Beyond the gallon: Alabama should modernize gas tax to meet transportation needs: reader opinion
Want to understand why Alabama has a broken transportation system? Here's an easy experiment: Go to the grocery store and buy a gallon of milk. Take it home and set it on the table. Now, just look at it. Keep watching. No matter how long you stare, the container won't get any bigger. The contents may spoil, but the size of that gallon jug will always remain the same.
This simple science project gets to the root of the crisis in Alabama's transportation funding. The buying power of a dollar goes down over time because of inflation, but the gallon is the same size it was in our grandparents' day...
Five myths about gas taxes
A dramatic 40 percent drop in oil prices since June has prompted new discussion about raising the long-static federal gasoline tax and has many states considering gas tax hikes as well.
At the federal level, Congress hasn’t increased the tax in more than 20 years, leaving it at 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993 — when gas cost a mere $1 a gallon. Among states, gas taxes average about 23.5 cents a gallon. Should we be paying more?
Misconceptions about the history and politics of gas taxes are clouding the debate...
Northern Beltline Construction: Excavation pushes over two more hills
PINSON, Alabama -- Construction of the first segment of the Northern Beltline continues Wednesday October 22, 2014. Construction has progressed over two additional hills closer to Hwy. 79.
The first phase will run between Hwy. 75 and Hwy. 79 in northeast Jefferson County. Heavy equipment including bulldozers, trackhoes and heavy dump trucks are moving dirt and grading an area near where the interchange will be.
Alabama’s Connection To RFK, Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of former U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, recently stated his opinion that global warming skeptics should be subject to jail.
Yellowhammer News reports:
Kennedy’s remarks were made during the “People’s Climate March” in New York City, which the Associated Press estimates included over 100,000 protestors calling for government action on climate change.
But while Alabamians might be quick to dismiss the Climate March and Kennedy’s comments as having taken place in the far-off liberal bastion of the great northeast, there is actually a direct Alabama connection to the whole ordeal.
Bridgework & Excavation Continue on the Northern Beltline
The first phase of construction is in progress on the Northern Beltline highway project, running between Hwy. 75 and Hwy. 79 in northeast Jefferson County.
AL.COM reports:
Heavy equipment including bulldozers, trackhoes and heavy dump trucks are moving dirt and grading an area near where the interchange will be. Construction of a temporary bridge over Self Creek in progressing and will soon allow heavy equipment to move over the creek more easily.