Ports To Plains News and Events

15th Annual Ports-to-Plains Alliance Conference

10/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Ports-to-Plains Alliance Selects Medicine Hat as Site of 2012 Conference

The Eastern Alberta Trade Corridor partners and the City of Medicine Hat are pleased to announce that the Ports-to-Plains Alliance headquartered in Lubbock, Texas has chosen Medicine Hat as the venue for its 2012 Conference and Annual General Meeting October 2‐4, 2012.

Some legislators say rural roads need rehabing to improve economy in West Texas ... Monday is a big day for rural roads in West Texas and across the state. The Texas Department of Transportation will discuss the details of the Texas Rural Transportation

5/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

Pipeline eyed to ease oil gridlock on North Dakota roads ... The McKenzie County Sheriff Department has a map of the narrow grid of two-lane highways coming out of an oil-rich corner of North Dakota, each rutted route lined with dozens of red stick pins

5/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Keystone XL Pipeline: A Crash Course Infographic ... Check out this Infographic that gives you a crash course on the Keystone XL pipeline, designed and created by the Visual Capitalist.

5/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

Experts optimistic about wind energy lines ... State energy experts are optimistic about the economic impact of a $7-billion, 1,800-mile transmission project that runs more than 500 miles through the Texas Panhandle to carry wind energy to bigger cities

5/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

Transportation Reauthorization: Long-term funding needs to hit the road, Jack ... The two commissions created by Congress in the 2005 highway, transit and safety law reached a shared conclusion: The next transportation reauthorization bill needs to incre

5/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

Call to Action: Draft Texas Rural Transportation Plan 2035 ... TxDOT continues to recognize the importance of rural transportation to the economy of Texas and the Ports-to-Plains Region and provides planning leadership in reaching out to rural communitie

5/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Keystone backers want bill more than pipeline ... Senior Democrats backing the Keystone XL pipeline and some of its labor allies really want to see the pipeline built, but they appear to want a surface transportation bill more. Senate Finance Committee

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

October start seen for Texas wind turbine research facility ... Sandia National Laboratories and its academic and private partners expect to have a state-of-the art wind turbine research facility in operation in October in the Texas Panhandle, Stephanie

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Say What? Sierra Club shows its true colors ... Sierra Club again demonstrated its true beliefs. Stopping new coal fired electrical generation was not enough. The cost of closing or converting existing coal electrical generation to natural gas was stil

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Study: Booming Eagle Ford shale created 48,000 South Texas jobs ... An oil and gas bonanza in South Texas supported nearly 48,000 jobs last year while creating overnight boom towns cashing in on a $25 billion economic windfall from the liquid-rich Eagle

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Highway conference gets off to slow start ... The committee of lawmakers appointed to negotiate a new federal highway bill met for the first time Tuesday, with members of the panel pledging bipartisanship but not straying far from their party’s starting

5/8/2012 12:00:00 AM

Why Anti-Fracking Groups Are Shifting Their Story From Water To Air Quality ... Mark Twain said “never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.” A common hydraulic fracturing narrative is that the technology pollutes water supplies. The story goes

5/8/2012 12:00:00 AM

Transportation conferees begin talks ... The transportation conference committee will meet for the first time on Tuesday. Here are five things to watch as negotiations get started: Leadership involvement, Keystone, Pay-fors, What’s within the scope of t

5/7/2012 12:00:00 AM

Call to Action: DOT seeks input on amendment - Proposed four-laning of U.S. Highway 85 between Williston and Watford City ... "NDDOT is encouraging people visit the current view an environmental document on the project on its website, www. dot.nd.gov. To

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

CBO Report Finds Proposed Fuel Economy Standards Could Add to Highway Trust Fund Shortfall ... A Congressional Budget Office report released earlier this week highlights what transportation industry experts have worried about for years. The federal surf

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Facts, Not Excuses, Should Guide Decision on Re-Routed Keystone XL ... It’s good to hear that TransCanada has submitted its new application for a presidential permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The application comes just weeks after the Nebraska l

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Unmanned Vehicle Systems News and Updates ... Medicine Hat consulting company employs unmanned aerial vehicles for environmental projects | MicroPilot offers an inexpensive alternative to the agriculture sector | U.S. Expands UAV Coverage Along U.S.-Cana

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Redford wants to make Highway 63 twinning a priority: Alberta premier considers accelerated schedule after fatal crash ... Premier Alison Redford said Wednesday she will ask her new transportation minister to make twinning of Highway 63 a priority. Her

5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

CDOT plan for I-70 viaduct calls for dropping road below ground level ... This portion of Interstate 70 is a critical economic link for Colorado. This portion of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor is the major gateway to Interstate 25 and to the mountains by

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Highway bill enters legislative homestretch ... Defying expectations, Congress has reached the homestretch on a major overhaul of federal transportation programs that is critical if the nation is to avoid steep cutbacks in highway and transit aid. The b

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Hoeven named to transportation conference committee ... Senator John Hoeven is a member of the Ports-to-Plains Alliance Caucus supporting rural transportation and economic development. The Alliance is pleased to see him appointed to this critical confer

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Resolution Addresses Transportation Funding Shortfall in Colorado ... A joint resolution (SJR12-37) introduced last week in the Senate urges the Governor, the Colorado Transportation Commission and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to work

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Updates on Keystone XL Pipeline Process ... Keystone process moves to forefront; Refiling for U.S. permit 'imminent' ... TransCanada Submits Keystone XL Pipeline Reroute to Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Drivers Pay Secret Road Tax in $15 Billion for Car Repair ... Every time we see a car that comes in from the district, you can see that its suspension is torn up,” said Giro, the owner of Gili’s Automotive in Rockville, Maryland, outside Washington. “It’

4/29/2012 12:00:00 AM

Alberta: Area officials react angrily to deadly state of Highway 63 ... The Friday crash northeast of Edmonton that killed seven people, including two children, has once again raised anger and criticism about the lack of twin-lanes on the notorious Highw

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Presentations from Ports-to-Plains Alliance Energy Summit: April 20, 2012 ... The Ports-to-Plains Alliance had a great week in Washington DC during the week of April 16-20, 2012 for its annual Fly-In Event. This year the Fly-in was punctuated by our firs

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Upcoming Webinar on Trucking Industry Economics and Trends ... The U.S. Department of Transportation and AASHTO, along with the other members of the Trucking Industry Mobility & Technology Coalition, are sponsoring a free webinar in which economic expert

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Highway bill conference committee schedules first meeting ... The panel of lawmakers tapped to hammer out an agreement on a new federal transportation bill will hold its first meeting next month, a key member of the committee said Thursday. Sen. Barbara

4/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

Transportation Logistics for the Oil & Gas Industry | June 5-6, 2012 ... You are invited to the only event bringing together the Oil & Gas industry with railroads, trucking and barge operators to address the logistical bottlenecks of getting materials in

4/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

House of Representatives Names Transportation Reauthorization Conferees ... T&I Conferees: Mica (R-FL), Young (R-AK), Duncan (R-TN), Shuster (R-PA), Capito (R-WV), Crawford (R-AR), Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Bushon (R-IN), Hanna (R-NY), Southerland (R-FL), L

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

RIP, 2012 Federal Transportation Bill ... We may well look back upon this day as the one in which we realized once and for all that no transportation bill would be enacted in 2012. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced a few hours ago that he woul

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

Oil Prices & Supply ... When the Associated Press recently released a "Fact Check" analysis reviewing 36 years of data showing no statistical correlation between what U.S. consumers pay for gasoline and the amount of oil being pumped out of the ground he

4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

San Angelo, TX: City councilman goes to Washington to lobby for Ports to Plains ... San Angelo City Council member Dwain Morrison hit the road last week for the nation's capital to lobby for the Ports-to-Plains highway corridor.

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

Surface Transportation Reauthorization Status Report ... House passed H.R. 4348, with three amendments, by a vote of 293 to 127.

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

House Passes Transportation Bill ... The House passed a transportation bill, 293-127, setting up negotiations with the Senate. 69 Democrats ignored a veto threat from the White House to join all but 14 Republicans to support the bill. Negotiators (aka,

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

Transportation Remains Major Issue as Congress Returns to Washington Next Week ... When Congress returns from its Easter recess next week, the fate of the surface transportation program is expected to be high on its agenda. Transportation Weekly and Po

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

ONEOK Partners to build 1,300-mile pipeline from North Dakota to Cushing hub ... Tulsa-based natural gas transporter ONEOK Partners LP announced Monday that it plans to enter the crude oil business by building a 1,300-mile pipeline from the Northern Grea

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

U.S. House must clear up bottleneck over transportation ... The rightward-tilting U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the leftist-leaning American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations typically make very strange bedfellows. Rarely can they s

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

US governors add support for extension of wind tax incentives ... A group representing US governors has called on Congress to approve a medium-term extension of federal tax credits for renewable energy and to include investment in the first 3GW of offsho

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

Shale of the Century: Small Towns Dazed by Eagle Ford Influx ... Technology has a way of humbling those brave enough to forecast our energy future. In an April 1977 speech, President Jimmy Carter declared, “The oil and natural gas we rely on for 75 perce

4/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Wildhorse set to begin extended hours ... The Port of Wild Horse will switch to extended summer hours on Thursday, marking the second-straight year the border crossing will be open longer hours in the spring. It also marks a synchronized effort between

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Pickens Reviving Plans for Texas Wind Power at Smaller Scale ... Billionaire T. Boone Pickens is building a 377-megawatt wind farm in Texas, three years after shelving plans for a project about ten times as big that would’ve been the world’s largest. Me

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Western Energy Corridor ... The energy resources concentrated along the Rocky Mountains and northern plains in Canada and the United States (U.S.) are world class, as measured by their diversity, magnitude, and longevity. This area, informally refer

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Stay Tuned: The Transportation Reauthorization Saga Continues Today ... Extension … Senate Bill … Conference Committee … Shutdown … Here are a few articles summarizing the significant of today. With the House scheduled to leave Washington DC tonight, it

3/29/2012 12:00:00 AM

U.S. Economic Impact Oil Calculator ... Canada is the largest supplier of oil to the U.S. When the U.S. imports oil from Canada, the spin-off economic benefits are substantial. North America’s largest oil reserves are in Canada’s oil sands. The interac

3/29/2012 12:00:00 AM

North Dakota: Construction full speed ahead in oil patch ... The state’s plan to extend the passing lanes on Highway 85 between Watford City and Williston this summer will lead to converting the highway to a four-lane. The 42 miles of highway are some o

3/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Highway vote punt complicates Hill timing ,,, The House is once again at a standstill on the highway bill, just days before federal funding would be shut off and Congress skips town for its two-week recess. Republicans yanked a 60-day extension of highw

3/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

Bennet and Udall Call for Passage of Senate Energy Bill to Extend Wind Energy Tax Credit ... Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet today urged their Senate colleagues to pass a bill that would extend the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), along wi

3/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

Tuesday: House tries again on transportation extension ... The House meets at noon for legislative work, and will try again to pass a bill authorizing the short-term extension of federal highway programs. GOP leaders were prepared to vote on the extensi

3/26/2012 12:00:00 AM