We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » GOP weighing expanded energy development to fund infrastructure programs
newsworthy

GOP weighing expanded energy development to fund infrastructure programs

October 11, 2011
Mark B. Solomon
No Comments

House Republicans are considering opening up federal lands and offshore locations to expanded oil and gas development as a way to generate revenue to fund infrastructure improvements, a leading transportation attorney said last week.

James H. Burnley IV, a prominent lawyer and lobbyist who served as transportation secretary during the last two years of the Reagan administration, told the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' Annual Global Conference in Philadelphia that expanded energy drilling and development activities would generate fees, royalties, and increased tax revenues that could be dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund, the program used to finance infrastructure programs.

In an e-mail to DC Velocity prior to the conference, Burnley acknowledged that the proposal would be "controversial." He added, however, that it "is the first new idea in quite a while" designed to generate new revenue to pay for road and bridge improvements.

Such a plan would likely come under attack from environmentalists as well as from those who believe no one industry should be singled out as a revenue source for highway programs. Last year, President Obama proposed to pay for infrastructure improvements by stripping the U.S. oil and gas industry of two popular tax breaks. The proposal went nowhere.

The latest proposal comes as House and Senate lawmakers wrangle over legislation that would reauthorize funding for the nation's highway programs. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, has proposed a six-year, $238 billion reauthorization whose funding would not exceed revenues that come into the Highway Trust Fund, which is financed from excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. The Senate has proposed a two-year, $109 billion reauthorization that would keep funding mostly at current levels.

Opponents of the House proposal say the funding levels don't come close to meeting the nation's daunting infrastructure needs and will slash the number of highway projects and cost thousands of jobs. Opponents of the Senate proposal say its proposed funding levels will add to the nation's budget deficit and are not of a long enough duration to allow states and localities to do long-range planning.

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) has become a sudden force in the process, directing Rep. Mica to find $15 billion in additional annual revenue to be earmarked for the Trust Fund. Burnley, a long-time skeptic of the reauthorization process, told DC Velocity that Speaker Boehner's interest "may make a difference" in moving the process forward.

On Sept. 30, Congress passed a six-month extension to reauthorize the Trust Fund, the eighth short-term extension in two years. At the time, Rep. Mica vowed that this latest extension would be the last.

Transportation Regulation/Government
  • Related Articles

    ATA members suggest alternate options to fund U.S. infrastructure programs

    Trump infrastructure plan must fully fund freight programs, group says

    Chamber of Commerce backs gas tax hike to fund highway programs

Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Recent Articles by Mark Solomon

Coming together for road safety: interview with Joshua Girard

Off the rails

Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Schneider welcomes first battery-electric truck

  • Fred Smith is not worried about Amazon

  • RJW LOGISTICS GROUP EXPANDS RETAIL LOGISTICS OPERATION TO DALLAS

  • Maersk deploys indoor drones for warehouse inventory counts

  • Outlook 2023: What’s in store for logistics/supply chain?

Now Playing on DCV-TV

5afe63a5 7125 4318 b851 1e5738df1c91

Patterson Fan Co. | HVLS V-Series Ceiling Fan | Staging Area Air Movement

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
The Patterson V-Series is a high-volume, low-speed industrial ceiling fan that is designed to circulate a lot of air at a very low speed. These fans, ranging in diameters of 8’ all the way to 24’, are perfect for large, open spaces such as staging and shipping areas. One 24’ fan can generate a cooling effect of 6 –...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing