oil

Katie Valentine and Ryan Koronowski of ThinkProgress uncover what oil companies (and snow) have been keeping secret. A Canadian oil company still hasn’t been able to stop a series leaks from underground wells at a tar sands operation in Cold Lake, Alberta.

When Ray LaHood was nominated by President Obama in December 2008, few transportation professionals knew much about the Republican Congressman from Illinois.  However, in just four and a half years, Secretary LaHood’s efforts in redirecting USDOT’s mission towards a multimodal transportation system should have an important role in moving America’s transportation system “Beyond Oil.” As discussed in our book, transportation in America has become ultra-politicized, with rail and transit becoming associated with a liberal agenda and highways connected with conservatives.

As Congress nears recess, legislative approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is still a possibility. Congressional Republicans and the American Petroleum Institute have said the Keystone XL pipeline could create 20,000 new jobs, as has the Teamsters union. House Speaker John Boehner has said "tens of thousands" of jobs would be created.

Elizabeth Grossman, author of Chasing Molecules and High Tech Trash, visits the Louisiana coast: Grand Isle was hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustav. But the community, which island resident Jeannine Braud describes as "a family," rebuilt. "You knew when that [disaster] was over. You'd wake up and hear hammers," she says.