* Gov. Pat Quinn finally offers up a kinda/sorta straight answer to something, after a bit of prodding…
“So when do you officially announce that you’re running for Governor?” Goldblatt asked.
“Oh, I haven’t thought about that,” Quinn said, adding that he would begin thinking about it.
Goldblatt responded, “Why are you being slightly coy on this?”
“I plan to run,” Quinn said, “there’s no doubt about that. When I announce is another story.”
Watch it…
* Democratic state Rep. Julie Hamos will announce for something next Tuesday. From an e-mail to supporters…
I am pleased to tell you that after a great deal of discussion with you and many other supporters, I have made some decisions about my future and I plan on making a public announcement next Tuesday at noon.
I would like to invite you to the announcement, but if you cannot attend, I will hold a briefing conference call for my statewide exploratory committee at 5:00 pm on Tuesday evening.
She’s widely expected to run for the open 10th Congressional District seat. We’ll see.
* Conservative talk show host Cisco Cotto, of WIND AM, may run for US Senate…
Cotto wrote to his FaceBook friends Thursday, “I’m going to start talking with some people about the Senate to see if it would work. I know many of you think it’s crazy because I’m young and have never been in politics, but someone has to do something…”
Cotto would not be the first radio talk show host to run for U.S. Senate in Illinois. In 2004, 890 WLS liberal talk show host Nancy Skinner ran against five others, including Barack Obama, who eventually won over fellow Democrats Comptroller Dan Hynes, CPS School Board Prez Gery Chico and millionaire Blair Hull.
* Speaking of the Senate, Republican Mark Kirk took a hit from Pace board chairman Richard Kwasneski for a recent letter to the editor…
While hybrid buses are more expensive than diesel buses ($500,000 vs. $320,000), a hybrid bus will use approximately 30,000 gallons less fuel over its lifetime. A new hybrid fleet could save more than 1 million gallons of fuel and eliminate 10,500 tons of greenhouse gases, saving taxpayers at least $2.6 million in diesel costs alone. Those savings will only increase as diesel prices rise.
When asked why it won’t change course, Pace responds it will lose stimulus funds if it doesn’t act quickly. Far from the case — the stimulus only requires 50 percent of the funds designated to each transit agency to be spent within the first 180 days before those funds are lost.
For starters, attacking a transit agency to make a point about fighting fuel usage and improving air quality is incongruous, considering each Pace bus can take 50 cars off the road.
The comparisons Kirk makes relating to the fuel economy of diesel and hybrid buses are an apples-to-oranges comparison, because the figures he cites compare 40-foot hybrid buses with 40-foot diesel buses. However, the buses Pace purchases are 30 feet in length and actually get better fuel mileage than the 40-foot hybrids he heralds. A 30-foot hybrid might achieve fuel savings, but no such model is in production.
Pace approached Congressman Kirk for five straight years requesting federal funding to add hybrid buses to our fleet, and each time the request was ignored. Had he taken action, it’s very likely Pace would not only purchase hybrid buses with federal stimulus money as he’s now asking us to do, but we would already have them out on the road today.
We’ve done the research to prove that buying more of the considerably less expensive diesel buses for the available funding we have will result in a greater net improvement in air quality. Emissions control technology for diesel buses has advanced to the extent that the difference in the amount of particulate matter found in exhaust from buses is essentially negligible between diesels and hybrids.
Kirk’s comments also ignore a fact we have repeatedly conveyed to him: Pace is committed to testing not only hybrid vehicles but other “green” technology.
“Mark Kirk would have a lot more credibility in calling for investments in environmentally friendly technology if he had signed onto the Economic Recovery Act that invested hundreds of millions in green jobs when he had a chance,” said Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.
* Related…
* Suburban lawmakers play key, opposing roles in health care battle
