Pleasant, W.Va., and Kanauga, Ohio, collapsed after 39 years of increasingly heavy traffic loads, killing 46. More recently, in 1983, a 100-foot section of the Mianus River Bridge on Interstate-95 collapsed after one of the pins used in its construction had been sheared. Three people were killed in that disaster. Casualties from the collapse were minimized because the disaster occurred around 1:30 a.m. c. FUTURE BRIDGE COLLAPSES ARE INEVITABLE SK/A12.10) Barry B. Lepatner, USA TODAY MAGAZINE, May 2011, p. 70, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. There still are 7,980 bridges in the nation that are structurally deficient and fracture-critical, each of which is in danger of suffering the same fate as the I-35W span. SK/A12.11) Barry B. Lepatner, USA TODAY MAGAZINE, May 2011, p. 70, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The November 2008 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, which followed 15 months of investigation, advised the public and transportation officials around the country that the bridge collapse was a one-time occurrence, caused by a design error that had gone undetected at the time of construction. In short, the collapse was a one-off from which no lessons could be learned to avoid future failures. That simply is not the case, as there is a desperate need for reform in the way we fund and maintain the nation's infrastructure. NTSB tellingly ignored a host of critical factors that were not disclosed to the public or other state bridge operators, thus delegitimizing the efficacy of the report, which masked far more than it revealed about how the bridge was maintained, funded, and operated. SK/A12.12) McKay Coppins & Ryan Tracy, NEWSWEEK, August 9, 2010, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A deficient rating doesn't mean a bridge will collapse tomorrow. But as Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz told Congress, "It's only a matter of time."

4. BILLIONS MORE ARE NEEDED FOR ROAD AND BRIDGE REPAIR SK/A12.13) Lorraine Moffa, AMERICAN HISTORY, June 2009, p. 46, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Ever since George Washington argued in the 1790s that a National Road should be one of the young republic's priorities, the federal government has taken the lead in building and maintaining America's economic infrastructure. Public investment in roads, bridges and railroads, as well as dams, sewer systems and the electric grid, bound the nation together and forged the girders for growth. Now those girders are neglected and crumbling, according to a report released this year by the American Society for Civil Engineers. An estimated $2.2 trillion is needed just for repairs and improvements. SK/A12.14) McKay Coppins & Ryan Tracy, NEWSWEEK, August 9, 2010, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The FHWA says it will take about $100 billion to bring every bridge up to par. But last year's $787 billion stimulus package earmarked just $3.1 billion for the work. SK/A12.15) Ed Brock, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, April 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Of the nation's approximately 600,000 highway bridges, 69,223 of them are classified as structurally deficient, and FHWA estimates that $70.9 billion is needed to address the current backlog of deficient bridges, according to the T4 America report, "The Fix We're In For: The State of Our Nation's Bridges." That amount likely will increase as many bridges near the end of their expected lifespan, the report says. SK/A12.16) Ed Brock, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, April 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The need for more federal support for bridge repairs is one reason why T4 America has released the report. Congress is currently debating the overdue reauthorization of the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, says T4 America Director James Corless. "Much of the funding for fixing our bridges comes from that bill," he says.

SK/A13. GAS TAX REVENUES INADEQUATE 1. FEDERAL GAS TAX FACES SERIOUS SHORTFALLS SK/A13.01) Jaime Rall & James B. Reed, STATE LEGISLATURES, March 2011, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Recessiondriven declines in overall driving coupled with larger numbers of fuel-efficient vehicles have resulted in lower gas tax revenues. At the same time, the cost of building and repairing roads continues a steady climb. SK/A13.02) Tom Ichniowski, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, February 13, 2012, p. 5, LexisNexis Academic. But revenue for the trust fund, highways' main federal revenue source for 56 years, is projected at only $37.4 billion a year through 2016, causing lawmakers to scramble to find more money from elsewhere to hit their bills' stated levels. SK/A13.03) Jeff Berman [Group News Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, April 1, 2011, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The primary funding mechanism for surface transportation--the federal gasoline tax at 18.4 cents for gasoline and 23.4 cents for diesel--has not been increased since 1993. 2. INCREASING STATE GAS TAXES IS NOT A REALISTIC ALTERNATIVE SK/A13.04) Kathy Scott, MASS TRANSIT, September-October 2010, p. 82, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Currently, the only avenue being offered to fund the Highway Trust Fund is to increase the federal gas tax, currently at 18.3 percent and 18.3 is only the tip of the iceberg. States assess their own tax. According to the American Petroleum Institute, the average tax on a gallon of gas is 47.7 cents. States like California (67.4) and New York (63.2) have the highest fuel tax and those states are important to political parties. 3. MILEAGE-TRAVELED TAX WILL PROVIDE RELIABLE FUNDING SK/A13.05) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As documented in the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission's 2009 report Paying Our Way, the current federal transportation funding structure that relies primarily on taxes imposed on petroleum-derived vehicle fuels is not sustainable over the long term. Moving toward a funding system based more directly on miles driven (and potentially other factors, such as time of day, type of road, and vehicle weight and fuel economy) rather than indirectly on fuel consumed, is "the most viable approach" to ensuring the long-term sustainability and solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.

SK/A13.06) Anjala Krishen [Asst. Professor of Marketing, U. of Nevada-Las Vegas] et al., TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, Summer 2010, p. 24, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. While the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission (NSTIF) recently concluded that a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) system would be the best solution for replacing the gas tax and ensuring adequate financing for highway infrastructure investment needs (NSTIF 2009), the Obama administration declared that it would not support implementation of a vehicle mileage tax.

SK/A14. I.T.S. (INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS) 1. I.T.S. REQUIRES INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT SK/A14.01) TRAFFIC ENGINEERING & CONTROL, January 2011, p. 18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Unless adequate resources, both time and money, are dedicated to the evaluation of projects--and to the reporting of outcomes--there is a possibility that weaknesses in the methodology and limits placed on the extent of indicators assessed mean that authorities will remain uncertain about whether to invest further in ITS [intelligent transportation systems]. Once again, this will lead to ITS being underexploited. What should happen to ensure ITS is properly exploited in the future, is that appropriate resources be dedicated to undertaking a comprehensive project evaluation. This should include the recording of contextual information and a consideration of the transferability of outcomes, with robust results being made widely and freely available. 2. 21ST CENTURY TRANSPORTATION REQUIRES I.T.S. SK/A14.02) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. IT [information technology] enables assets throughout the transportation system--vehicles, buses, roads, traffic lights, message signs, and so forth--to become intelligent by embedding them with microchips or sensors and empowering them to communicate with each other through wireless technologies. Doing so empowers actors in the transportation system--from commuters, to highway and transit network operators, to the actual devices themselves-with information (that is, intelligence) to make better-informed decisions, whether it is choosing which route to take, when to travel, whether to take a different type of transportation (for example, mass transit instead of driving), how to use traffic signals to allow the most efficient flow of vehicles possible, where to build new roads, or how to hold providers of transportation services accountable for results. SK/A14.03) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. If the United States is to achieve even a minimal ITS [intelligent transportation systems] system, the federal government will need to assume a far greater leadership role in not just ITS R&D, but also ITS deployment. It is time for the United States to view ITS as the 21st century digital equivalent of the interstate highway system of the 1950s and 1960s, in which the federal government took the lead in setting a vision, developing standards, laying out routes, and funding construction.

3. U.S. LAGS FAR BEHIND OTHER NATIONS SK/A14.04) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. For example, in 2007, the National Transportation Operations Coalition, an alliance of national associations, practitioners, and private sector groups representing the interests of the transportation industry at the state, regional, and local levels, gave the United States a "D" grade because the vast majority of signalized intersections were using static, outdated timing plans based on data collected years or decades before. The San Francisco Bay area had 4,700 traffic sensing detectors along its 2,800 freeway miles in 2003, with 29% of the roads incorporating sensors spaced every mile, and 40% with sensors spaced every two miles. However, about 45% of the devices were out of service, significantly reducing the systems ability to produce reliable traffic data. The GAO's 2009 report reiterated that many of the problems pertaining to inadequate funding for the operation of already fielded ITS [intelligent transportation systems] have not improved appreciably since 2003. For the most part, these problems have resulted from continued inadequate funding for ITS and the lack of the right organizational system to drive ITS in the United States, especially the weak federal role. 4. CURRENT FEDERAL INVESTMENT WOEFULLY INADEQUATE SK/A14.05) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The U.S. ITS [intelligent transportation systems] effort focuses on research, is funded at $110 million annually, and operates out of the DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration's (RITA's) ITS Joint Program Office. SK/A14.06) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. To reorganize and reanimate the U.S. ITS [intelligent transportation systems] effort, on January 8, 2010, RITA [Department of Transportations Research and Innovative Technology Administration] unveiled a five-year ITS Strategic Research Plan, 2010-2014, that will make an assessment of the feasibility, viability, and value of deploying IntelliDrive. Although the strategic plan represents an important step forward, the United States needs to make a fundamental transition from a mostly research-oriented approach to a focus on deployment and to accelerate the speed at which ITS technologies reach the traveling public. But the pace of progress is slow. Whereas Japan took just six years to move from conceptualization to deployment of its cooperative-vehicle highway system, Smartway, it will take the United States five years simply to research and to make determinations about the feasibility and value of IntelliDrive.

SK/A14.07) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A major reason why Japan, South Korea, and Singapore lead is because they view ITS [intelligent transportation systems] as one of a suite of IT applications or infrastructures that will transform their societies and drive economic growth. As such, they have focused on establishing policies for digital transformation generally and ITS transformation specifically, and made both national priorities. As an ABI Research report noted, "Japan and South Korea lead the world in ITS, and national government agendas are among the most significant drivers for the development of ITS [there]." In contrast, there has been no national vision for IT transformation in the United States. To the extent that it gets attention and funding, ITS has been seen simply as an adjunct tool that might make transportation marginally better. 5. I.T.S. REDUCES TRAFFIC CONGESTION SK/A14.08) THE ECONOMIST (US), November 19, 2011, p. 34(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. America's transportation infrastructure can ill afford to wait. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimated in 2009 that 36% of America's major urban highways are congested, costing $78.2 billion each year in wasted time and fuel costs. SK/A14.09) Tip Franklin, DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, August 2011, p. 30, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. With today's ITS [Intelligent Transportation Systems], we operate the system ... it doesn't drive us. We can manipulate traffic flow, and can adjust it to support the operations of other municipal services. We can respond to changing weather conditions (tornado, hurricane, flooding) and emergencies (fire, riots, demonstrations). We can plan around events (football games, parade, opening night premiers). ITS helps avoid massive backups that used to tie us up for hours in traffic jams. SK/A14.10) Jorgen Pedersen [Director, Automatic Terminal Information Service] & Tip Franklin, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, November 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. With ITS [Intelligent Transportation Systems], agencies responsible for different areas of the transportation infrastructure (i.e, roads, transit services, airports, etc.) and from multiple regions can communicate effectively with one another through a standard system to make an efficient transportation infrastructure. Through ITS, disparate systems that were never designed to be used with other systems can communicate seamlessly with other systems and agencies. SK/A14.11) Jorgen Pedersen [Director, Automatic Terminal Information Service] & Tip Franklin, AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY, November 1, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The next generation of ITS [Intelligent Transportation Systems] will not only inform drivers about traffic delays or an accident ahead, but also offer options of how to avoid delays by using the entire transportation network. Those systems will require a view of the entire network and significantly will increase the data requirements.

6. I.T.S. REDUCES TRAFFIC FATALITIES SK/A14.12) Zachary Ellis, PUBLIC ROADS, May-June 2011, p. 41, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. More than 25,000 people die each year in the United States in crashes caused by a vehicle drifting or veering out of its lane. SK/A14.13) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. ITS [intelligent transportation systems] can help reduce the 1.2 million fatalities that occur annually on the worlds roads, including the 5.8 million crashes and 37,621 fatalities in the United States in 2008. Widespread use of electronic toll collection could largely eliminate the 30% of highway crashes that occur in the vicinity of toll collection booths. Highway ramp metering has been shown to reduce total crashes by at least 15%. If IntelliDrive, the U. S. vision for a nationwide cooperative vehicle-highway system, were deployed, it could address 82% of vehicle crash scenarios involving unimpaired drivers. Deploying ITS could thus help mitigate the $230-billion annual economic impact, equivalent to nearly 2.3% of U.S. gross domestic product, of traffic accidents and associated injuries or loss of life. SK/A14.14) Tamara Redmon, PUBLIC ROADS, March-April 2011, p. 16, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In Miami, FHWA used MOEs [measures of effectiveness] and crash data to evaluate the counter-measures. Prior to FHWA's project, NHTSA conducted a study to look at the effects of law enforcement and educational programs on reducing crashes in Miami-Dade County. As reported in Evaluation of the Miami-Dade Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project (DOT HS 810 964), NHTSA collected data for zones in the county with abnormally high pedestriancrash experiences. NHTSA collected data there for 9 years prior to the FHWA project, and an additional 2 years during FHWA's project--providing a total of 11 years of crash data. These data show an average of 51 crashes involving pedestrians per year after installation of the countermeasures and in combination with the NHTSA enforcement and educational efforts. These data represent a 50 percent reduction over the baseline level and a 41 percent reduction in crashes from the NHTSA project levels. "The crash data showed that the installations were associated with large reductions in crashes in the treated corridors," says Ron Van Houten, psychology professor at Western Michigan University, who was a project manager for the Miami study. SK/A14.15) Tamara Redmon, PUBLIC ROADS, March-April 2011, p. 16, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Instead, FHWA researchers looked at measures of effectiveness (MOEs) related to pedestrian and driver behavior. The MOEs included vehicle speed, percentage of drivers braking when pedestrians are present, percentage of pedestrians trapped in a crosswalk, percentage of pedestrianvehicle conflicts, percentage of drivers stopping or yielding, and percentage of illegal pedestrian crossings. By comparing MOEs across the three cities' sites, FHWA determined seven highly effective countermeasures: leading pedestrian intervals, pedestrian countdown signals, in-street pedestrian signs, activated flashing beacons, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, call buttons that confirm the press, and Danish offsets combined with high-visibility crosswalks, advance yield markings, and "Yield Here to Pedestrians" signs.

SK/A14.16) Tamara Redmon, PUBLIC ROADS, March-April 2011, p. 16, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Pedestrians hit in roadway crashes account for nearly 12 percent of all traffic fatalities and 59,000 injuries each year. Because crashes involving pedestrians tend to be sporadic events that do not occur at the exact same location, a one-size-fits-all approach to mitigating pedestrian safety problems is unrealistic. To help shed light on which countermeasures will be most effective at specific types of locations, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated pilot projects in Las Vegas, NV, Miami, FL, and San Francisco, CA. The study, known as the Pedestrian Safety Countermeasure Deployment Project, looked at the effectiveness of various safety engineering and intelligent transportation systems (TTS)-based countermeasures installed at target intersections in those cities. 7. I.T.S. IS THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE FORM OF INVESTMENT SK/A14.17) Stephen Ezell [Senior Analyst, Informational Technology & Innovation Foundation], ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Summer 2010, p. 77, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP, A 2005 study of a model ITS deployment in Tucson, Arizona, consisting of 35 technologies that would cost $72 million to implement, estimated that the average annual benefits to mobility, the environment, and safety totaled $455 million annually, a 6.3 to 1 benefit-cost ratio. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the present value cost of establishing and operating a national real-time traffic information system in the United States would be $1.2 billion but would deliver present value benefits of $30.2 billion, a 25 to 1 benefit-cost ratio. SK/A14.18) TRAFFIC ENGINEERING & CONTROL, January 2011, p. 18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The appeal of ITS [intelligent transportation systems] is its cost effectiveness in comparison with investment in conventional infrastructure. However, there is work to be done in telling the full story about the potential of ITS, delivering more for less and providing compelling evidence to inform investment decisions. For local authorities, there will be an initial investment in acquiring the required knowledge, but any short-term costs should be more than outweighed by immediate savings.

SK/A15. HIGH-SPEED RAIL 1. POPULATION GROWTH REQUIRES HIGH-SPEED RAIL SK/A15.01) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "We're very strong supporters of high-speed rail, but we also recognize that it's a long-term process that requires sustained public support and political leadership to carry out," said America 2050's Todorovich. "Big capital investments take time and money. They're hard. Does that mean they're not worth doing? Absolutely not," she said. "It's particularly important to frame this in the context of accommodating the 130 million people that will be added to this country by 2050 and providing the capacity for future economic growth. If states and regions are not willing to invest for their future, they might as well put up 'closed for business' signs." 2. U.S. LAGS BEHIND OTHER NATIONS SK/A15.02) Philip Klein, THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR, March 2011, p. 38, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Invoking national pride, Obama mused that "America is the nation that built the transcontinental railroad, brought electricity to rural communities, constructed the interstate highway system." Sadly, he lamented, the U.S. now lags behind Europe, Russia, and China in modern transportation infrastructure. If the nation met his goal for high-speed rail adoption, he said, "This could allow you to go places in half the time it takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying--without the pat-down. SK/A15.03) Jeremy F. Plant, THE PUBLIC MANAGER, Summer 2009, p. 78, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Advocates of rail passenger service base their case on several familiar arguments, including these major points: * It can relieve highway and airport congestion, especially in and around major metropolitan areas, and provide a safety valve for shorter distance air travel in clogged airports. * It can relieve air pollution caused by excessive highway utilization and address issues of climate change. * It is currently underfunded and technologically obsolete, and major investments and new technology could greatly increase its share of travel. * The U.S. lags behind other advanced (and some advancing) nations in passenger rail and can learn from the positive experiences in Europe and Asia. * Investment in passenger rail can also benefit freight rail service, which has become profitable and fundamental to global commerce. SK/A15.04) John D. Schultz [Contributing Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, April 1, 2010, p. 18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Oberstar [chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee], speaking at the spring conference of the American Association of Port Authorities, said Europe and Asia are outspending the U.S. on infrastructure and the results show. For instance, he noted a high speed train that connects Paris to Brussels-244 miles, in 45 minutes. By comparison, Amtrak's fastest train connects New York to Washington that covers 244 miles in 2-1/2 hours.

SK/A15.05) Mark Reutter [former editor of RAILROAD HISTORY], THE WILSON QUARTERLY, Autumn 2009, p. 26, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Outside of the Northeast Corridor, there are only four routes where Amtrak trains can go faster than 79 MPH: Los Angeles-San Diego, New York City-Albany, Philadelphia-Harrisburg, and a 100-mile segment in Michigan. Elsewhere, trains are restricted to 79 MPH because locomotives and track are not equipped with signal systems that prevent collisions. After accounting for speed-restricted curves, snaillike crawls through junctions, stops for opposing trains, and other obstacles thrown in their path, Amtrak trains average no better than 50 MPH between terminals--and much less if unscheduled delays are counted. The result is that train service is slower today than it was in the 1940s, when "streamliners" touted for their speed--such as the Super Chief, 20th Century Limited, Denver Zephyr, and Hiawatha--routinely topped 90 to 100 MPH between station stops. While the rest of the world has advanced, America's passenger rail has stalled, if not reversed direction. 3. FUTURE GENERATIONS WELFARE COMPELS HIGH-SPEED RAIL SK/A15.06) Mark Reutter [former editor of RAILROAD HISTORY], THE WILSON QUARTERLY, Autumn 2009, p. 26, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In his effort to redirect America's transportation priorities, Obama said he was inspired by an earlier project that changed the course of the country. The transcontinental railroad was an example of "bold action and big ideas" during a period of "economic upheaval and transformation" he reminded a joint session of Congress in February. Despite the crushing costs of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln authorized a 1,700-mile railroad between Omaha and Sacramento. Because no state governments existed in the lands to be traversed, the federal government subsidized private businessmen, led by Leland Stanford of California and the Ames brothers of Massachusetts, by giving them public land as well as cash bonds for every mile of track completed. Lincoln did not live to see the ceremonial golden spike driven into a crosstie in a barren corner of the Utah Territory on May 10, 1869, which joined the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads and ushered in what economic historian Walt Rostow called the "takeoff period" of the American economy. SK/A15.07) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "If we want to move from recovery to prosperity," the president declared, "what we need is a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century. A system that reduces travel times and increases mobility. A system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity. A system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs. What we're talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in America." SK/A15.08) Kevin Smith, INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY JOURNAL, May 2011, p. 4, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In spite of Republican efforts to derail the programme, president Barack Obama supports the DOT's assertion that investments in rail will spur manufacturing activity in the US. This was reflected in his 2012 budget speech on February 14 which called for $US 8 billion of funding for the high-speed programme next year, and a $US 53 billion total investment in passenger rail over the next six years.

4. FEDERAL FUNDING HAS BEEN ELIMINATED SK/A15.09) INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY JOURNAL, January 2012, p. 7, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The United States Congress voted on November 17 to abolish all funding for high-speed rail projects this year, but with $US10.1 billion already distributed to states, work will continue on projects that are already underway. 5. HIGH-SPEED RAIL WILL ACHIEVE RIDERSHIP SK/A15.10) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Administration supporters say that the incremental improvements to existing routes, such as those being made in the Midwest, can provide quick, tangible results to increase train ridership and bolster public support. "It's the correct way to go, because we've got to whet the public's appetite on this," said Frank Busalacchi, secretary of Wisconsin's Transportation Department and the chairman of the States for Passenger Rail Coalition. "I feel very confident that once people ride these trains, their appetite will grow. It's difficult to get people's mind-set away from the automobile. We've got to give people a good deal here [with better train service], and if we do, then slowly they'll migrate to it." SK/A15.11) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The Obama administration and high-speed rail boosters have enthusiastically touted high-speed rail as an attractive alternative to air travel for 200-to-600-mile trips between major U.S. cities. Trains, they say, allow travelers to go from city-center to city-center while avoiding the onus of early check-in times and lengthy waits at airport security gates. Advocates cite statistics from abroad supporting the argument that if given the choice, travelers will choose high-speed trains over flying. 6. OTHER COUNTRIES DEMONSTRATE EFFICACY SK/A15.12) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to the March 2009 GAO study, the advent of Japan's high-speed rail led to elimination of an air route from Tokyo to Nagoya; in France, high-speed rail service has captured 90 percent of the travel market from Paris to Lyon. After the introduction of high-speed rail service from Madrid to Barcelona in February 2008, air travel between Spain's two largest cities dropped 30 percent, from 5 million passengers to 3.5 million, the GAO said. According to the Spain's trade commission, 88 percent of Madrid-to-Barcelona travelers chose to fly before the rail line opened compared with 12 percent who took the train; today the split is about 5050.

7. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES ENERGY USAGE SK/A15.13) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In California alone, the highway and airport alternative would create more than 18 billion more pounds of global warming gases and would use more than 22 million additional barrels of oil per year than the electrically powered high-speed trains. HSR is a huge step toward energy independence from imported oil. When compared with other vehicles, high-speed trains require only onethird of the energy required by air travel and one-fifth that of an automobile per passenger mile. SK/A15.14) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In defending the rail initiatives, Szabo [Federal Railroad Administrator] says that the fuel efficiency of diesel-powered passenger trains "is still enough to blow any other mode out of the water." According to 2009 Energy Department figures, intercity passenger rail consumes 23 percent less energy per passenger mile than an airplane, 40 percent less energy than a car, and 57 percent less energy than a sport-utility vehicle or pickup truck. SK/A15.15) John Hollenhorst [publisher], MASS TRANSIT, March 2011, p. 34, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Strong transit systems add efficiency within cities. A high-speed rail network, connecting city centers, reduces travel times and airport loads. Reducing foreign oil dependence and greenhouse gas reductions are also real outcomes of a shift to more utilization of public transit. Funding to reach these goals should be a national priority, with responsibility to implement at the local level. 8. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES CARBON EMISSIONS SK/A15.16) Mark Reutter [former editor of RAILROAD HISTORY], THE WILSON QUARTERLY, Autumn 2009, p. 26, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Saving energy and cutting greenhouse-gas emissions also are key selling points. Diesel-powered trains use 27 percent less energy per passenger mile than cars and 21 percent less than airliners, according to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. If high-speed rail lines were operated with nonpolluting electric locomotives, they could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as two million tons annually, according to the Center for Clean Air Policy. SK/A15.17) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to the Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, rail travel emits 60 percent less carbon dioxide per passenger mile than the average car and half the carbon dioxide per passenger mile of a plane.

9. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION SK/A15.18) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. By contrast, the highway and airport alternative would continue to promote urban sprawl while desecrating our last farmlands and open space. HSR environmental impacts can also be minimized with most alignments within or adjacent to existing rail or highway rights-of-way. The narrower and cleaner rights-of-way needed for HSR will also have less impact on wetlands and water resources, biology and farmlands. It also will have much less noise pollution because the electric trains on state-of-the-art roadbeds are much quieter than typical diesel trains and very much quieter that jet planes. 10. HIGH-SPEED RAIL REDUCES TRAFFIC FATALTIES SK/A15.19) Todd Litman [Victoria Transport Policy Institute], ENVIRONMENTS, December 2008, p. 21, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Per capita traffic fatalities tend to increase with per capita annual vehicle mileage (Litman and Fitzroy 2006). Figure 4 illustrates this relationship using US Federal Highway Administration state-level mileage and crash data. Per capita traffic fatalities tend to decline as a city becomes more transit oriented (Figure 5). Per capita traffic fatalities also tend to decline with increased per capita transit ridership. Since cities with large rail systems tend to have higher transit ridership, they tend to have fewer traffic fatalities. These values include all deaths, including those in transit vehicles, deaths to automobile passengers hit by transit vehicles, and deaths to pedestrians. SK/A15.20) Rod Diridon Sr. [Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State U.], MASS TRANSIT, July-August 2009, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. HSR is cost efficient, and unlike most airports, it takes passengers from city center to city center rather than requiring supplemental transport by cab or bus from a remote location, where most airports are located. HSR also provides a comfortable travel experience with more room for passengers and with onboard conveniences such as refreshment, business cars (cell phones and Internet connections are encouraged on HSR) and restaurants. HSR is also more reliable than air travel and is unaffected by weather delays. Security is extensive but non-intrusive, therefore not requiring passenger delays. Overall, HSR is safer and more reliable than highway or air travel, with fast and predictable travel times that can be sustained over time. This makes HSR more convenient than flying and ideal for one-way trips of less than 600 miles. 11. HIGH-SPEED RAIL IS COST-EFFECTIVE INVESTMENT SK/A15.21) Lisa Caruso, NATIONAL JOURNAL, May 14, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Appealing to Americans' patriotism and can-do spirit, the president said, "There's no reason why we can't do this. This is America. There's no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else, beyond our borders. Building a new system of high-speed rail in America will be faster, cheaper, and easier than building more freeways or adding to an already overburdened aviation system -- and everybody stands to benefit."

SK/A16. ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) INFRASTRUCTURE 1. EVs ARE ON THE BRINK OF MASS PRODUCTION SK/A16.01) Jim Motavalli [environmental writer], THE FUTURIST, MarchApril 2012, p. 6, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Nearly every major auto maker is planning new clean-energy models. Ford, for instance, intends to roll out five new models in 2012. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants forecasts that 10% of new cars globally will be electric by 2025, and the larger category that includes hybrids and plug-in hybrids will have grabbed 40% of the market by then. 2. INFRASTRUCTURE IS VITAL FOR DEVELOPMENT SK/A16.02) Jim Motavalli [environmental writer], THE FUTURIST, MarchApril 2012, p. 6, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The obstacle for electric vehicles as "city cars" is the problem of charging them. In cities like New York, we're not likely to see on-street parking and charging units for electric vehicles. What we will probably see are EV charging units in garages and buildings, but the rules and protocols have yet to be developed. SK/A16.03) Randy Frank [Contributing Editor], ELECTRONIC DESIGN, June 23, 2011, p. 51, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Charging away from home is probably the most critical missing piece to the EV infrastructure puzzle. "Going back 100 years or so, it made sense to people to build gas stations because they could make money and the government didn't have to fund them," concludes Riches [director of the automotive electronics service at Strategy Analytics]. "We have to get to this same point with EVs for them to be a viable alternative." 3. INCREASED INVESTMENT IS VITAL TO MEET DEMAND SK/A16.04) Andrew Webster, PC MAGAZINE ONLINE, December 13, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As the popularity of electric vehicles continues to rise, so too does the demand for charging equipment. And a new study suggests that within a few years that demand could be worth billions. As new study from Pike Research predicts that by 2017 the market for electric vehicle charging equipment will $4.3 billion globally. This infrastructure will be needed to support the more than five million plug-in EVs that are expected to be on the road by that time. SK/A16.05) AUTO BUSINESS NEWS, January 26, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The market for electric vehicle charging stations is likely to expand worldwide by 155 percent between 2011 and 2020, according to a report by GlobalData.

SK/A16.06) Walter F. Deal III [Associate Professor of Technology Education, Old Dominion U.], TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING TEACHER, November 2010, p. 5, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. With emphasis being placed on plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles, there will be a corresponding demand for infrastructure to support these new transportation technologies. Much the same as we have gasoline and service stations to cater to the needs of gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles, we can expect to see convenient EV charging stations to be constructed to support electric vehicles. SK/A16.07) Jim Motavalli [environmental writer], THE FUTURIST, MarchApril 2012, p. 6, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A smart meter, installed on the side of your house, enables you, on your computer at work, to dial up software that shows you exactly how much juice each of your appliances is using, and allows you to shut some of them down remotely during peak power demand times. Smart meters are a huge advance and are fortunately going mainstream at the same time that electric cars are hitting the road. The two can work together closely. When it's plugged in, your electric car is just another household load--and a pretty big one, sometimes doubling electricity consumption. If we get really smart about this, we can create home networks that empower consumers to manage and reduce their power needs--and save money in the process. 4. CURRENT FEDERAL FUNDING IS INADEQUATE SK/A16.08) Neil Roland, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, February 21, 2011, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Obama's fiscal 2012 budget released last week would give $200 million in grants to as many as 30 communities that advance electric vehicle use through fleet purchases, infrastructure and streamlined regulations. 5. EVs REDUCE OIL DEPENDENCY SK/A16.09) Randy Frank, ELECTRONIC DESIGN, June 23, 2011, p. 64, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Any hope of replacing the pump with electrical power requires replacing oil companies with electric utility companies. At the SAE 2011 Congress, Anthony Earley Jr., executive chairman of the board of DTE Energy, the electricity provider for the Detroit Three's headquarters' territory, provided his industry's perspective. "Electrification of the transportation system is one of the utility industry's highest priorities," says Earley. "Just about a year and a half ago, as chairman of the Edison Electric Institute, our trade association, I announced the adoption of an industry-wide pledge to support in every possible way the development of electric vehicles."

6. EVs REDUCE POLLUTION SK/A16.10) Glen Andersen, STATE LEGISLATURES, May 2011, p. 22, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Power plants are more efficient at converting coal to useful energy than car engines are at producing useful energy from gasoline, and electric engines are more efficient than gasoline engines. Also, strong emission requirements and increases in efficiency mean coal plants emit less pollution than in the past. As a result, even if the electricity is predominantly coal-generated, electric vehicles will produce less pollution than gas-powered vehicles of the same weight and size. 7. EVs REDUCE CLIMATE CHANGE SK/A16.11) Richard Ward [Director of Energy Initiatives, Aspen Science Center], EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, Spring 2011, p. 49, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In the transportation sector, electric cars charged by a grid that is powered by renewables and natural gas would deliver tremendous CO emissions reductions.

SK/A17. BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE 1. INFRASTRUCTURE IS VITAL FOR BICYCLING SK/A17.01) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Secure parking facilities are just as necessary for bicycles as for cars. During my visit to Amsterdam, I was impressed by the huge bike parking area near the main railway station. I don't believe there is any bike parking facility of that magnitude yet in the United States, but there are plenty of small-scale facilities, such as the bike racks and lockers at Washington's Metro stations. 2. STATE AND LOCAL INVESTMENT IS INADEQUATE SK/A17.02) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The U.S. population is expected to grow by another 100 million people by mid-century. If there is prolonged fiscal austerity, growth in bicycle infrastructure might not keep up with demand. The automobile will remain the primary transport mode. Demands for more auto infrastructure will have priority. 3. INCREASED INVESTMENT WILL INCREASE BICYCLE USAGE SK/A17.03) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2010, p. 15, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A combination of bike-centered initiatives has proven most effective in increasing cycling rates and subsequently addressing a wide range of urban challenges. Among them are pollution, obesity, and budget shortfalls. 4. OTHER COUNTRIES PROVE EFFICACY OF INVESTMENT SK/A17.04) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Dedicated bicycle traffic lanes are a key element of bicycling infrastructure. When I was in Amsterdam in 2009, I was impressed by the extensive network of bike lanes in that city and by the large number of cyclists using the lanes. The system even included special traffic lights for bikers. I learned to watch for both bicycles and cars when I crossed the street, and I found that bicyclists there were no more forgiving of pedestrians than car drivers are in the United States.

5. BICYCLING SAVES LIVES SK/A17.05) Maggie Grabow [Nelson Institute, SAGE (Sustainability and the Global Environment), U. of Wisconsin-Madison], ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES, January 2012, p. 68, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Across the study region of approximately 31.3 million people and 37,000 total square miles, mortality would decline by approximately 1,295 deaths/year (95% CI: 912, 1,636) because of improved air quality and increased exercise. Making 50% of short trips by bicycle would yield savings of approximately $3.8 billion/year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs (95% CI: $2.7 billion, $5.0 billion]. We estimate that the combined benefits of improved air quality and physical fitness would exceed $8 billion/year. SK/A17.06) Todd Litman [Victoria Transport Policy Institute], ENVIRONMENTS, December 2008, p. 21, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In recent years, public health officials have become increasingly alarmed at declining physical fitness, excessive body weight, and resulting increases in diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle among the general population (US Surgeon General). Franco et al, (2005) found that men over 50 years of age who were moderately active added 1.3 years to their lives and those who were highly active added 3.7 years. Women over 50 who were moderately active added 1.1 years and those who were highly active added 3.2 years. In addition, people who exercised more also lived more years free of cardiovascular disease. 6. BICYCLING INCREASES PHYSICAL FITNESS SK/A17.07) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2010, p. 15, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Cycling also offers a simple, high-payoff contribution to better health. With an estimated 1,600,000,000 obese adults worldwide, the potential savings in health care costs alone is extraordinary. SK/A17.08) Maggie Grabow [Nelson Institute, SAGE (Sustainability and the Global Environment), U. of Wisconsin-Madison], ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES, January 2012, p. 68, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Our findings suggest that significant health and economic benefits are possible if bicycling replaces short car trips. Less dependence on automobiles in urban areas would also improve health in downwind rural settings. SK/A17.09) Kenneth W. Harris [Secretary, World Future Society], THE FUTURIST, March-April 2011, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The medical advice for people to exercise more has promoted cycling among what used to be considered the geriatric set. National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) data show that the percentage of Americans aged 45-65 participating in cycling has grown steadily from 11.4% in 1993 to 20.2% in 2009, while participation by Americans 65 and older increased from 4.4% to 5.0%.

7. BICYCLING REDUCES URBAN POLLUTION SK/A17.10) Maggie Grabow [Nelson Institute, SAGE (Sustainability and the Global Environment), U. of Wisconsin-Madison], ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES, January 2012, p. 68, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. We simulated census-tract level changes in hourly pollutant concentrations from the elimination of automobile round trips [less than or equal to] 8 km in 11 metropolitan areas in the upper midwestern United States using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Next, we estimated annual changes in health outcomes and monetary costs expected from pollution changes using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Benefits Mapping Analysis Program (BenMAP). In addition, we used the World Health Organization Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) to calculate benefits of increased physical activity if 50% of short trips were made by bicycle. RESULTS: We estimate that, by eliminating these short automobile trips, annual average urban PM2.5 would decline by 0.1 ug/m3 and that summer ozone ((O.sub.3)) would increase slightly in cities but decline regionally, resulting in net health benefits of $4.94 billion/year [95% confidence interval (CI): $0.2 billion, $13.5 billion), with 25% of PM2.5 and most (O.sub.3) benefits to populations outside metropolitan areas. 8. BICYLING REDUCES CARBON EMISSIONS SK/A17.11) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2010, p. 15, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A bicycle commuter who rides four miles to work five days a week in the U.S. avoids 2,000 miles of driving and about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. This amounts to nearly a five percent reduction in the average American's carbon footprint. 9. BICYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE REDUCES TRAFFIC DEATHS SK/A17.12) THE ECONOMIST (US), September 3, 2011, p. 32(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. With a very few exceptions, America is no place for cyclists. Dying while cycling is three to five times more likely in America than in Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands. SK/A17.13) THE ECONOMIST (US), September 3, 2011, p. 32(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In much of northern Europe, cyclists commute on lanes that are protected from cars by concrete buffers, rows of trees or parked cars. At busy crossroads, bicycle-activated traffic lights let cyclists cross first. Traffic laws discriminate in favour of people on bikes. A few American cities have taken European-style steps to make streets safer for cycling, most notably Portland, Oregon, which has used most of the above ideas. The result: more bikes and fewer deaths. Nearly 6% of commuters bike to work in Portland, the highest proportion in America. But in five out of the past ten years there have been no cycling deaths there. In the nearby Seattle area, where cycling is popular but traffic calming is not, three cyclists, have been killed in the past few weeks.

10. HEALTH BENEFITS OUTWEIGH ACCIDENT RISKS SK/A17.14) Luc Int Panis [Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Belgium], ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES, March 2011, p. A114, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. De Hartog et al. (2010) quantified the balance between physical activity and air pollution and accident risks of cycling and concluded that the benefits outweigh the risks by an order of magnitude. This is the most comprehensive and quantitative comparison to date, based on the published data available at the time. 11. BICYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE IS COST-EFFECTIVE SK/A17.15) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2010, p. 15, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Furthermore, biking programs and infrastructure can be far cheaper than automobile infrastructure. A mile's worth of urban highway can cost $20,000,000 to $80,000,000 compared to a few thousand dollars or up to $1,000,000 (at most) for biking infrastructure. Similarly, bike parking is some 30 to 300 times cheaper than car parking. SK/A17.16) Susan Weaver [Weaver Research & Consulting] & William Fulton [Solimar Research Group], PLANNING, March 2008, p. 6, PROQUEST. At the same time, bike lanes are relatively cheap to install. They require some paint and signage, but they are part of the streets. They get plowed, maintained, and policed right along with the rest of the roadway. They are simply cheaper to implement and maintain than dedicated trails.

SK/A18. OBESITY 1. OBESITY IS A NATIONAL EPIDEMIC SK/A18.01) Jennifer Allen [Trailnet] et al., COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY, April-June 2011, p. 152, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Nevertheless, the individual-level trait of obesity has spread across the US and globally, with obesity rates rising in all community types along the rural-to-urban transect and among all age groups, socioeconomic groups, and races (Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth, 2004). Based on 2007 US data, adult obesity rates have grown from 15% in 1980 to 34.3% in 2006 an estimated 72 million Americans are obese (Ogden, Carroll, McDowell, & Flegal, 2007). 2. OBESITY KILLS THOUSANDS SK/A18.02) CHEMIST & DRUGGIST, February 28, 2009, p. 8, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Patients who are obese run the same risk of premature death as smokers of 10 or more cigarettes a day. The study, in the BMJ, followed 45,000 men for a median of 38 years. Obese men and heavy smokers had almost double the mortality rate of other patients. SK/A18.03) Samuel H. Preson & Andrew Stokes, THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, November 2011, p. 2137, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. We estimated the fraction of deaths attributable to obesity by country, age, and sex and reestimated life tables after removing these deaths. To allow for a possible secular decline in obesity risks, we employed alternative risks from a more recent period. Results. In our baseline analysis, obesity reduced US life expectancy at age 50 years in 2006 by 1.54 years (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37, 1.93) for women and by 1.85 years (95% Cl=1.62, 2.10) for men. SK/A18.04) OBESITY & DIABETES WEEK, September 6, 2010, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. This study examined trends in the burden of obesity by estimating the obesity-related quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost-defined as the sum of QALYs lost due to morbidity and future QALYs lost in expected life years due to premature deaths-among U.S. adults along with differences by gender, race/ethnicity, and state," wrote scientists in the United States report (see also Gender and Health). "Health-related quality-of-life data were taken from the 1993-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to calculate QALYs lost due to morbidity. Age-specific mortality data were used to calculate QALYs lost due to mortality. QALYs lost due to obesity in U.S. adults have more than doubled from 1993 to 2008. SK/A18.05) OBESITY & DIABETES WEEK, September 6, 2010, p. 25, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A strong and positive relationship between obesity-related QALYs [quality-adjusted life years] lost and the percentage of the population reporting no leisure-time physical activity at the state level (r=0.71) also was found. This analysis enables the overall impact of obesity on both morbidity and mortality to be examined using a single value," wrote H. Jia and colleagues, Columbia University.

SK/A18.06) HEALTH SCIENCE, Summer 2010, p. 7, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Researchers followed more than 100,000 adults from 1997 to 2006. Over the course of the study, 15,000 subjects died. In all groups, waist size was found to be associated with increased risk of disease, and as waist size increased so did the danger of disease and death. Expanding waistlines are a characteristic of Americans over 50, and average waistlines have swelled roughly an inch every ten years since the 1960s. Over half of older men and over 70 percent of older women have waistlines bigger than doctors recommend. To keep waistlines down, doctors suggest a two-pronged approach: cutting down on calories and increasing your exercise program. SK/A18.07) STATES NEWS SERVICE, January 5, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. About one-third of cancer deaths in 2012 will be caused by tobacco use, and another third will be related to overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition, according to the American Cancer Society's annual report, Cancer Statistics, 2012. SK/A18.08) STATES NEWS SERVICE, January 5, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A total of 1,638,910 new cancer cases and 577,190 deaths from cancer are projected to occur in the United States in 2012.

SK/A19. UNEMPLOYMENT 1. UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS AT CRISIS LEVELS SK/A19.01) David Andolfatto & Marcela M. Williams, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ST. LOUIS REVIEW, March-April 2012, p. 135, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Roughly 2.8 million jobs have been added to the economy since early 2010, but the unemployment rate remains persistently high. Some policymakers are concerned about the prospect of a prolonged "jobless recovery," a period of rising average income (gross domestic product, GDP) with little or no employment growth. SK/A19.02) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 9, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. When factoring in those who have given up looking for work, or those who identified as "discouraged," the national unemployment number for February jumps to 9.8 percent. SK/A19.03) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 9, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The construction industry lost 7,000 jobs between February and March, following a similar decline of 6,000 the month before, but extended a pattern of modest year-over-year job increases, according to an analysis of new federal employment data released last week by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that lack of long-term federal highway and transit funding threatens to hold down future job gains. SK/A19.04) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 9, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Association [Associated Equipment Distributors] officials said the pickup in construction jobs is likely to remain anemic and unbalanced unless there is adequate funding for long-term infrastructure programs. They cited the continuing lack of action on a multiyear federal highway and transit bill as a particular problem. SK/A19.05) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 9, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Simonson [Associated Equipment Distributors] stated the construction unemployment rate in March was 17.2 percent, or roughly double the national unemployment rate, although the industry rate had improved from 20 percent in March 2011 and 24.9 percent in March 2010. SK/A19.06) Jonathan Weisman, THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 15, 2012, p. A18, LexisNexis Academic. Mr. Shoaf [Associated General Contractors of America] said the legislation would spur hiring in the construction industry, where unemployment hit 17.1 percent in February. With infrastructure spending stable for two years, construction firms should begin buying equipment and hiring permanent workers, he said.

2. UNEMPLOYMENT IS DEVASTATING TO HEALTH SK/A19.07) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 4, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. McGill sociologist finds strong correlation between unemployment and mortality with most significant effects felt by men who become unemployed in their early or mid-careers. Research by McGill Sociology Professor Eran Shor, working in collaboration with researchers from Stony Brook University, has revealed that unemployment increases the risk of premature mortality by 63 per cent. Shor reached these conclusions by surveying existing research covering 20 million people in 15 (mainly western) countries, over the last 40 years. SK/A19.08) STATES NEWS SERVICE, April 4, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The truly groundbreaking aspect of the research is that it suggests that there is a causal relationship between unemployment and a higher risk of death. "Until now, one of the big questions in the literature has been about whether pre-existing health conditions, such as diabetes or heart problems, or behaviours such as smoking, drinking or drug use, lead to both unemployment and a greater risk of death," Shor [Professor of Sociology, McGill U., Canada] said. "What's interesting about our work is that we found that preexisting health conditions had no effect, suggesting that the unemployment-mortality relationship is quite likely a causal one. This probably has to do with unemployment causing stress and negatively affecting one's socioeconomic status, which in turn leads to poorer health and higher mortality rates." SK/A19.09) NURSING STANDARD, September 30, 2009, p. 18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. An international group of researchers analysed data for mortality and employment from 26 European Union (EU) countries from 1970 to 2007. Trends in deaths from different causes were examined together with how these aspects were modified by government expenditure. Researchers found that every I per cent increase in unemployment was associated with a 0.79 per cent rise in suicides at ages younger than 65 (mean potential excess deaths 310 EU-wide), although the effect was non-significant at all ages (0.49 per cent). There was also a 0.79 per cent increase in homicides (mean potential excess deaths 40 EU-wide). 3. LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT CREATES PERMANENT UNDERCLASS SK/A19.10) Luiza Ch. Savage, MACLEANS, September 20, 2010, p. 30, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Meanwhile, prolonged rates of high unemployment are taking a toll on families today, and will for years to come. Studies have shown that the longer a person is unemployed, the more difficult it is to find a job--partly because skills deteriorate, and partly because employers become suspicious of why someone hasn't worked for a year. "The United States is expanding its underclass of a whole group of individuals who will become less employable, less integrated, more subject to criminal and other deviant behaviour--and probably become part of the larger problem of structural poverty in America as well," says Sherle Shenninger, director of the economic growth program at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.

4. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INCREASES JOBS SK/A19.11) Fawn Johnson, NATIONAL JOURNAL, October 6, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Economists, engineers, and lawmakers generally agree that infrastructure spending achieves the dual goals of boosting commerce and providing jobs that can't be shipped overseas. SK/A19.12) Lee Jackson [Logistics Management Institute], DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL, December 2011, p. 47, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. I think we can all agree that the creation of jobs is critical in our current economic environment and that creation of jobs designed to address our Nation's deteriorating infrastructure is the right thing to do. SK/A19.13) John D. Schultz [Contributing Editor], LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, February 1, 2011, p. 20, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to America's top business lobbyist, the U.S. economy is improving but the recovery is "fragile and uneven" and needs further investment in its transportation infrastructure. SK/A19.14) Peter H. Stone, NATIONAL JOURNAL, December 18, 2009, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. To bolster the case for added investment, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, a nonprofit advocacy group, recently released a list of 9,500 infrastructure projects that it says could be approved for funding by Washington within 120 days. SK/A19.15) Peter H. Stone, NATIONAL JOURNAL, December 18, 2009, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. To boost its cause, the association [American Public Transportation Association], which has some 1,500 publicsector and business members, unveiled a survey this month showing that a $15 billion investment in transportation projects that can be started within 90 days would create or support almost 450,000 jobs. Association President Bill Millar notes that, on average, 36,000 jobs are created or supported for every $1 billion invested in public transit. 5. STIMULUS LEGISLATION PROVED EFFICACY OF JOB CREATION SK/A19.16) CONGRESS DAILY PM, March 26, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. He [House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar] said every state has obligated 100 percent of the $26.2 billion in stimulus money for federal highway formula funds, while the Federal Highway Administration has approved 12,110 projects. Including transit and wastewater infrastructure projects, the 12,545 projects under way have created or sustained nearly 350,000 jobs, according to his committee; in total, all projects, including indirect employment, have created or sustained 1.2 million jobs.

SK/A19.17) CONGRESS DAILY AM, January 12, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Democratic leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee took issue Monday with an Associated Press analysis of nearly $28 billion in highway construction funding, included in the $787 billion stimulus package, which found that the spending had no effect on unemployment rates in localities that received it. "The AP analysis of the impact of road projects on unemployment flies in the face of hard data collected monthly" by the panel, Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio , D-Ore., said in a release. "According to submissions that we received from states, metropolitan planning organizations, and public transit agencies, 8,587 highway and transit projects are under construction in all 50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, totaling $19.7 billion, as of November 30, 2009. These projects have created or sustained more than 250,000 direct, on-project jobs, with payroll expenditures of $1.3 billion." The lawmakers also said more than 760,000 indirect jobs can be attributed to the construction spending. SK/A19.18) Fawn Johnson, NATIONAL JOURNAL, October 6, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The incident was frustrating for executive branch officials, who pointed to 15,000 transportation projects spurred by the $48 billion in the stimulus that led to 65,000 jobs.

SK/A20. OIL DEPENDENCY 1. TRANSPORTATION ACCOUNTS FOR MOST OIL CONSUMPTION SK/A20.01) David Briginshaw, INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY JOURNAL, October 2009, p. 20, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Furthermore, the United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil a day, which is nearly a quarter of global consumption, and 70% of oil in the US is used for transport. 2. OIL DEPENDENCY IS UNSUSTAINABLE SK/A20.02) Craig Shields [Editor, 2GreenEnergy.com], USA TODAY MAGAZINE, January 2012, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Literally, something that is unsustainable cannot be continued--and that precisely is the case with our use of fossil fuels. We need to understand that, for example, we most certainly will not be driving Hummers in 25 years. Since we inevitably will switch to renewable energy and clean transportation, we should begin to contemplate exactly how this transition will occur. 3. FOREIGN OIL DEPENDENCY THREATENS U.S. SECURITY SK/A20.03) Eric S. Fowler & Steve A. Yetiv [Professor of Political Science & International Studies, Old Dominion U.], POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY, Summer 2011, p. 287, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Oil dependence increases the impact of supply disruptions and oil price shocks, and the use of oil, while critical to the global economy, generates negative effects. The key concerns are now commonly expressed--among them, that oil dependence enriches and empowers some of America's adversaries; that it makes the United States vulnerable to the vagaries of Middle East politics; and that oil consumption contributes fundamentally to climate change. SK/A20.04) THE ECONOMIST (US), February 26, 2011, p. 80, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The sudden ousting of Mr Mubarak and the unrest in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Algeria (which between them supply a tenth of the world's oil) had added 20% to oil prices by the middle of this week. The big worry is that spreading unrest will culminate in another shock akin to the oil embargo of 1973, the Iranian revolution or Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

SK/A21. AIR POLLUTION 1. AIR POLLUTION DEVASTATES PUBLIC HEALTH SK/A21.01) STATES NEWS SERVICE, September 23, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Our residents experience higher rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments, burdening our health care system," said Congressman Carney [frm Delaware]. "For every dollar spent reducing particulate and ozone pollution, there is as much as thirty dollars in benefits to public health through reduced sick days, chronic illnesses, hospital visits, and early deaths. SK/A21.02) STATES NEWS SERVICE, September 23, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The American Lung Association estimates that 9.9 million Americans have been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, with the majority of cases becoming more prevalent in children. Exposure to toxic air contaminants during infancy or childhood affects the development of the respiratory, nervous, endocrine and immune systems, and could increase the risk of cancer later in life. 2. AUTO EMISSIONS INCREASE DEATH AND SUFFERING SK/A21.03) Lili Farhang [Human Impact Partners] et al., COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY, April-June 2011, p. 193, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Children living in close proximity to busy roadways have been found to suffer from increased respiratory disease symptoms and asthma, and reduced lung function (Brugge, Durant, & Rioux, 2007; Gauderman et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2004). Studies also show higher rates of cardiovascular and respiratory disease among adults living near freeways, particularly for those living within 650 feet of heavy traffic and heavy truck volumes (Brugge et al., 2007; Jerrett et al., 2005; Ktinzli et al., 2009). Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (Beelen et al., 2008) and increased risk for heart disease for diabetics (Beelen et al., 2008; O'Neill et al., 2007; Zanobetti & Schwartz, 2002). SK/A21.04) Janet Currie et al., JOURNAL OF HEALTH ECONOMICS, May 2009, p. 688, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Third, we examine interactions of air pollution with smoking and other risk factors for poor infant health outcomes. We find consistently negative effects of exposure to carbon monoxide (CO), both during and after birth, with effects considerably larger for smokers and older mothers. Since automobiles are the main source of carbon monoxide emissions, our results have important implications for regulation of automobile emissions.

SK/A22. CLIMATE CHANGE 1. CLIMATE CHANGE IS AN INDISPUTABLE SCIENTIFIC FACT SK/A22.01) Diane Turcbetta [Office of Planning, Environment & Realty, Federal Highway Administration], PUBLIC ROADS, March-April 2010, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Certain facts about climate change are indisputable. During the 20th century, the Earth's surface warmed by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, F (0.74 degrees Celsius, C). January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest decade on record. Snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere and floating ice in the Arctic Ocean have decreased, while sea level has risen globally by 4-10 inches (1025 centimeters) over the past century. SK/A22.02) Andrew Webster, PC MAGAZINE ONLINE, January 20, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. According to NASA research, 2011 is the ninth warmest year since the space agency began taking records in 1880. In fact, since that year, nine of the 10 warmest years on record have been after 2000, showing a clear rise in global temperature. The only one of the 10 warmest years outside of the past decade was in 1998. Meanwhile, 2010 is still the warmest year on record overall. SK/A22.03) Andrew Webster, PC MAGAZINE ONLINE, January 20, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The data was gathered by utilizing information from more than 1,000 meteorological stations across the globe. The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a large reason for the increase in temperature, according to NASA, and those numbers too have risen steadily since 1880. In that year the amount of carbon dioxide in the air was measured at 285 parts per million, which rose to 315 in 1960 and finally 390 in 2011. NASA predicts that over the next few years we'll see a year that will top 2010's record breaking temperatures. SK/A22.04) GEOGRAPHICAL, August 2011, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Last year was one of the two warmest on record, according to the latest analysis by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency also reported that the Greenland ice sheet melted at the highest rate since at least 1958 and Arctic sea ice shrank to the third-smallest area on record. SK/A22.05) Craig Macaulay, ECOS, October-November 2010, p. 21, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The 2009 State of the Climate report released in July draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that the world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries, including the Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of Climate Change Energy and the Environment, contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record, and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.

2. GREENHOUSE GASES ARE CAUSING CLIMATE CHANGE SK/A22.06) Diane Turcbetta [Office of Planning, Environment & Realty, Federal Highway Administration], PUBLIC ROADS, March-April 2010, p. 28, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Scientists have linked these recent changes in climate to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Further increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHGs are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change. SK/A22.07) Anton A. Chiono [The Pacific Forest Trust] & Laurie A. Wayburn, DUKE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & POLICY FORUM, Summer 2010, p. 385, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Between 1970 and 2004, annual emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, increased by 80 percent. Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic greenhouse gases have been increasing in the atmosphere since 1750, and now far exceed the atmospheric concentrations preceding industrialization. Unless strategies are pursued to abate emissions and mitigate atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, a changing climate will increase the risk of disruption to ecological, social, and political systems across the globe. 3. CLIMATE CHANGE ENTAILS ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER SK/A22.08) Center for American Progress, STATES NEWS SERVICE, June 9, 2010, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Climate legislation will drive job creation and economic recovery, but the most important reason to shift away from fossil fuels is to avert a climate catastrophe that will devastate our economy. This catastrophe is certain to happen if we continue business as usual. SK/A22.09) AMERICA, May 23, 2011, p. 4, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Recent projections reported at the conference are cause for alarm and increased urgency. Melting ice in the Arctic will increase global sea levels by five feet within the next century, a projection higher than previously thought. The rising waters could cause billions of dollars' worth of damage, not to mention displacement of people, particularly the poor, who lack resources to relocate or rebuild. As it stands, the world is not on track to handle these changes. SK/A22.10) Isabel Hilton, WORLD POLICY JOURNAL, Spring 2008, p. 1, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Though tropical regions, having little margin for adaptation, will be hardest hit, no part of the world will escape. In North America, for instance, water scarcity is a growing problem that will only get worse. Six thousand years ago, the last time the temperature was just one degree Celsius higher than today, the Great Plains and most of the interior, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were desert. On our present trajectory, we are likely to see a two-degree Celsius temperature increase well before the end of the century.

SK/A22.11) Isabel Hilton, WORLD POLICY JOURNAL, Spring 2008, p. 1, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As greenhouse gases persist in the atmosphere for at least a century or two, the traffic on this road heads only one way; there are no shortcuts to a different future available to the discerning or the concerned, nor are there u-turns. All that we can do is vary the speed: at our current rate, we shall get to our apocalyptic destination--catastrophic climate change--possibly in our own lifetimes, and certainly in the lifetimes of our children. SK/A22.12) MALARIA WEEKLY, December 5, 2011, p. 3, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A report, "Climate change: present and future risks to health, and necessary responses," is newly published data in Journal of Internal Medicine. "Recent observed changes in Earth's climate, to which humans have contributed substantially, are affecting various health outcomes. These include altered distributions of some infectious disease vectors (ticks at high latitudes, malaria mosquitoes at high altitudes), and an uptrend in extreme weather events and associated deaths, injuries and other health outcomes," scientists in Canberra, Australia report (see also Infectious Diseases). "Future climate change, if unchecked, will have increasing, mostly adverse, health impacts - both direct and indirect. Climate change will amplify health problems in vulnerable regions, influence infectious disease emergence, affect food yields and nutrition, increase risks of climate-related disasters and impair mental health," wrote A.J. McMichael and colleagues, National Center for Epidemiology and Population Health. 4. CLIMATE CHANGE KILLS THOUSANDS WORLDWIDE SK/A22.13) USA TODAY MAGAZINE, August 2009, p. 3, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Climate change causes 300,000 deaths a year while the 20 nations most vulnerable to global warming account for less than one percent of total worldwide emissions, according to a report by the Geneva, Switz.-based Global Humanitarian Forum, which is headed by Kofi A. Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. "Climate change is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time, causing suffering to hundreds of millions of people worldwide," Annan insists. "The first hit and the worst affected are the world's poorest groups, and yet they have done the least to cause the problem." 5. CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS MASS EXTINCTIONS SK/A22.14) Ben Block, WORLD WATCH, March-April 2009, p. 7, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Rapid releases of greenhouse gas emissions are changing habitats at a rate faster than many of the world's species can tolerate, putting the world at the brink of a mass extinction event, according to the United Nations. "[T]he world is currently facing a sixth wave of extinctions, mainly as a result of human impacts," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.

SK/A22.15) Ben Block, WORLD WATCH, March-April 2009, p. 7, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Research suggests that the current extinction period may entail the highest rate of biodiversity loss in the Earth's history; it is certainly the first planet-wide extinction event due to human actions. Unlike previous events, extinctions are happening over the course of decades rather than centuries. Studies project that a quarter of the world's species may go extinct by 2050. The UN warning accompanies a litany of recent news about ecosystem failures. The latest global coral reef assessment estimates that 19 percent of the world's coral reefs are dead, and many remaining reefs may disappear within the next 40 years if emissions trends continue. Meanwhile, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 38 percent of roughly 44,800 species studied across the world are threatened with extinction. An estimated 22 percent of the world's mammals, 31 percent of amphibians, and 14 percent of birds are now threatened or extinct. SK/A22.16) Ilya M.D. Maclean & Robert J. Wilson, PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES, July 26, 2011, p. 12337, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As well as mean overall extinction probability, observations also supported predictions in terms of variability in extinction risk and the relative risk associated with broad taxonomic groups and geographic regions. These results suggest that predictions are robust to methodological assumptions and provide strong empirical support for the assertion that anthropogenic climate change is now a major threat to global biodiversity. 6. CLIMATE CHANGE IS ON THE BRINK OF IRREVERSIBILITY SK/A22.17) Richard Ward [Director of Energy Initiatives, Aspen Science Center], EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, Spring 2011, p. 49, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The scientific consensus is stark: Earth systems are dangerously close to tipping points which, once crossed, could ignite negative feedback loops and catastrophic climate change beyond human capacity to remedy.

SK/A23. STATE AND LOCAL INVESTMENT INADEQUATE 1. STATES AND LOCALITIES FACE HUGE BUDGET SHORTFALLS SK/A23.01) Richard C. Schragger [Professor of Law, U. of Virginia], YALE LAW JOURNAL, January 2012, p. 860, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. As legislatures across the country wrestle with multibillion-dollar budget deficits, the possibility of state or municipal defaults has preoccupied officials and frightened investors. Several cities have filed for bankruptcy in the last year, and some scholars have advocated that states also be permitted to declare bankruptcy. The fiscal health of states and cities has become a central concern of policymakers. SK/A23.02) Christopher Thornberg [Beacon Economics], STATE LEGISLATURES, January 2011, p. 14, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The National Bureau of Economic Research tells us the recession ended in June 2009, but you wouldn't know it by looking at state budgets. They're worse, not better. California, New York and Texas alone face a combined $60 billion budget gap over the next two fiscal years. SK/A23.03) Roger Russell, ACCOUNTING TODAY, September 13, 2010, p. 10, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The reality of the recession has affected the tax policies of nearly every state, as dwindling receipts coupled with constant or increased expenses have left most states in a budgetary crisis mode. "It's the perfect storm of budgetary problems," said Frank Gallo, a tax partner at the law firm of Reed Smith. "Companies are making less money, so they're paying less tax. Federal stimulus dollars were a big one-time hit, but they're coming to an end and they just won't be there in the future. Costs to the states are going up or at least staying the same." SK/A23.04) Roger Russell, ACCOUNTING TODAY, September 13, 2010, p. 10, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. "Most states are facing budget constraints," agreed Michael Moore, managing director at the Kansas City, Mo., office of cbiz MHM. "Federal funding and reimbursement for the states has been bottlenecked in Congress, and states are struggling to fill budget gaps. Some are using debt, others are slashing additional expenses, and others are raising taxes." 2. STATES AND LOCALITIES LACK RESOURCES FOR INFRASTRUCTURE SK/A23.05) John Hollenhorst [publisher], MASS TRANSIT, March 2011, p. 34, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Some members of Congress would like to leave transit funding entirely to local governments and private enterprise. Unfortunately, sales and property tax revenues are insufficient for states and municipalities to be the principal supporters of transit systems, an unsustainable obligation when tax revenues were strong. SK/A23.06) Luiza Ch. Savage, MACLEANS, September 20, 2010, p. 30, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Property and sales tax revenues have shrunk. And nowhere is this more apparent than at the local government level, where officials are being forced to roll back the everyday hallmarks of modern civilization.

3. STATES AND LOCALITIES ARE SLASHING PUBLIC PROGRAMS SK/A23.07) Gerry Boulard, STATE LEGISLATURES, October-November 2011, p. 36, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Confronting the most stubbornly enduring national economic downturn since the Great Depression, state legislators have cutting on their minds. "They're doing budget cutting by bits and pieces," says Alan Rosenthal, a professor of public policy and political science at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics. Asked if the many varied budget-reducing and efficiency-promoting ideas signal either legislative innovation or desperation, Rosenthal is quick to reply: "Desperation." SK/A23.08) Luiza Ch. Savage, MACLEANS, September 20, 2010, p. 30, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The National Association of Counties estimates that local governments will eliminate roughly half a million employees in the next fiscal year, with public safety, public works, public health, social services, and parks and recreation hardest hit by the cutbacks. A July survey by the association of counties, the National League of Cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors of 270 local governments found that 63 per cent of localities are cutting back on public safety and 60 per cent are cutting public works.

SK/A24. FEDERAL FUNDING MECHANISMS 1. PRESIDENTS FUNDING PLAN WILL RAISE TRILLIONS SK/A24.01) Jeanne Sahadi, CNN WIRE, March 22, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The increased tax bills for the rich are driven by three Obama proposals. He is calling for the top two income tax rates -currently 33% and 35% -- to rise to 36% and 39.6%. He would raise the tax rate on capital gains and dividends for high-income households to 20% from 15% today. And he would limit the value of their itemized deductions. SK/A24.02) Jeanne Sahadi, CNN WIRE, March 22, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Over the next decade the president's budget would raise about $2.1 trillion more than would be the case if Congress just extended today's tax policies, the center estimates. SK/A24.03) Jackie Calmes, THE NEW YORK TIMES, February 14, 2012, p. A12, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. After winding down two wars overseas, Mr. Obama proposed to make good on his often-repeated call to bring troops back and start nation-building at home in symbolic fashion: The budget would use projected military savings -- a gimmick, Republicans say -- to help pay for a six-year, $476 billion program to modernize the nation's transportation network. SK/A24.04) Jackie Calmes, THE NEW YORK TIMES, February 14, 2012, p. A12, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. And Mr. Obama once again proposed to narrow inequality in income and opportunity between high- and lower-income Americans, while also reducing annual deficits, through his proposals to raise $1.5 trillion over 10 years mostly from the wealthy but also from closing some corporate tax breaks, chiefly for oil and gas companies. 2. LETTING THE BUSH TAX CUTS EXPIRE WILL RAISE TRILLIONS SK/A24.05) Jeanne Sahadi, CNN WIRE, November 28, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Bush-era tax cuts: If Congress does nothing, the 2001, 2003 and 2006 tax cuts will expire at the end of December 2012. SK/A24.06) Chris Isidore, CNN WIRE, April 10, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The Bush tax cuts had originally been set to expire at the end of 2010, but a lame duck session of Congress late that year agreed to a two-year extension, along with a partial payroll tax holiday and extending long-term jobless benefits. SK/A24.07) Jeanne Sahadi, CNN WIRE, November 28, 2011, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. In any case, most Republicans want to make the tax cuts permanent while many Democrats want to make them permanent for everyone except high-income households. If all the cuts are extended, they could reduce revenues by an estimated $3.7 trillion over a decade. If only most of them are extended, that would reduce revenues by about $3 trillion.

SK/A24.08) STATES NEWS SERVICE, February 2, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 have added over $2 trillion to budget deficits from 2002-2011. 3. ELIMINATING FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES WILL RAISE $2 TO 2.5 BILLION SK/A24.09) Nancy Seewald, CHEMICAL WEEK, May 16, 2011, p. 13, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Senate Democrats last week introduced legislation to end certain tax deductions for the five largest U,S. oil and gas firms. The bill, dubbed the Close Big Oil Tax Loophole Act, is sponsored by Senators Robert Menendez (D., N J), Sherrod Brown (D., OH), and Claire McCaskill (D., MO). The lawmakers say the legislation would save the federal government $2.1 billion/year by eliminating subsidies to BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Shell. SK/A24.10) Editorial, THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 31, 2012, p. A18, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. President Obama and the Senate Democrats have again fallen short in their quest to eliminate billions of dollars in unnecessary tax breaks for an oil industry that is rolling in enormous profits. A big reason for that failure is that some of those profits are being continuously recycled to win the support of pliable legislators, underwrite misleading advertising campaigns and advance an energy policy defined solely by more oil and gas production. Despite pleading by Mr. Obama, the Senate on Thursday could not produce the 60 votes necessary to pass a bill eliminating $2.5 billion a year of these subsidies. This is a minuscule amount for an industry whose top three companies in the United States alone earned more than $80 billion in profits last year. SK/A24.11) Tom Cohen & Alan Silverleib, CNN WIRE, March 29, 2012, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Facing repeated attacks that his energy policy emphasizing investment in alternative sources contributes to the high pas prices and stunts domestic oil development, Obama has targeted the roughly $2 billion a year in tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies as a potential new revenue source for clean energy development.