Amtrak is planning to start or finish construction on a number of projects along the Northeast Corridor from Washington, DC to Boston in 2013.  It will upgrade 24 miles of track in New Jersey for 160 mph service. It will complete construction of a movable bridge over the Niantic River in Connecticut, replacing the previous century-old structure. Amtrak also is beginning to plan for the replacement and expansion of a number of bottlenecks on the corridor including the Gateway Project to replace the tunnels under the Hudson River into Manhattan, the B&P tunnels in Baltimore, and the Susquehanna River bridge. For more detail, read the Amtrak press release. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the award of bioenergy research grants to two institutions in the Northeast-Midwest.  Ohio State University will receive $6.51 million for its project converting animal manure, agricultural residues, woody biomass, and energy crops to liquid transportation fuels. The Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, located in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, will receive nearly $6.9 million to develop an on-the-farm technology to convert forest residues, horse manure, switchgrass, and other perennial grasses into biofuels and high-value specialty chemicals. 

In related news, a recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign indicated biofuel crops, like perennial grasses, can greatly reduce the level of nitrogen runoff typically associated with traditional row crops, like corn and soybeans.

For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst, or Danielle Chesky, Director - Great Lakes Washington Program, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.   

Hundreds of environmental educators, managers, and scientists will converge in Cape May, New Jersey to discuss the health of the Delaware River and Bay on Jan. 27-30.   The theme of the summit is "Weathering Change: Shifting Environments, Shifting Policies, Shifting Needs."  The conference seeks to create more effective partnerships and information sharing among scientists, outreach specialists, resource managers and others with an interest in the prosperity of the Delaware Estuary. The four-day conference will be hosted by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. Anyone can attend the Delaware Estuary Science & Environmental Summit. Registration is available online at DelawareEstuary.org.

For more information, contact Erik Hagen, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.