December 18, 2014: Funding transportation via carbon taxes; N.C. troopers ride in trucks to spot texting; Texas pickup now fights in Syria.

Here is a look at what is happening in the world of transportation this morning:

• According to the Seattle Times, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington wants to form a cap-and-trade carbon tax system to help fund the Evergreen state’s transportation budget.
• North Carolina state troopers are riding along in big rigs so they can better spot motorists texting while driving, notes The Courier-Tribune.
• Fox News reports on how a Texas plumber’s old pickup ended up as battlefield vehicle for terrorists forces in Syria.
• Wired profiles “The Raminator,” one of the fastest monster trucks in the world and one the most fuel guzzling, too.
• Halvor Truck Lines puts a truck it designed to honor veterans on the road, reports WDIO.
• Autoweek named the 2015 GMC Canyon midsize pickup – brother truck to the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado – as its truck of the year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
• CNN reports that the U.S. is “falling in love” with public transit; at least based on ridership numbers.
• Container shipping companies are being urged to boost their Asia-Pacific to U.S. ocean freight transport rates, notes Reuters.
• The Federal Reserve all but rules out any rate hikes before April of next year, notes MarketWatch.
• Obesity could be a workplace disability in some cases according to a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice, reports the BBC; a ruling that’s binding for all member states of the European Union.
• Does the Arctic Circle hold big untapped oil and natural gas reserves? Denmark aims to find out, notes National Geographic.