Articles by Kate Sheppard

DeFazio says Summers should be canned for cutting mass transit funds

"Harvard had it right."

-- Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.), referring to the university's jettisoning of Larry Summers, who is now director of Obama's National Economic Council and who DeFazio has accused of axing mass transit funding from the stimulus bill

A chat with Obama's green-leaning liaison to the states, Boulder Mayor Shaun McGrath

Shaun McGrath.

As we reported on Thursday, the Obama administration has scooped up Shaun McGrath, the green mayor of Boulder, Colo., to serve as the deputy director of intergovernmental affairs within the White House.

McGrath has been mayor of Boulder since 2007 and a city council member since 2003. He has also worked on environmental issues for the Western Governors' Association since 1995. It was under his leadership that Boulder set out to become the first smart-grid city in the country. Voters there also approved the country's first carbon tax in 2006, and the city has been recognized with a platinum-level "bicycle-friendly community" award from the League of American Bicyclists. Pretty frickin' green, eh?

We tracked McGrath down to find out what he'll be doing in his new gig, which starts on Feb. 9.

Grist: What exactly will your role be in the White House?

Shaun McGrath: It's in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. The office is the president's liaison to state and local elected officials, and I will be the deputy director responsible for liaising between the president and the nation's governors.

Grist: You've been active on green issues in Boulder. What do you hope to be able to do with that experience in your new role at the White House?

Obama's new middle class task force to focus first on green jobs

The Obama administration today announced the creation of a Middle Class Task Force that will work on "raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America."

Notably, the group's first meeting, slated for Feb. 27 in Philadelphia, will be on the subject of "Green Jobs: A Pathway to a Strong Middle Class."

The task force will be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. Other members include the secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Commerce, and the directors of the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

"Quite simply, a strong middle class equals a strong America. We can't have one without the other," said Biden in a statement today. "This Task Force will be an important vehicle to assess new and existing policies across the board and determine if they are helping or hurting the middle class. It is our charge to get the middle class - the backbone of this country - up and running again."

Senate stimulus plan looking even better for clean energy investments

Dan Weiss and Alexandra Kougentakis at the Center for American Progress take a look at the Senate's version of the stimulus plan and conclude that, on the whole, it's better in terms of clean energy investments and incentives than the House version.

While several not-so-green programs would get funding in the Senate plan -- including $50 billion in loan guarantees for the nuclear industry and $4.6 billion for the coal industry -- green projects overall would get approximately $7 billion more in spending.

The Senate's American Investment and Recovery Plan (not to be confused with the House's "American Reinvestment and Recover Act") includes $78 billion in clean energy spending as part of their $365 billion recovery package. The tax package also has $31 billion in tax incentives for renewables and energy efficiency, compared to $20 billion in the House plan.

Grid improvement funds are higher in the Senate version -- $21 billion compared with the House's $19 billion. Same with funds for renewables -- $7.6 billion, to the House's $5.1 billion.

We mistakenly wrote yesterday that mass transit fares worse in the Senate version of the bill when compared with the House's $14.6 billion. But transit gets a better deal in the Senate overall, at $17 billion. Amtrak especially fares better -- $3.1 billion to the House's $1.1 billion.

Investments in building and appliance efficiency, meanwhile, did better in the House version -- $5 billion more than the Senate plan.

Of course, the Senate's version could still change when it moves to floor for debate next week, and any differences between the bills the two chambers pass would have to be worked out in a conference committee.