Nature slams sprawl commutes with 7 inches of rain, closes Edens Expwy

Edens reopens as flooding stops Metra UP Northwest trains - chicagotribune.com: "Flooding closed the Edens Expressway at Pratt Avenue for about three hours this morning and shut down the McHenry branch of Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line for the entire day."

'via Blog this'

Climate change hell is here and now. Still want cars?

Applicants line up in Calumet Park to apply for aid from the Illinois Department of Human Services for homes and businesses damaged after storms and flooding this spring. | Nausheen Husain~Sun-Times

Hundreds wait in heat for last chance at flood-relief aid - Chicago Sun-Times: "Gregory Davis spent the first few hours of the first day of summer waiting in line.

Davis, 52, who is blind, waited from 1 a.m. to about 10 a.m. Friday, one of hundreds who waited at the Family Community Resource Center in West Pullman for the last chance to get flood-relief aid for damage from this spring’s storms."

Living #carfree in Des Moines, Iowa. Yes, it can be done.

Zach Boyden-Holmes/Juice 

dmJuice.com: "“I don’t have to worry about bad drivers. I don’t get speeding tickets any more. I don’t have to worry about parking. It’s a stress-free way for me to travel in almost every way,” Hammes said."

'via Blog this'

Chicago sprawl reaps the whirlwind of #climatechange

chicagotribune.com: "Officials in Plainfield and Bolingbrook are applying for state and federal assistance to help pay for damage incurred during last month's storms and floods."

Sprawl causes #climatechange, and then exacerbates it

Des Plaines Blames Neighbors For Flood Problems « CBS Chicago: "The city of Des Plaines is blaming Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights for some of its flooding problems.

Des Plaines officials believe their upstream neighbors – Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights – made the flood worse by closing a gap in a levee."

'via Blog this'

Red states did not get the #teaparty memo to hate #publictransit

MPO Study Says Mass Transit Would Bring 7,000 Jobs | Indy's News Center - 93.1 WIBC Indianapolis - Live. Local. First.: "The study says about half of the jobs would be directly-related construction positions and roughly the other half would be permanent jobs, many of which would be indirectly related. The study also says building and operating the first phase of the plan would pump $3.8 billion into the economy from 2015 to 2025. Ehren Bingaman, executive director of the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority says his group continues to promote mass transit legislation that aims to bring the issue and funding to a public referendum in November 2014."

Mother Nature is talking, anyone listening?

pic.twitter.com/HzHrfMzwPV

Carbon emissions disrupt rain cycle

Evanston ranks 10th in country for green commuting

The Daily Northwestern: "“The majority of U.S. commuters drive alone in a car to work, which is the absolute worst way you can get around, as far as reducing your carbon footprint,”
... Evanston commuters take public transportation far more frequently than the average urban American."

LaHood Calls the US "One Big Pothole."

Tri States Public Radio: "LaHood highlighted his connection to the area, having attended Spoon River College, and applauded city and county’s efforts on the new transit center.

He said infrastructure and public transport are keys to economic development."

20,000 gallons of crude oil spill as train derails in Otter Tail Co. | StarTribune.com

20,000 gallons of crude oil spill as train derails in Otter Tail Co. | StarTribune.com: "PARKERS PRAIRIE, Minn. - Authorities say 14 cars of a Canadian Pacific Railroad have derailed in western Minnesota and at least three have spilled or leaked crude oil."

'via Blog this'