EDF urges Congress to adopt the language for baseline transportation funding in the House-passed budget resolution

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 


Contact:
Daniel Cronin, 202-572-3354
 
 

 

(Washington – April 24, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund’s Transportation Director Michael Replogle today commented in support of the House-passed Budget Resolution:
 
 “Our federal transportation system is at a crossroads: it is both broke, and broken.  Traffic congestion, pollution, and greenhouse gasses continue to grow.  Meanwhile, the funding available to address these and other critical transportation issues steadily shrinks.  Congress can begin to solve these problems if looks to a wide array of innovative new transportation solutions that are available.  However, these new solutions can only be implemented if Congress puts a priority on investing in them. 
 
“Environmental Defense Fund urges Congress to adopt the language for baseline transportation funding in the House-passed budget resolution.  The House version of the Budget resolution would give the committees responsible for updating and reforming our federal transportation policy the options and flexibility they need to make progress in addressing these issues the next six years.  Failure to adopt the House version of the language would lead to major cuts to vital transportation programs, loss of jobs, and reduction in critical programs vital to ensure clean air, livable communities, and affordable transportation.
 
“While such new transportation funding is needed to rebuild and renew our nation’s transportation system, which is the backbone of our economy, Congress must also insist that these taxpayer dollars are spent wisely on improving the performance of a system that is currently very inefficient.  Congress should only authorize a federal transportation program that includes fundamental reforms to ensure performance toward national objectives such as safety, mobility, energy independence, and climate protection, and demand for achieving them.”

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