President Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2010 also includes $1.83 billion in funding for major transit projects, of which more than $600 million will go towards 10 new or expanding transit projects. The proposed budget provides additional funding for all of the projects currently receiving Recovery Act funding, except for the bus rapid transit project. It also continues funding for another 18 transit projects that are either currently under construction or soon will be. The proposed funding will support transit projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia. See the DOT press release.
Maryland Aims for a 25% Cut in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2020
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley approved a legislative package last week that includes a requirement for the state to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 25% below 2006 levels by 2020. The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009 places the burden on the Maryland Department of Environment to concoct a plan for achieving the emissions reduction. The department has until mid-2011 to establish an inventory of statewide GHG emissions for 2006 and for projecting the GHG emissions in 2020 under a "business as usual" scenario, and then it has until the end of that year to adopt a plan for achieving the emissions target.
However, in the absence of new federal laws or regulations for reducing GHG emissions, state agencies cannot require GHG reductions from the state's manufacturing sector, nor can they cause a significant increase in costs for the state's manufacturing sector. Maryland is already a participant in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which requires the power sector to reduce its GHG emissions by 10% by 2018. See the governor's press release and the full text of the legislation, House Bill 315 (PDF 157 KB).
EIA: Expectations Dim for a Near-Term Growth in Oil Demand
The global oil market for 2009 looks weaker today than it did a month ago, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA's "Short-Term Energy Outlook," released yesterday, projects a fall in global oil consumption of 1.8 million barrels per day in 2009, a decline that is 0.4 million barrels per day larger than the EIA projected in April.
The EIA notes the initial data for the first quarter of 2009 shows high oil inventories, weak oil consumption, and higher-than-expected oil production, all of which are maintaining downward pressure on oil prices. Crude oil prices are now projected to average $52 per barrel in 2009 and only $58 per barrel in 2010, with the latter projection falling $5 below the EIA's projection released in April.
That's good news at the pump for consumers, who are projected to pay an average of $2.12 per gallon of regular-grade gasoline this year and only $2.30 per gallon next year, while diesel fuel users are projected to pay $2.26 per gallon, on average, in 2009 and $2.48 per gallon in 2010. However, that news is less welcome for fuel efficiency advocates and producers of competing energy sources, such as biofuels, who are facing narrow profit margins. See the EIA's "Short-Term Energy Outlook" and the accompanying chart of World Liquid Fuels Consumption.
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Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
