States solve – earmarking

States solve – earmarking

States solve earmarking – apolitical project funding

 Federal aid typically covers between 75 and 90 percent of the costs of federally supported highway projects. Because states spend only a small fraction of their own resources on these projects, state officials have less incentive to use funds efficiently and to fund only high-priority investments. Boston's Central Artery and Tunnel project (the "Big Dig"), for example, suffered from poor management and huge cost overruns.21 Federal taxpayers paid for more than half of the project's total costs, which soared from about $3 billion to about $15 billion.22

Federal politicians often direct funds to projects in their states that are low priorities for the nation as a whole. The Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 1980s, "Tip" O'Neill, represented a Boston district and led the push for federal funding of the Big Dig. More recently, Representative Don Young of Alaska led the drive to finance that state's infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," discussed below.

The inefficient political allocation of federal dollars can be seen in the rise of "earmarking" in transportation bills. This practice involves members of Congress slipping in funding for particular projects requested by special interest groups in their districts. In 1982, the prohibition on earmarks in highway bills in effect since 1914 was broken by the funding of 10 earmarks costing $362 million. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan vetoed a highway bill partly because it contained 121 earmarks, and Congress overrode his veto.23

Since then, transportation earmarking has grown by leaps and bounds. The 1991 transportation authorization bill (ISTEA) had 538 highway earmarks, the 1998 bill (TEA-21) had 1,850 highway earmarks, and the 2005 bill (SAFETEA-LU) had 5,634 highway earmarks. The earmarked projects in the 2005 bill cost $22 billion, thus indicating that earmarks are consuming a substantial portion of federal highway funding.

The problem with earmarks was driven home by an Alaska bridge project in 2005. Rep. Don Young of Alaska slipped a $223 million earmark into a spending bill for a bridge from Ketchikan—with a population of 8,900—to the Island of Gravina—with a population of 50. The project was dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" and created an uproar because it was clearly a low priority project that made no economic sense.

States solve – electric cars

Illinois installs charging stations

Thompson 4/12(“Charging stations outpace electric car demand,” Andrew Thomason, Statehouse News Wednesday, April 18, 2012 http://evanstonnow.com/story/government/statehouse-news/2012-04-18/49157/charging-stations-outpace-electric-car-demand)

SPRINGFIELD — The number of electric vehicle quick-charging stations in the Chicagoland area alone? 26. The number of vehicles registered with the Illinois Secretary of State that can use those stations? 18.¶ And that gap could grow. Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel announced late in March that Los Angeles-based 350Green, which had installed the 26 stations, will set up another 47 quick-charge stations by the start of 2013, bringing the total to 73. The firm develops networks in major cities nationwide and worldwide. Illinois and the City of Chicago will put up $1.9 million in addition to 350Green's $6.9 million investment to install quick-charge stations and other, slower charging stations in high traffic and densely populated areas of Chicagoland. Now only Nissan LEAF and Mitsubishi i electric cars can use the quick-charge stations. Currently four Nissan LEAFs and 14 Mitsubishi i's are registered with the Illinois Secretary of State, according to records obtained by Illinois Statehouse News through the Freedom of Information Act. Few models of cars can use the quick-charge stations, which charge cars in about 30 minutes, because domestic electric vehicles lack a standard for quick charging, though that is set to change this summer. Eric Heineman, sustainability adviser to Quinn, said 350Green will retrofit its quick charging stations to accommodate the domestic standard.¶ For now, the other 269 electric vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, such as the Chevrolet Volt, must use the slower charging stations, which can take several hours to deliver full charge.¶ All vehicles that don a standard license plate must register with the Secretary of State.¶ Heineman said the number of registered electric vehicles may be lower than the actual number of electric vehicles on the road, because the Secretary of State doesn't have records for vehicles with vanity plates.¶ "It's hard to get a real sense of the number because of that," Heineman said.¶ Heineman estimated that about 600 electric vehicles are on the road in Illinois.¶ The state earmarked up to $10 million for electric vehicle infrastructure from the 2009 Illinois Jobs Now! capital program. Also, homeowners, business owners, cities and community colleges are eligible for grants through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that will cover 50 percent of the cost of installing charging stations, Heineman said.¶ Grants also will be given retroactively to anyone who has installed a charging station for 50 percent of the installation costs. The filing deadline for the first round of grants is June 15.¶ Heineman said another round of grants is planned, and that will be paid for through the capital program.¶ Illinoisans also can get up to $11,500 in federal and state rebates for buying an electric vehicle.¶ Tad DeHaven, a budget analysis for the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the government shouldn't be investing in or propping up technology that has yet to develop a mass appeal.¶ "At this point it's basically politicians throwing a bunch of money at the wall and hoping something sticks," DeHaven said. DeHaven said that eventually the demand for electric vehicles will grow to such an extent that the private sector can support their infrastructure, but the government shouldn't be accelerating that timeline artificially.¶ Advocates of electric vehicles say that as electric vehicle infrastructure begins to become more prolific, people will be less hesitant to buy electric vehicles.¶ "It is the hope that our charging stations in highly visible locations will spur activity from consumers," David Goodridge, vice president of infrastructure for 350Green, said.¶ Drivers wanting to use the quick-charge stations will have to buy minutes from 350Green, which will be put on a card similar to a debit or credit card. Consumers will get three 15-minute charges for $21.¶ Will Beckett has owned three electric vehicles and said public charging stations are convenient, but mostly unnecessary.¶ Beckett is a board member for the Electric Auto Association, a nonprofit that promotes the use of electric vehicles.¶ "Having owned an electric car since 1994, it's great to see public charging stations, but I have never felt that I was lacking the ability to charge," Beckett, who lives in what is arguably the epicenter of the electric car movement, Palo Alto, Calif., said. "I could always find a plug ... Sometimes it was a house. Sometimes it was a business."

Counter Plan Solves-New York Installs Stations

Edelstein 6/12(“New York state to install 325 EV charging stations,” June 27, 2012 Digital Trends, STEPHEN EDELSTEIN, Attorney at Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso LLC Law Firm, http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/new-york-state-to-install-325-ev-charging-stations)

New York is the latest state to invest in an electric vehicle (EV)-friendly infrastructure. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that the state will spend $4.4 million on 325 charging stations for battery-powered vehicles.¶ “With New Yorkers facing higher prices at the pump, the state is stepping up to make owning an electric vehicle an affordable and convenient option,” Cuomo said. “Creating an infrastructure to accommodate electric vehicles will create jobs and new economic development across the state, while reducing our carbon footprint and helping protect the environment.”¶ The charging stations will be spread throughout New York State, The state and private contractors have plans to install them in New York City, Albany (the state capital), and other cities. Price Chopper and Mariott have signed on for charging stations at some of their supermarkets and hotels, respectively.¶ The goal of the program is to not only accommodate EVs, but to also raise public awareness of them. The charging stations will be located in public places, and Cuomo hopes they will promote the sale of EVs in New York.¶ The projects chosen by the New York state government will also test different charging technologies. One site will use a new web-based demand response system, which provides maximum charge during periods off-peak times. Another site will be partly solar-powered.¶ The project is funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which some help from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).The DOE gave New York a $1 million grant last year as part of the Transportation and Climate Initiative. The initiative involves 11 Northeast states and the District of Columbia; it is meant to help achieve President Barack Obama’s goal of having 1 million EVs on the road by 2015.¶ If EVs really are the wave of the future, they will need large-scale development projects like this one. Fully-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids may reduce emissions and oil consumption, but their batteries have a limited range and take hours to charge. The Tesla Model S has an impressive 265-mile range, but it costs over $100,000. EVs aimed at the general public, like the Nissan Leaf, usually have under 100 miles of range. Plug-in hybrids have even shorter ranges on electric power.¶ Since recharging an EV takes hours, replacing gas stations with charging stations will not work. EVs need to be charged while they are parked, hence New York’s plan to install charging stations at supermarkets and hotels.¶ The current crop of EVs are designed for commuting, not long road trips, but New York’s network of charging station should give their drivers more options and make them a little less anxious about running out of electrons.

Californian advances prove state action can spread

Glover 7/23/12 (“California is nation's key player in electric vehicle sales and development” July 23, 2012, By Mark Glover, The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/22/4646208/california-is-nations-key-player.htm)

California is the nation's electric vehicle capital, hands down.¶ We buy them: 4,645 electric car purchases in 2011, representing nearly 57 percent of the national total, according to Santa Monica-based Edmunds.com.¶ We build them: Tesla's electric sedan, the Model S, is assembled in Fremont.¶ We're preparing for them: Electric charging stations are being built up and down the state, as are hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell vehicles.¶ Despite that, electric vehicles – EVs for short – have not yet created a multibillion-dollar, job-filling juggernaut statewide.¶ By most estimates, the industry has created a few thousand jobs statewide over the past decade, a drop in the bucket in a state that employs millions. And 4,645 EV sales in California last year represent a tiny percentage of nearly 1.3 million new vehicle sales in California in 2011.¶ Those immersed in the industry have a simple response: Just wait.¶ They point to an expected tripling in the number of EV models over the next decade, a built-out infrastructure of assembly plants and charging stations, a gradual reduction in prices for electric vehicles and, yes, a massive public education process.¶ Industry proponents compare its current state to that of the mobile phone industry in the 1980s, when large, clunky phones first came on the market, looking like ultra-exotic devices to many consumers, and priced through the roof.¶ The proliferation of cellular towers, better phones and public acceptance changed all that: Worldwide mobile subscriptions went from about 12.5 million in 1990 to nearly 5.6 billion in 2011.¶ "I would say it's very much like what we went through with portable cellphones … with the public not quite sure of what to make of things," said dealer John Driebe, who sells multiple auto brands in the Elk Grove Automall.¶ Driebe's Nissan dealership sells the Leaf, the all-electric, four-door, five-passenger vehicle that can go 70 to 80 miles when the lithium-ion battery is fully charged.¶ Driebe touts the Leaf's generous lease terms, cheap cost of operation and a $2,500 tax credit, but he's not making a fortune on the vehicle.¶ "I would say interest has been good. We continue to sell about four to five Leafs a month," he said.¶ Driebe said many customers don't know what to think about the Leaf on first inspection, but "we've found that once they get in and understand what they're all about, they're very enthusiastic."¶ Consumers are far more familiar with traditional gas-electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius, where an electric motor assists a gas-fueled engine. Californians bought 56,310 hybrids last year, nearly a quarter of all those sold in the United States, according to Edmunds.com.¶ But Driebe and others believe the Leaf, the Chevrolet Volt plug-in sedan and other all-electric cars will become more popular "as the price of the batteries come down."¶ Lithium-ion technology continues to evolve, but right now batteries can add about $10,000 to the price of an electric vehicle. A Leaf starts around $35,000 to $37,000.¶ Mike Tinskey, director of vehicle electrification and infrastructure for Ford Motor Co., also believes lower battery prices will be a game-changer.¶ "We look at electrification as a marathon, not a sprint," Tinskey said. "A lot will depend on the cost of the battery. There will be more and more customers as we're able to reduce the price … From generation to generation, we'll see how much expense we can take out."¶ California is key to Ford's electric car plans.¶ The Golden State is one of the rollout markets for the 2013 Ford Focus Electric, a five-passenger hatchback that is the automaker's first full-production, all-electric passenger vehicle. It has range of around 75 to 80 miles and starts around $39,000.¶ Ford also has partnered with San Jose-based solar power company SunPower Corp. to offer Focus Electric customers a rooftop solar system that generates enough energy to offset the electricity required to charge the vehicle at night.¶ Also in the mix is the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the West Sacramento-based public-private collaboration that was riding high when former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was promoting the "hydrogen highway." Fuel cells convert hydrogen into energy to run electric motors.¶ "We are still here; we're still moving along," said partnership spokeswoman Chris White. "We're not the new kid on the block anymore, but progress continues to move forward."¶ White acknowledged that other groundbreaking technologies have stolen some of the Fuel Cell Partnership's thunder, but she added that, in California, nine hydrogen fueling stations are open to the public, another 20 are in use for fleets and nearly a dozen more "are in some form of development."¶ She added: "We see all forms of technology as potentially helpful."¶ Arguably, the most concrete public example of electric car potential opened in March – in Oregon, just north of the California border.¶ Oregon, spending nearly $1 million in federal stimulus funds, opened its "electric highway," a 200-mile stretch of Interstate 5 in southern Oregon, with chargers placed 25 miles apart. The quick-chargers can power up an EV in less than 30 minutes.¶ Oregon's highway is a preview of the future. Charging stations are being installed for what planners say eventually will be a 1,350-mile EV-ready stretch of I-5 from Baja to British Columbia.¶ Oregon has marketed being first to have such a highway, but industry watchers say the big test will be in California, as there are only about 1,100 electric vehicles in all of Oregon.

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