Cities around the Great Lakes region are trying to make transportation cheaper for riders and more environmentally friendly by expanding their public transit networks. Two modes that are often pitted against each other are light rail and bus rapid transit (BRT). While not every BRT line meets the same standards, in general, they have been upgraded for higher capacity and speed, although they have fewer stations.
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A few months ago, I was riding on Amtrak’s new Borealis line from St. Paul, Minn., to Chicago. The train was packed that day, and the new line has proved popular.
My coach seat was much nicer than any airline. Plus, I didn’t have to go through security.
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President Donald Trump has made rethinking international trade policy a centerpiece of his second administration. While Congress generally has the authority to regulate international trade, it has also delegated some of this authority to the president. On Feb. 1, Trump announced he would be imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a 10% tariff on Canadian energy.
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Melting ice. Wildfire smoke. Crop losses. Climate change is already having an impact on the Great Lakes region. According to a 2022 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in order to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, humanity would have to reach net-zero emissions by the 2070s.
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I was taking out the trash one evening this May when I noticed it. The sky had a reddish tint, and the air smelled faintly of smoke. Like many people across the Great Lakes region, I learned last summer to recognize the telltale signs of wildfire smoke. Amid a big year for wildfires in Canada, many of us got used to outbreaks of pollution caused by smoke from up north.
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Increasingly, scientists and regulators are concerned about the presence of pharmaceutical pollution in our waterways, including in the Great Lakes region. This contamination has the potential to harm wildlife and make antibiotics less effective. However, more research needs to be done to understand this issue, according to scientists who have studied pharmaceuticals and other contaminants.
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