The Economic Benefits of High-speed Rail: Transforming the Midwest

Midwest High Speed Rail Association http://bit.ly/kJEegX [From "The Vision"]  Our analysis to-date shows the following: HSR Impacts on Chicagoland • $13.8 billion per year increase in business sales for the Chicago Metro area alone • 104,000 new jobs and an additional $5.5 billion in wages each year in the Chicago Metro area resulting from increased [...]

Clean Water: Foundation of Healthy Communities and a Healthy Environment

White House http://1.usa.gov/k9cKVR [PEN-e posting] This report from the White House, dated April 27, 2011, states that the nation’s water resources would benefit from promoting partnerships to conserve water, notes steps necessary to ensure water quality, invest in communities restoring important waterbodies, make more efficient use of water resources, enhance the use and enjoyment of [...]

IUCN/NRDC Workshop to Identify Areas of Ecological and Biological Significance or Vulnerability in the Arctic Marine Environment: Workshop Report

IUCN/NRDC http://docs.nrdc.org/oceans/files/oce_11042501a.pdf [PEN-e posting] This report from the IUCN and the NRDC states that “Human activity is expanding in the Arctic marine environment, in part due to warming ocean temperatures and the dramatic loss of summer sea ice. New and expanding human uses include fishing, shipping and offshore oil and gas development. All have the [...]

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country – Your Handbook for Earthquakes in the Central United States

US Geological Survey http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/119/ This handbook provides information to residents of the Central United States about the threat of earthquakes in that area, particularly along the New Madrid seismic zone, and explains how to prepare for, survive, and recover from such events. It explains the need for concern about earthquakes for those residents and describes [...]

Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines: Oversight of Design, Fabrication, and Installation

National Research Council, Transportation Research Board  (download pre-publication version with free registration) http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13159 [Description]  Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines: Oversight of Design, Fabrication, and Installation explores the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approach to overseeing the development and safe operation of wind turbines on the [...]

H.R. 1229: Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act

Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12159/hr1229.pdf [Summary] H.R. 1229 would modify the standards and procedures governing federal leases and permits for private companies to develop oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It would extend the duration of certain leases set to expire by December 31, 2011, as well as other leases affected by [...]

Immediate Budget-related Reductions to EIA Data Series and Analysis Outlined

US DOE, Energy Information Admin. http://www.eia.gov/pressroom/releases/press362.cfm WASHINGTON, DC – The final fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget provides $95.4 million for the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a reduction of $15.2 million, or 14 percent, from the FY 2010 level… EIA must act quickly to realize the necessary spending reductions during the present fiscal year, which [...]

China’s Energy and Carbon Emissions Outlook to 2050

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, China Energy Group http://china.lbl.gov/publications/2050-outlook Well before 2050, according to a new study by Berkeley Lab’s China Energy Group, China’s energy use will level off, even as its population edges past 1.4 billion. There will come a time—within the next two decades—when the number of people in China acquiring cars, larger homes, and [...]

Framework for Early Restoration Addressing Injuries Resulting from the Deeepwater Horizon Oil Spill

RestoretheGulf.gov http://bit.ly/eqefah [PEN-e posting] “Under an unprecedented agreement announced today by the Natural Resource Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Trustees), BP has agreed to provide $1 billion toward early restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico to address injuries to natural resources caused by the spill. The Trustees involved are: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, [...]

Geotechnical Quick Report on the Kanto Plain Region during the March 11, 2011, Off Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake, Japan

Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) / by Scott A. Ashford, Ross W. Boulanger, Jennifer L. Donahue, and Jonathan P. Stewart http://bit.ly/edQqhF Extreme soil liquefaction over hundreds of miles was responsible for much of the damage in Japan following the recent earthquake and tsunami, according to a new report. While it is common for major earthquakes to [...]