U.S. Military Agency Seeks to
Protect Grid
The Defense Advanced Research
Project Agency (DARPA) has announced plans to develop systems for the
protection of critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks. You can find out more
in this
article or the DARPA
Web site. If you’d like to find out more about the vulnerabilities of the
U.S. electric grid, you may be interested in Lights Out by Ted Koppel.
Could You Pay to Name a Missouri
Road?
A bill introduced into the Missouri
House of Representatives, HB
728, would allow the state Highways
and Transportation Commission to sell naming rights to roads and bridges.
You can find more about the bill here.
Hyperloop Considers Missouri
Missouri
is one of the semifinalists for consideration for the construction of a
Hyperloop, a high-speed transportation system that could go from Kansas City
to St.
Louis in 23 minutes. The Missouri
Department of Transportation conceives of it as part of a reconstructed Interstate
70 corridor—the segment of I-70 that crosses Missouri is considered the
first completed portion of the interstate system. You can find more about this
proposal, about which there remain many questions, here
or here.
Missouri Bill: Move Over for
Utility Vehicles
A bill recently passed in the Missouri House, HB
85, that would require drivers to pull over or slow down when driving by a
utility vehicle that is flashing lights. A similar requirement exists for
emergency response vehicles such as fire and police. The bill will move on to
the Senate. You can find more here.
Missouri and Illinois Rivers
Could be Part of Trump Infrastructure Plan
Though President Donald Trump’s proposed infrastructure plan is not
final, locks and dams on the Mississippi
and Illinois
Rivers could make the list. Seven locks, five on the Upper Mississippi
River and two on the Illinois River, aid barge transportation to Chicago and
Minneapolis.
A proposal to improve the seven locks and undertake related stream and habitat restoration
projects was taken up by Congress
in 2007,
but never received an appropriation.
If the project is supported by the Trump administration, it is not certain that
the president would support the environmental aspect of the program, which
would likely undermine the support it has received from major environmental
groups. You can read more about this here.
[INSERT IMAGE http://www.columbiatribune.com/opinion/darkow_cartoons/john-darkow-on-missouri-highways/image_6280e00e-16fc-11e7-8ed0-2b5a40a1e3d4.html]
Trump Order Could Roll Back
Federal Regulation of Streams
President Trump issued an executive order that lead to rescinding the
2015 Clean Water Rule. It is not clear what rule may replace it, but some
suspect it will limit or eliminate federal regulation of intermittent streams.
The 2015 rule, promulgated under the administration of President Barrack
Obama, clarified federal
jurisdiction over certain waters. Opponents sued claiming that the rule
actually extended federal jurisdiction. A federal court
ordered federal agencies to not implement while it considered the case.
You can find more about this issue here.
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