The Minnesota Independent

Transportation - Latest Stories

Rep. Michele Bachmann

Bachmann responds to earmark controversy

By Andy Birkey | 12.10.10 | 2:07 pm

Rep. Michele Bachmann lashed out at media outlets that have suggested she wants to backtrack on the GOP’s earmark ban. “There is no daylight between my position and Speaker-designate John Boehner on earmarks. Period,” she said on Friday afternoon. In several instances Bachmann has indicated she wants a change in the definition of earmarks to allow House members to earmark dollars for transportation and Army Corps of Engineers projects.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar was defeated Tuesday.

Where do Minnesota’s transit projects stand without Oberstar?

By Andy Birkey | 11.10.10 | 12:14 pm

Rep. James Oberstar, chair of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, had big plans for transportation in the nation, and in Minnesota in particular: a proposed high-speed rail line from St. Paul to Chicago and a high speed rail line from Minneapolis to Duluth, to name but two. But how well will these projects fare after the 18-term congressman’s defeat last week and a shifting of leadership in Congress?

Obama administration proposes new environmental labels for vehicles

By Andrew Restuccia | 08.30.10 | 11:37 am

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation unveiled a proposal today to put labels on all new vehicles that compare vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy. The goal is to compare the emissions

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Paulsen backs truck-driver safety bill

By Andy Birkey | 03.17.10 | 8:52 am

Rep. Erik Paulsen is backing a bill that would make highways safer for truck drivers. On Tuesday, Paulsen announced his support of “Jason’s Law,” which would create more and safer rest areas for truckers. The bill has…

AM.MN: Guv hopefuls carless, sickened by sprawl, scared to bike

By Chris Steller | 01.26.10 | 8:15 am

Leslie Davis is the only candidate for governor who doesn’t own a car. It’s too dangerous for John Marty to bike 12 miles to work. Urban sprawl sickens and saddens Tom Rukavina. That’s what

Minnesota joins Supreme Court suit to stop Great Lakes carp invasion

By Andy Birkey | 01.04.10 | 2:25 pm

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has added Minnesota’s support to a lawsuit by the state of Michigan against the state of Illinois to force the closure of a canal connecting the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan. Unless the…

AM.MN: Senators say riding bikes beneath stadium isn’t stimulating

By Chris Steller | 12.10.09 | 8:30 am

What is it about riding a bike under a baseball stadium that Tom Coburn and John McCain don’t understand? The senators decried federal stimulus spending to extend the Cedar Lake Bike Trail into downtown Minneapolis,…

Pilots lost in the clouds had heads in airline merger instead

By Chris Steller | 10.26.09 | 3:01 pm

Blame deregulation? The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis-St. Paul last week told federal investigators they were immersed in discussion about the airline’s merger with Delta.

Kline toted nuclear codes for Reagan, now touts ‘re-set button’ for Republicans

By Chris Steller | 09.06.09 | 12:31 pm

U.S. Rep. John Kline knows his buttons. As a Marine, he stayed at the side of Presidents Reagan and Carter, carrying the satchel known as the “nuclear football” that holds the how-to kit for pressing the most…

AM.MN: Texan bankrolling Coleman’s new job has career highlights of his own

By Chris Steller | 08.27.09 | 8:30 am

More trouble with Texans for Norm Coleman. Politics in Minnesota recounts some tales about Fred Malek, the leader among a group of Texans who recently hired the former senator to head a new organization called