Automobiles

"There’s only dirty oil and dirtier oil,” Gore told Canada’s The Globe and Mail.

Your morning transportation speed-read: 

Your morning transportation speed-read: 

The Treasury Department's investment in General Motors is continuing to shrink as the government winds down one of the last major pieces of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The Treasury announced Monday that it had entered the second stage of its exit from the domestic car manufacturer, as it continues to sell off the roughly 241.7 million shares it has in the company. The government anticipates it will have fully exited its rescue of GM sometime in the first quarter of 2014.

"Earlier this year, Treasury launched an effort to sell its remaining shares in GM common stock," said Tim Massad, Treasury's assistant secretary for financial stability. "We are pleased with the progress to date and will continue exiting this investment in accordance with our previously announced plan and timetable and in a manner that maximizes returns for taxpayers.”

General Motors Co. is signing onto a joint statement from a slew of big companies that calls for bolder federal action to confront climate change.

GM on Wednesday became the first automaker to sign the “climate declaration” that was initially unveiled in mid-April and is organized through Ceres, a sustainable business and investing group.

“Everywhere you look there are opportunities to seize the high ground on climate and energy,” said Michael J. Robinson, GM’s vice president of sustainability and global regulatory affairs, in a statement.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that new fuel economy standards he helped usher in with President Obama are “a big deal” that will outlast both of them.

“That will be part of President Obama’s legacy. What a legacy — cleaning up the air in America, getting cleaner burning cars,” LaHood said at a news conference in which Obama tapped Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to lead the Transportation Department (DOT).

The updated Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards require cars to get 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. They were finalized last August.

Ford Motor Co. now includes the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline among the topics in the company’s lobbying portfolio.

The auto giant’s first quarter lobbying report lists the proposed pipeline that would bring oil from Alberta’s oil sands projects across the border en route to Gulf Coast refineries.

The filing specifically lists the “Northern Route Approval Act,” which is pending, GOP-led House legislation that would authorize construction of TransCanada Corp.’s pipeline.

The federal government is relaxing a rule for drivers of buses and large trucks who are involved in out-of-state traffic violations.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an office of the Department of Transportation, is eliminating a requirement that drivers notify their state’s licensing agency when they are convicted of a traffic offense in another state.

Currently, both the license holders and the states have to report the conviction.

Under the new rule, scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday and take effect in 30 days, states will continue sending reports to each other, but no action will be required from drivers.