Climate change hearing divides T&I

politico.com/newsletters/morning-transportation/2019/02/27/climate-change-hearing-divides-t-i-400804

Sam is a Transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro and the author of Morning Transportation. He worked previously at E&E News, where he covered energy policy at federal agencies and in Congress. Before that he was at the Cape Cod Times in Southeastern Massachusetts, where he reported on local government, politics and crime. He grew up in Boston, and studied political science and journalism at Brandeis University, but has grown to love living in Washington, D.C. despite the disappointing lack of snow.

By SAM MINTZ ([email protected]; @samjmintz) 02/27/2019 10:00 AM EST

With help from Tanya Snyder, Stephanie Beasley and Brianna Gurciullo

Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Transportation is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Transportation subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

QUICK FIX

— The first House Transportation hearing on climate change was met with familiar resistance by Republicans.

— A new report sheds light on the staggering costs of a hypothetical closure of the damaged rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

— House Homeland Security members are concerned about the federal government’s reliance on voluntary compliance and self-reporting for surface transportation security.

IT’S WEDNESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Get in touch with tips, feedback, or song lyric suggestions at [email protected] or @samjmintz.

“When I take her to the track she really shines / (giddy up giddy up 409) / She always turns in the fastest times / (giddy up giddy up 409)”

LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails, rivers and runways?

1/5 Infrastructure

CLIMATE CHANGE UNDER THE T&I MICROSCOPE: The House Transportation Committee held a hearing Tuesdaydelving into the effects of infrastructure policy on climate and the environment, and heard from environmental experts and advocates as well as industry representatives. Democrats on the committee focused their statements and questioning on how transportation policy can reduce emissions, make infrastructure more resilient and mitigate climate change.

Digging to China: Republicans bristled at the premise of the hearing, insisting that China and India are the real polluters and that a market approach, rather than government mandates or subsidies, is what’s needed. After all, they said, economic incentives have led the aviation industry to improve fuel efficiency. Some Republicans argued that it’s time to get rid of tax incentives for purchasing electric vehicles — especially, they said, since most EV buyers are affluent and the cost of owning one, over the vehicle's lifetime, evens out with a gas-powered car. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) expressed his concern that China will take the ’ place at the top of the global economy if Congress prioritizes environmental outcomes over economic ones.

Side note: Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) was unable to preside over the hearing; he was stuck on the West Coast due to a snowstorm in Oregon.

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Rail

COSTS OF GATEWAY DELAY: Your host had the details Tuesday on a new report from the nonprofit Regional Plan Association laying out the possible consequences of a closure of the rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New York and . The numbers are eye- popping: a $16 billion hit to the economy, 90-100 more deaths from car crashes and air pollution, close to half a million people with longer commutes and a $22 billion dip in property values.

Whose tunnels? Their tunnels: New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said he had a “good exchange” last week with President Donald Trump and administration officials. He’s taking a wait-and-see approach to the White House’s plans for the Gateway project, POLITICO New Jersey’s Sam Sutton writes. Trump has so far withheld federal funding for the work, but officials and lawmakers from New York and New Jersey have been pushing for him to agree to a funding arrangement similar to what was in place during the Obama administration. “These are their tunnels. We want to do our fair share but they need to give the anchor order in terms of investment,” Murphy said.

2/5 In other New Jersey news: One of the conspirators behind the Bridgegate scandal was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Tuesday. Bill Baroni, who was Gov. ’s top appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was convicted in Nov. 2016 for his role in the political stunt, which involved closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge over several days in 2013. You can find many more details from the courtroom here courtesy of our New Jersey team's Ryan Hutchins.

CRASH IN N.Y.: Two Long Island Rail Road trains hit a vehicle Tuesday in Westbury, N.Y., killing three people in the vehicle and injuring seven people aboard the trains. In a statement, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged “a full investigation into the collision, including with the complete cooperation of the MTA, State Police, local law enforcement and the NTSB.”

THE TRAIN RIDE FROM HELL: Customers on an Amtrak train between Seattle and Los Angeles got a longer trip than they paid for when their train hit a downed tree and snow and debris on the tracks kept them stuck in Oregon for two nights. 183 passengers were on the train. “With local power out and blocked roads, it was decided the safest place for our customers was to remain on the train where we were able to provide food, heat, electricity and toilets,” the company said in a statement.

COME TOGETHER, RIGHT NOW: Rail interests made their recommendations for a new surface transportation bill Tuesday at a Senate Commerce hearing on intermodalism. At the top of their list: lifting the FAST Act’s $500 million cap on non-highway INFRA grants. (A little less than 90 percent of those freight grants, under the law, are earmarked for highways.) Another big ask was for a multimodal freight office within DOT with a broad and holistic view of the intermodal supply chain. Former FRA Administrator Joe Szabo, now executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, said that when he was at DOT, “even though we were cooperating with the other modes, we still were thinking about our own” and that it would be helpful to have “one person that really is responsible for the big picture and ensuring that the entire network remains fluid.”

Security

NO SATISFACTION: House Homeland Security Committee members on Tuesday raised concerns about TSA’s current reliance on industry’s voluntary compliance and self-reporting when it comes to surface transportation security oversight, our Stephanie Beasley reports. Several members said they worried about supply chain vulnerabilities and the possibility of cyber threats from the use of Chinese-manufactured rail cars on the U.S. rail system, among other things.

Upcoming: TSA surface division director Sonya Proctor said the agency is “actively working” on the last 9/11 Commission Act-related proposal, which will focus on surface transportation vulnerability assessments and security plans. Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson

3/5 (D-Miss.) noted during Tuesday’s hearing that the agency “remains non-compliant with requirements to publish surface transportation security regulations” mandated by the law.

Aviation

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO 2.0: The FAA has picked Kittyhawk to revamp the B4UFLY app, which shows recreational drone pilots where they aren’t supposed to fly. “Our goal is for our enterprise customers to be flying as much as possible,” according to a statement from Kittyhawk founder Joshua Ziering. “Flights don’t happen easier or more frequently when negligent operators are shutting down airports, breaching presidential [temporary flight restrictions] or endangering our national security.” The new app is expected to be rolled out sometime this year, and it won’t cost the FAA anything, according to a release.

HALEY’S NEXT MOVE: Nikki Haley is up for a spot on Boeing’s board, according to the Wall Street Journal. The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was nominated for the spot as a director of the airplane manufacturer this week and will stand for election by shareholders in April. Haley was governor of South Carolina, where the company has a major manufacturing facility.

MAILBAG: A coalition including airports and airlines is reupping a request for Congress to fully fund the FAA’s contract tower program. 256 smaller airports utilize the privately-employed air traffic controllers, which make up around 28 percent of all air traffic control tower operations in the U.S. The groups said that appropriations language providing $170 million in funding for the contract towers “simply ensures contract towers are fully funded from existing accounts and does not require an additional appropriation of limited taxpayer dollars.”

THE AUTOBAHN

— “How U.S. bike companies are steering around Trump's China tariffs.” Reuters.

— “Marijuana supporters OK with sharing tax revenue with MTA.” POLITICO New York.

— “L.A. may tax Uber and Lyft rides to curb traffic congestion.” Los Angeles Times.

— “FCA to open Jeep factory in Detroit, invest $4.5 billion in southeast Michigan.” Detroit Free Press.

— “United Auto Workers sue GM over plant closure.” POLITICO Pro.

THE CABOOSE

Yes, a llama rode a light rail train in Portland this weekend. No, it shouldn’t have been allowed to, according to the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon.

THE COUNTDOWN 4/5 THE COUNTDOWN

DOT appropriations run out in 215 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,676 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 582 days.

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