Railroads urge deadline extension
WASHINGTON – Widespread disruptions of freight and passenger rail traffic are likely if Congress doesn’t extend a deadline to start using certain safety technology before the end of the year, railroads are warning.
Freight and passenger railroads have said in letters to the Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., that they won’t have the technology – known as positive train control, or PTC – in operation by Dec. 31, the deadline set by a 2008 rail safety law.
The technology automatically stops trains to prevent collisions with other trains or derailments due to high speeds. By the deadline, the technology is required to be in operation on all tracks used by passenger trains and trains that transport chemicals toxic to inhale.
Panel OKs repeal of crude-export bans
WASHINGTON – A key House panel advanced a bill to lift 40-year-old restrictions on U.S. crude exports as more Democrats said they may be willing to ease the trade limits.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power passed the measure by voice vote Thursday. Before that, Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and the bill’s sponsor, said the full committee may vote next week and the full House “reasonably soon” thereafter. The restrictions may be repealed in three to four months, he said.
Oil producers, including ConocoPhillips, Hess Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., are seeking to end the ban, which was enacted during the energy shortages of the 1970s. Four refiners including Delta Air Lines’s Monroe Energy and PBF Energy are among those lobbying to keep it. Producers would generally benefit from being able to sell crude abroad, while refiners may see profit margins decrease if oil costs more.
Intelligence chief: Iraq, Syria may not survive
WASHINGTON – The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency says Iraq and Syria may have been permanently torn asunder by war and sectarian tensions.
Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart told an industry conference Thursday that Syria may be split into two or three parts as the result of its civil war.
In Iraq, he said, it is difficult to imagine the autonomous Kurds submitting to the rule of the central government in Baghdad. The Obama administration’s official policy is that the countries remain whole.
Unemployment benefit applications drop
WASHINGTON – Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, keeping this key indicator of labor market health near historic lows.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 275,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased 500 to 275,750.
Last week, the government reported that the unemployment rate dropped to a seven-year low of 5.1 percent in August. That puts it at a level viewed by many economists as “full employment,” which is one of the Federal Reserve’s major goals for managing the economy.
The Associated Press
