Houston Strategies

...the economic benefits of pumping previously inaccessible oil from fields that could collectively hold two or three times as much oil as Prudhoe Bay, the Alaskan field that was the last great onshore discovery. The companies estimate that the boom will create more than two million new jobs, directly or indirectly, and bring tens of billions of dollars to the states where the fields are located, which include traditional oil sites like Texas and Oklahoma, industrial stalwarts like Ohio and Michigan and even farm states like Kansas. 

“It’s the one thing we have seen in our adult lives that could take us away from imported oil,” said Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, one of the most aggressive drillers. “What if we have found three of the world’s biggest oil fields in the last three years right here in the U.S.? How transformative could that be for the U.S. economy?”

• Why transit is stuck at the 4% solution and can't get much better.  Bottom line: it just takes far too long to get people where they want to go - cars get people there far quicker, even at the worst of rush hour.
• In case you missed it: Bill King's excellent op-ed on how Houston Metro is beating Dallas DART by investing in cheap, flexible buses instead of expensive, inflexible rail.  Based on a new Brookings study.
• Metro's financial forecast is getting bleak.  When will reality get acknowledged and the rail plan re-thought instead of plowing forward zombie-like chanting "The 2003 referendum is making us do it"?
• "What Texas can teach us" in the Washington Examiner.  Mainly focused on comparative economics and business friendliness.  Hat tip to Joel.  Great excerpt: