Featuring Jessica Meyers and Kathryn A. Wolfe
WAITING ON SOME PARCHMENT: During President Barack Obama?s first big media availability in months he was asked about a carbon tax, leading the president to give an extended answer on climate change and how he will approach the issue during his second term. He needn?t wait long to make a statement: A controversial message bill opposed by environmentalists that would allow the DOT to exempt U.S. airlines from the European Union?s emissions trading scheme is awaiting his signature ? or his veto. A White House spokesperson said the administration is ?committed? to reducing airplane carbon emissions through the International Civil Aviation Organization but wouldn?t indicate which way Obama is leaning on the bill.
Pulled in two directions: ?It is the wrong way to achieve the right objective,? National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said of the EU?s approach. ?As soon as Congress sends the legislation to the White House, we will review it.? John Thune, who wrote the bill, is worried that green groups will sway Obama toward a veto. ?He?s going to get a lot of pressure from his left flank not to sign it in light of the EU?s announcement, but I still think it?s really important for our country to be on record,? Thune said. ?It?s all speculation until he makes that decision.? Asked if he would personally lobby for sign-off, Thune deferred with a ?we?ll see.? The World Wildlife Fund and other environmental groups have called on Obama to veto the bill. Pros know where to go for our story: http://politico.pro/SN7yQW
MOST WANTED: This one isn?t about criminals. NTSB put out its annual ?most wanted? list of safety concerns on Wednesday, highlighting prominent administration themes of distracted driving, aviation safety and bus operations. The agency?s five board members determine the list, based largely on previous investigations and the potential for change. But it does offer a platform this year to reinforce the new transportation law, highlight agency efforts and suggest upcoming priorities. ?It?s not just what is on the list but what is not on the list and what?s been accomplished,? NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman told Jessica. Fatigue disappeared from the list this year thanks to DOT rules that address pilot and truck driver work hours. Motor coach requirements in the transportation law helped do away with an item on bus occupant safety. Grant programs in the same bill helped shift the list focus from teen driver safety to distracted driving. Additional measures in the legislation kept the board from adding a rail transit safety item.
NTSB pride: Hersman?s name has been floating around for a while in the talk about who could replace Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood if he steps down, but she was mum and talked about her current job when Jessica asked her in an interview. ?I think I have the best job in Washington right now,? she said, but wouldn't expand on how she'd feel about a new, well-placed position. ?I always respect the president and any request they have of me, but I am very happy to be chair of NTSB.? Jessica has it all in her Pro story: http://politico.pro/QHc9br
CLOCK TICKS ON FAA NOMINEE: There are just a few weeks left to deal with Michael Huerta?s nomination to lead the FAA, and Jim DeMint?s hold ? and possibly others ? has yet to be removed. DeMint had said he planned to remove the hold after the election, but there are so many issues Congress has to deal with before the year?s end that Huerta?s progress is still blocked. If an agreement can be reached on Huerta, it?s entirely possible that his confirmation vote could be moved in a package of stalled nominees. Sen. Roy Blunt told MT that he expects staff to work overtime to set up a furious month of work following the Thanksgiving holiday, and part of that could include removing GOP holds put in place ahead of the election that would have allowed Mitt Romney to choose his own nominees had he won. Moving such a package might be precipitated by the overall mood in Washington on the even bigger issues, or as one source put it to us ?it depends on how warm and fuzzy things are on the fiscal cliff.? But if Huerta isn?t approved by January, Obama will have to not only submit his nomination again but Huerta would have to again pass through the Senate Commerce Committee, whose top Republican is expected to be ? DeMint. Burgess has got your back, Pros: http://politico.pro/TKQY5m
THURSDAYS ARE FOR THE THRILLER DANCE. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and turning 33. If it moves, it's news. Email us: beverett@politico.com and asnider@politico.com. Twitter: @AdamKSnider and @BurgessEv. More news: @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Transpo.
?God made the automobile to pass all the pretty girls ?? http://youtu.be/Vt_etTpABAM
WAIVER WIRE: Today marks when T&I Chair John Mica is expected to learn his fate from Speaker John Boehner in his bid to receive a waiver for his chairmanship. Rep. James Lankford, a T&I transpo bill conferee and a newly elected member of the Republican leadership team as policy chair, told MT he?s spoken with Bill Shuster about the job but not heard about Mica?s waiver situation nor talked to the chairman about returning. Lankford added that he and other leadership/Steering Committee members are about ?to be bombarded? with chairmanship lobbying pleas, but he hadn?t heard of anyone other than Shuster that had thrown his hat into the ring for T&I.
The pros for Mica?s waiver situation: He passed long-stalled surface transportation and FAA bills despite long odds and a Democratic Senate and White House; showed that old school lawmakers can triumph over tea party stalwarts by defeating Sandy Adams in a House primary; and Paul Ryan is getting a waiver for the Budget Committee gavel.
The cons: Mica didn?t run for vice president; we have yet to talk to anyone that believes Mica will get a waiver.
One wrinkle: It?s possible Mica eventually receives a subcommittee chairmanship on T&I or Oversight, which might alleviate some hard feelings. It wouldn?t be the same as a full committee gavel but would allow Mica to maintain a leadership role and set him up for a run at the Oversight chairmanship in 2014 when Rep. Darrell Issa runs into his own term limit.
WRDA HEARING TODAY: The Senate EPW Committee holds a hearing on the WRDA bill today, but the real action will come next year. With the next Congress looking a lot like the current one, and Obama staying in the White House, work over the lame-duck is still meaningful as it lays the groundwork for next year. A day before the hearing, EPW?s Jim Inhofe and David Vitter are making clear their desire for Army Corps reform. The duo, along with all Republicans on the committee, penned a letter (http://1.usa.gov/QHepj2) to EPW head Barbara Boxer asking that the bill streamline the corps project delivery process, enhance oversight, find a new way to prioritize water projects and address both the inland waterway and harbor maintenance trust funds. The committee "needs to ensure that the Corps is a responsible steward of the studies, projects and policies that Congress authorized in previous WRDA bills," they wrote.
HSR FOE HAPPY TO HAVE ALLY: T&I member Jeff Denham, who?s been a hard-hitting and vocal opponent of California?s high-speed rail project, told MT this week that he doesn?t know what the rest of the year holds in store after the committee postponed its high-speed rail hearing for this week. ?I don?t have any idea yet until we actually see what the schedule will be,? he said of future hearings or other action. But one thing's for sure: He?s happy that Rep.-elect Doug LaMalfa, who led GOP opposition to the project during his time in the California Senate, will soon be at his side in D.C. Denham told MT that he?s ?definitely? excited about the prospects of having a working ally. ?He?s been very active on the state side so I suspect him to be very active on it here too,? Denham said.
MWAA PREPS FOR HEARING: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Chairman Michael Curto said Wednesday morning that MWAA?s board is taking the DOT IG?s report critical of the authority?s contracting and ethics practices ?very seriously? and cited progress in addressing the audit. ?Our primary focus in responding to the report is rebuilding public trust, assuring accountability and instituting best practices across the Airports Authority,? Curto said, promising to use the IG report to ?increase transparency, strengthen governance and build renewed public trust.? MWAA President Jack Potter said a new technical document on contracting practices for the authority that oversees two D.C.-area airports as well as Metro?s Silver Line construction is ?on track to have a new version ready for the Board?s approval very soon.? House T&I is scheduled to hold a hearing Friday on the report?s findings, including testimony from Secretary Ray LaHood.
For whom the road tolls: MWAA also voted to boost rates on the Dulles Toll Road on Wednesday, a move long in the works that will help fund Metro?s Silver Line extension to Dulles Airport. Rates at the main toll plaza will rise from $1.50 now to $1.75 in 2013 and $2.50 in 2014. But the MWAA board put off deciding the 2015 rates, ?citing the potential for additional funding sources for constructing Phase 2 of the Metrorail Silver Line,? the agency said in a release.
MT POLL ? Fiscal cliff: What do you think will happen with the fiscal cliff? Will we drive right over thanks to another deadlock between the Obama administration and House Republicans? Maybe we just punt all the cuts for a while ? or somewhere in between. Don?t forget the gas tax ? the transpo community is licking its chops at a chance to increase a rate that?s been unchanged for almost 20 years. Be heard before Sunday at noon: http://bit.ly/RR0lAg
WHAT PILOT SHORTAGE? In an interview with CBS, Chesley ?Sully? Sullenberger, the ?Miracle on the Hudson? pilot, said recent coverage about looming pilot shortages being caused by a proposed FAA rule raising pilot training standards are overblown and calculated for the airline industry's benefit. Sully called it a ?cynical? effort to ?use scare tactics to attempt to influence the FAA.? Not enacting the rule means airlines, especially regional airlines, ?are going to continue to hire pilots that aren't really fully experienced to be airline pilots. They're getting on the job training with you as a passenger in the back.? Your humble transpo team brought you the pilot shortage story a while back, and The Wall Street Journal is the latest to tackle the issue (http://on.wsj.com/UGXXLu).
BOOMERANG: Jane Calderwood, who spent many years working for Senator Olympia Snowe on Capitol Hill, is going back to where it all started. She will serve as Snowe?s senior policy advisor for the final weeks of her Senate term.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)
- Three pilots die in plane crash on their way to an FAA safety conference. CBS News: http://cbsn.ws/QH47j4
- Toyota recalls 670,000 Priuses in the U.S. over water pump and steering problems. Autoblog: http://aol.it/QH6L8g
- GAO issues new report: ?Public Transit: Funding for New Starts and Small Starts Projects, October 2004 through June 2012.? http://1.usa.gov/QH7aYx
- Miami Herald supports new passenger rail service between Orlando and Miami. http://hrld.us/Zpbw7Q
- MTA head Joe Lhota?s name floated for NYC mayor?s race. CBS New York: http://cbsloc.al/UHfQK3
BOOK IT: ?Fast Trains ? America?s High Speed Future? is coming to a bookstore near you. The book is being put together by the United States High Speed Rail Association?s Emy Louie and Tom Hart as the U.S. prepares for California to deliver the country?s first true high-speed rail infrastructure.
THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding runs out in 133 days and the 113th Congress convenes in 52 days. Passenger rail policy runs out in 320 days, surface transportation policy in 688 days and FAA policy in 1,050 days. The mid-term elections are in 719 days.
CABOOSE ? A classic car with a Romney: This picture of a spiffy-looking 1950 Nash Experimental International features Nash-Kelvinator Chairman George Mason in the driver?s seat ? and George Romney (former Michigan governor and Mitt?s father) riding shotgun. Shorpy delivers again: http://bit.ly/UHfqDD
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