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G-8 NATIONS CALL FOR CUTTING
EMISSIONS IN HALF
BY 2050
At the urging of President Bush, the G-8 nations this week
agreed to dedicate $10 billion annually to technology
research and development as part of a collective effort to
cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by the year
2050. Half of those funds will be invested by the United
States and are expected to cover a broad range of technology
needs, according to published reports.
White House aide Dan Price said July
8 that G-8 nations were calling for global greenhouse gas
emissions to be cut in half by the year 2050. He added that
the G-8 nations were calling on all economies to commit to
“meaningful midterm mitigation actions.” Price emphasized
the importance of developing new technologies.
Bush said, “In order to address
climate change, all major economies must be at the table.
The G8 expressed our desire to have a -- a significant
reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. We made it clear and
the other nations agreed that they must also participate in
an ambitious goal, with interim goals and interim plans to
enable the world to successfully address climate change. And
we made progress, significant progress, toward a
comprehensive approach.
“One way to meet objectives is to
invest in technology, both at the national and international
levels, both through the private and public sectors. The
United States, Japan, and United Kingdom launched what's
called a Clean Technology Fund, and we hope Congress funds
that effort. It’s a way to help developing nations afford
the technologies so that they can become good stewards of
the environment. We’re also taking steps to promote clean
technologies by cooperating on research and development.
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ATA TESTIFIES ON TRUCK
PRODUCTIVITY
The trucking industry asked Congress July 9 to review federal laws that
limit the ability of the trucking industry to increase productivity and more
efficiently and safely move the U.S. economy.
Testifying
on behalf of the American Trucking Associations before the Subcommittee on
Highways and Transit of the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, Michael Smid, President and CEO of YRC North American
Transportation, said fundamental changes that permit increased trucking industry
productivity will reduce congestion on the nation’s highways, reduce energy use,
while improving highway safety and air quality.
“Over the
previous quarter century, the trucking industry has made continuous improvements
that have allowed its customers to significantly reduce inventories and create
manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies that have saved the U.S. economy
billions of dollars, increased salaries, slowed consumer price increases and
created countless jobs,” Smid said. “Any disruption to the movement of freight
on our nation’s highway systems will jeopardize these gains.”
Federal
law that governs truck productivity has not been updated since 1982. Yet since
then, truck tonnage has increased nearly 40 percent, driven by a 32 percent
increase in the U.S. population and 82 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product.
While
other freight transportation modes have adapted their equipment to meet these
growing demands, the capacity of the trucking industry has remained virtually
stagnant.
Under
current federal and state truck regulations, the growth in freight demand will
require a 41 percent increase in the number of commercial trucks, adding nearly
3 million trucks to the nation’s roads, Smid testified.
Smid
highlighted that use of more productive trucks will limit the need for
additional trucks as well as allow Congress and states to avoid some of the
significant costs required to improve highway conditions and to address highway
congestion.
LIEBERMAN SAYS HE WON’T PURSUE
LEGISLATION TO LIMIT INVESTING IN COMMODITIES FUTURES
Senator Joe
Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he would not push for legislation that would limit
participation by institutional investors in commodities futures markets because
it would not pass the Senate, CQ Today reported July 8.
Lieberman,
who Chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had
been drafting legislation that would limit speculation in energy and food
futures by pension funds and financial firms in efforts to curb rising fuel and
food costs.
Senate
leaders reportedly will take up legislation addressing futures speculation
before the August recess.
ATA CALLS FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
TO ENSURE AFFORDABLE OIL
Testifying
today on behalf of ATA before the House Committee on Agriculture, ATA Senior
Vice President Tim Lynch asked the Federal government to implement a plan that
ensures transparent petroleum markets free from excessive speculation and
manipulation, cuts petroleum demand and expands the petroleum supply.
Lynch testified
that the current price of petroleum is no longer driven purely by supply and
demand and that excessive speculation may be contributing to the rapid increase
in the price of oil. ATA believes that increasing the transparency of the
petroleum market combined with reasonable position limits could help burst any
speculative bubble that has formed. ATA asked Congress to consider the merits of
expanding government oversight of electronic petroleum exchanges and requiring
the CFTC to establish position limits that ensure adequate liquidity while
reigning in excessive speculation.
ATA is also urging the
federal government to help bring down the price of diesel fuel and to alleviate
trucking companies’ hardships by reducing overall demand for oil and increasing
domestic oil supply.
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FMCSA/FHA
ATA FILES
COMMENTS ON PROPOSED CDL PROGRAM CHANGES
On July 9, ATA filed comments on the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration’s proposed rule on Commercial Driver’s
License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards.
ATA supported the overall goal of FMCSA’s proposed rule to
set minimum federal standards for state testing and
licensing of commercial motor vehicle drivers, and to
require states to adopt standardized, stronger CDL knowledge
and skills testing requirements. However, ATA expressed
concern over the current lack of uniformity among the states
and their inability to reach improvements in their CDL
program mandated by the 1999 Motor Carrier Safety
Improvement Act. ATA also expressed specific concerns with
parts of the proposal including, but not limited to:
domiciliary requirements; prohibition on “banking” portions
of the CDL test; and, the proposed 30-day waiting period
between receipt of a CLP and testing for the CDL.
ATA JOINS
STOP OIL SPECULATION NOW COALITION
Recognizing
that the solution to the energy crisis requires a broad
range of solutions, ATA joined a new coalition aimed at
eliminating excessive speculation in the energy markets. The
Stop Oil Speculation Now coalition is beginning an
aggressive campaign to reform commodities trading in a
manner that protects bona fide hedging activities while
curtailing excessive speculation. The coalition is calling
on Congress to re-establish strict position limits on energy
commodities and bring transparency to all energy trading by
subjecting foreign boards of trade with U.S. operations to
the same regulations governing U.S. exchanges and
eliminating exemptions for over-the-counter swaps dealers.
Additional information on the coalition is available at:
www.stopoilspeculationnow.com. ATA will continue to
focus on a broad range of solutions to the energy crisis,
including urging Congress to increase the supply of
domestically produced petroleum and incentivize fuel
conservation measures.
TRAVEL CONTINUES TO DECLINE
Americans are continuing to cut back on driving in the wake
of record high fuel prices, according to a new report from
the Federal Highway Administration. The new estimates,
released June 18, found that vehicle miles traveled in the
United States dropped by 1.4 billion miles in April 2008
from April 2007, a decline of 1.8 percent. This follows a
March decline of 4.3 percent. Cumulatively, travel in 2008
has dropped by nearly 20 billion miles through April, or
2.1 percent.
TWO OF NATION’S BUSIEST
INTERSTATES WILL GET $11 MILLION FOR TRUCK PARKING
INNOVATIONS
Two of the nation’s busiest interstates will receive $11
million, more than $5 million each, in federal support for
innovative strategies to reduce the frustration of truckers
looking for parking on congested routes, Acting Federal
Highway Administrator Jim Ray announced.
Ray added
that the two interstates, I-95 and I-5, also were selected
under the Corridors of the Future Program, part of the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s national congestion
initiative, in September of last year.
The
Department chose the East Coast’s I-95 and the West’s I-5
for the Truck Parking Facilities program because of
innovative uses of intelligent transportation systems (ITS)
technology to provide truckers with real-time information on
available parking. The technology will monitor parking
availability and transmit the updates to truckers. Both
corridors will explore ways to allow truckers to reserve
parking spaces ahead of time.
Instead of
hunting for parking and adding to traffic problems, truckers
can know when spots are vacant to plan their stops and time
the delivery of goods into major cities,” Ray said.
“Predictability is good for businesses selling products and
consumers buying them.”
Ray said
that the selection of I-95 and I-5 was based on a
corridor-wide approach to addressing congestion along
interstates heavily used to transport freight.
On I-95,
average daily truck traffic is over 10,000 on certain
stretches, with maximum daily truck traffic above 31,000. On
I-5, average daily truck traffic is near 10,000 with a
maximum above 35,000. The two corridors represent 10 percent
of total interstate truck traffic.
FMCSA SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE
TO PROTECT CONSUMERS BY CRACKING DOWN ON ROGUE INTERSTATE
MOVING COMPANIES
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said July 9
that it will continue to target interstate moving companies
that violate federal consumer protection and safety
regulations for investigations and prosecutions. The
announcement came on the heels of the results of a recently
concluded strike force investigation involving nearly 350
moving companies located in 13 states and the District of
Columbia. In all, 1,140 violations of federal regulations
were recorded, resulting in nearly $325,000 in assessed
fines.
“Interstate
movers with fraudulent or rogue operations are hereby put on
notice: federal investigators will be knocking on your door
in the future and you will face serious legal and financial
consequences,” FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said.
“During this strike force alone, six companies received
federal fines in excess of $27,000.”
From May 5,
2008, through May 16, 2008, FMCSA, in cooperation with state
law enforcement and consumer protection agencies, conducted
focused compliance reviews on carriers hired to transport
consumers’ personal property across state lines.
The compliance reviews were conducted by federal
investigators in Arizona, California, the District of
Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland,
Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.
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