At a hearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Andrew Darrell of the Environmental Defense Fund urges political leaders to support overburdened transit agencies in order to create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and combat climate change. (Environmental Defense Fund)

With transit agencies across the country dealing with booming ridership and exploding costs, Congress is looking to include funding for mass transit — and help reduce dependence on foreign oil — in its next energy bill. (Wall Street Journal — Christopher Conkey)

Thanks to a media drumbeat and political grandstanding, 51 percent of Americans believe that drilling would immediately bring down gas prices — while the country’s own energy department says that it would not have a significant impact before 2030. (Los Angeles Times — Geoffrey Mohan)

U.S. retail gasoline demand drops 3.9 percent from last summer, according to MasterCard. (Reuters)

The New York Times‘ Elisabeth Rosenthal examines how much Europeans are willing to change their driving habits in order to emissions control targets.

As we have shown in the past few months, Americans are more than ready to quickly change our behavior in response to high gas prices. But as Robert Sussman, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, points out, we now must “maintain our momentum” for lowered demand. (Greenville News — Jenny Munro)

As gas prices continue to fluctuate near $4 a gallon and Americans continue to feel the pain at the pump, many energy experts are pointing out the obvious — the price of oil is not going to drop much while worldwide demand increases by one million barrels a day. (Grist — Joseph Romm)

The California State Legislature is seeking to make the obvious connection between land use decisions, transportation, and climate change by voting on a law that would limit carbon emissions by curbing sprawl. (Los Angeles Times — Margot Roosevelt)

Americans already know how finding alternatives to driving can save them money. In Wisconsin, they’re finding out it can also play a big role in cutting carbon emissions. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel — Lee Bergquist and Thomas Content)

Falling fuel costs have given Americans some temporary relief near the end of a painful summer, but many experts say that our energy problems — and the high gas prices that come along with them — are here to stay. (Arizona Republic — Ryan Randazzo)