Iowa Global Warming

President Obama said Wednesday the United States must take the lead on energy, citing the “enormous job creation potential that exists.”

Obama’s remarks came at the end of his first quarterly meeting with the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which was created in February to provide the administration with independent, nonpartisan advice on how to promote economic growth and stability.

The focus of Wednesday’s meeting, which was streamed live on the White House Web site, was job creation and green energy.

Obama told the board members he’s seen “some return to normalcy” in parts of the financial markets.
“But obviously, one of the things I’ve been concerned about since I took office is looking beyond the immediate crisis in front of us to find out what is a sustainable economic model, post bubble and bust,” he said.

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In a guest column for the Des Moines Register, Iowa State Emeritus of Economics professor C. Phillip Baumel stresses the importance of passenger rail in Iowa. Baumel explains that there is stimulus money available for transportation projects and that the projects that are chosen should increase efficiency. He feels that passenger rail for Iowa is one such project.

Baumel stresses the economic benefits associated with passenger rail, including the jobs it will create and the economic growth it will provide. He highlights the history of rail and how it is much more modern and economical than it once was. Rail cars are now more energy efficient and the rail system is completely computerized.

Instead of throwing money at inefficient projects, Baumel claims funding “should be allocated to transportation projects that have a high probability of increasing productivity and sustained job growth.”

To read the column in its entirety, go here

Columbus, Ohio is eyeing the $11 Billion earmarked for passenger rail in the stimulus bill and busy planning a line that would connect Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland as soon as 2010. Columbus is currently the largest city in the country without passenger rail.

The service, which will simplify the travel process and greatly reduce travel time and costs, is also expected to bring millions to the tourism industry. Stu Nicholson, with the Ohio Rail Development Commission, estimates that the new line could bring “about 800 million dollars a year” through increases in tourism alone.

Infrastructure improvements like this are sure-fire ways to create jobs and give a leg-up to the midwestern economy. The mayor of Columbus, Michael Coleman, added, “Those cities that don’t focus in on alternative forms of transportation are those cities that will fall behind.”

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Early this morning (Thursday), the House’s “Ways and Means” committee approved $20 billion in energy tax credits, part of which went to extend the 30% solar tax investment policy by a period of 8 years. This is great news for alternative energy buffs-the extension will give homeowner’s and business people the assurance that investments in solar energy will still be profitable for years to come. Read more here. (Reuters UK)

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Calling climate change an urgent challenge, President-elect Barack Obama promised Tuesday that Washington would take a leading role in combating it in the United States and throughout the world. “My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change,” Obama said in a video message to governors and others attending a Los Angeles summit on the issue.

In the roughly four-minute message, Obama reiterated his support for a cap-and-trade system approach to cutting green house gases. He would establish annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them another 80 percent by 2050. Obama also promoted anew his proposal to invest $15 billion each year to support private sector efforts toward clean energy.

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