Transportation

"LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) — On many a summer evening, Jim Fay joins dozens of onlookers on this tourist town's waterfront, exchanging friendly waves with passengers and crew members as the S.S. Badger chugs into the harbor after a 60-mile voyage across Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, Wis. It's a cherished ritual in Ludington, and its days may be numbered. "

"Senate Republicans' push for a vote on approval of the delayed $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline project gained momentum on Tuesday after Democrats failed to end debate on a major transportation bill.

Fifty-two senators, most of them Democrats, voted to move forward on the $160 billion highway bill without a proposed Republican amendment to authorize construction of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline, eight votes short of the 60 needed to end debate.

"The House [Thursday] morning voted to allow a $690 million highway bridge over the federally protected St. Croix River, ending decades of legal and legislative wrangling and setting in motion what would be the largest bridge project in Minnesota history."

"Ships entering the Great Lakes should be made to kill all the creatures that hitch a ride in their ballast tanks, environmental groups said on Tuesday, challenging as too lax a proposed government standard to combat invasive species."

"House Republican leaders are desperately searching for the votes to pass their $260 billion transportation bill this week."

"U.S. House Republican leaders proposed a $260 billion transportation spending bill Tuesday, but its prospects are slim because of controversy over provisions to allow heavier trucks and to pay for new projects with expanded oil and gas production. The bill is important for all 50 states, including Louisiana, because it sets spending parameters for transportation financing critical to repairing and upgrading roadways. The bill also is one of the federal government's biggest job-generators.

"House Transportation Chair John Mica introduced Americans to the GOP vision for transportation on Tuesday -- more highways and more toll roads. To pay for it all, there would more offshore drilling. Democrats and environmentalists, predictably, weren't impressed."