While speaking on May 18th at an event coined Auto Communities and the Next Economy: Partnerships in Innovation, Ed Montgomery, who leads the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers and Larry Summers, the Director of President Obama's National Economic Council, announced a proposed trust of over $800 million to clean up and retool idled General Motors facilities.  In his remarks, Montgomery described that the trust would be used to remediate and breathe new life into roughly 90 shuttered GM sites disbursed throughout 14 different states.  Summers explained that approximately $536 million would be used for clean-up and the remaining funds, roughly $400 million, would be dedicated to reconditioning and reusing the properties. 
 
The event was sponsored by The White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers, The US Department of Labor, The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, and the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.  For more information contact Greg Lewis at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The Blue Green Alliance and Rep. Kendrick Meek is sponsoring a freight rail event:

"Full Speed Ahead - Creating Green Jobs Through Freight Rail Expansion
Sponsored by Representative Kendrick Meek
Tuesday, May 25, 11:00 a.m.
U.S. Capitol - H137 Ways and Means Committee Room
Join us as we discuss the Full Speed Ahead: Creating Green Jobs Though Freight Rail Expansion report, and the opportunities for increasing energy independence and quality employment by investing in our rail network.

Speakers:
Obie O'Bannon, Senior Vice President of Government Relations, Association of American Railroads
Neil Messick, Vice President of Government Relations, AcelorMittal
John McCloskey, District Council of Railroads Executive Board Member, Chairman Local 526 Sheet Metal Workers International Association
Rob McCulloch, Legislative Advocate for Transportation and Transit Issues, BlueGreen Alliance

You will need a photo I.D. Once inside, make your first left down the hall, and H137 is the on the left-hand side."

The Northeast-Midwest Institute, in coordination with the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition is sponsoring a film screening on infrastructure with Rep. Brian Higgins (NY-27).  The film, Beyond the Motor City, part of PBS's Blueprint America series focuses on the transportation infrastructure of Detroit and its ability to transform the way people are transported.  The film touches on infrastructure disinvestment and auto-centric cities juxtaposing them with cities using a variety of modes and modern infrastructure.  The event will feature statements by the Congressman as well as a discussion with the film's director, Aaron Woolf.

The screening will take place at 5:30 on the evening of Tuesday June 1 at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society in Buffalo, NY.

For more information contact Fritz Ohrenschall (202-464-4020), at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The biannual National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER) 2011 will be held in Baltimore, MD at the Marriott Waterfront hotel on August 1-5, 2011. The NCER 2011 Program Committee invites members of the ecosystem restoration community to assist with developing the conference program agenda by proposing and organizing sessions. Proposers should not feel limited to the preliminary topical categories listed on the NCER 2011 web site. Each proposal will be assessed according to individual content, structure and overall relevance. Proposal acceptance will be primarily based on an evaluation of the session's potential for generating useful results, relevance and expected level of interest in the topic. The Northeast-Midwest Institute's Mark Gorman is on the NCER 2011 Planning Committee.  Please feel free to contact Mark with any questions or ideas.