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Released: December 8, 2009
Obama, Oberstar Suggest Infrustructure Investments To Create Jobs
President Obama plans to propose a new set of job-stimulating efforts on Dec.. 8, and has said that his recent jobs summit discussed making “additional investments in America’s roads and bridges and railways and ports.” The president said recent the recently released employment report for November saw the jobless rate come down to 10 percent from 10.2 in October, and the number of payroll job losses were down to just 11,000. But he said at a recent Pennsylvania event, “we’ve got a lot more work to do before we can celebrate, because even though our economy is now growing again a lot of companies are still hesitant to hire.” During this speech, he said that the recent jobs conference at the White House considered various ways to stimulate hiring while rebuilding old infrastructure including roads and ports, modernizing the energy grid, and developing clean energy systems. “We’ve got to have an infrastructure plan,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he is crafting an infrastructure jobs program to supplement federal stimulus efforts. At a recent press conference reported by Transport Topics, Oberstar said he’s working with the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) to develop a two-year infrastructure spending commitment that would create new jobs. Oberstar cited declining Highway Trust Fund revenue, the ending of federal stimulus funding, and the growing number of states with budget deficits as the catalyst for the action. When asked about a question whether their proposal would be about $100 billion over two years, Oberstar said: “What’s been reported is generally in the ballpark of what we’re talking about.” Oberstar and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of his panel’s highway and transit subcommittee, spoke at the release of a list of “ready to go” projects compiled by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Public Transit Association. The groups said states have as much as $69.5 billion in projects that could be underway within 120 days. They said $47 billion of that total are highway construction projects.
Diesel Drops .3 cents To $2.772 in Fifth Straight Decrease
Diesel prices fell for a fifth consecutive week, dropping 0.3 cents to $2.772 per gallon, the U.S. Department of Energy reported to NASSTRAC this week. In fact, with this drop the average diesel price has fallen 3.6 cents in the past five weeks, following a gain of 22.6 cents in the previous four weeks. Despite this recent decline, the average price of diesel this year is 25.7 cents over price at the same week last year.
> View NASSTRAC’s Regional Diesel Fuel Fill Prices
BNSF-Berkshire Deal Clears Antitrust Hurdle
The $26 billion buyout of BNSF Railway by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment firm cleared a key antitrust review process. The Federal Trade Commission listed the transaction among several that were granted “early termination” from a mandatory waiting period under antitrust law. This means that both the FTC and Department of Justice have conducted a preliminary review of the merger filing, and cleared the deal to proceed. The two companies said “this regulatory action is an important step in satisfying the closing conditions as set forth in the merger agreement. BNSF and Berkshire continue to expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2010.” Separately, the Surface Transportation Board as the economic regulator of railroads has suggested it will likely not have jurisdiction over Berkshire’s acquisition of BNSF, because the STB normally reviews rail mergers and Berkshire does not own another railroad. Buffett recently said Berkshire also shed stock it previously held in Union Pacific Railroad and in Norfolk Southern Railway, so that those holdings would not get in the way of the BNSF purchase. Several NASSTRAC shippers who use rail/intermodal utilize the BNSF and are carefully watching developments.
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