Blogs

On Friday the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released the Preliminary National Rail Plan, which is meant to address the country’s rail needs.

The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 directed the administrator of the FRA to develop a Preliminary National Rail Plan, and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 set the framework for the development of high-speed rail in the U.S. The preliminary plan is a first step in both processes.

Seattle City Council voted unanimously today to approve Council Bill 116668, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the city, authorizing both parties to move forward with the Alaskan Way Viaduct deep-bored tunnel and seawall replacement.

[Editor's Note: This piece was updated on Oct. 19 to include a new response from People for Puget Sound.]

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and the House Democratic Caucus today launched the Livable Communities Task Force, which will identify ways the federal government can partner with local communities to improve Americans’ quality of life.

Marcus Rapaport may soon deliver a new source of energy to Cowlitz County residents. Rapaport, who hails from Olympia, has proposed the construction of a power plant that would create hot gas from wood waste, generating electricity and producing ethanol.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) released its biweekly land use information bulletin Thursday. The following list provides the highlights. For more detailed information, click here.

I'm at the Design for Livability: Sustainable Cities Forum being hosted today by Cascade Land Conservancy and AIA Seattle at the University of Washington.

The City of Portland wants to give its citizens the resources and know-how to make their urban landscape a little greener. As part of Portland’s Grey to Green initiative, the city is offering incentive programs and ecoroof seminars to teach property owners the fundamentals of building their own green roofs.

The Northwest Environmental Business Council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Ecology hosted an all-day conference on brownfield redevelopment, called Brownfields Redevelopment: Building Sustainable Communities, yesterday in Tacoma. Many discussions at the conference focused on how to increase partnerships between the public and private sectors in order to make the best use of brownfields, while still recognizing the importance of economics.

A recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service explores seven studies that project the costs of H.R. 2454 to 2030 or beyond. H.R. 2454, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) or the Waxman-Markey bill, would establish a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (the bill passed the House of Representatives in June).