New York Awarded National Smart Growth and Drinking Water Protection Grant

Governor David A. Paterson has announced that New York State was chosen as one of only two states for a Smart Growth technical assistance grant to promote sustainable land use and water quality protection. The Smart Growth Leadership Institute chose New York and Missouri for this year's initiative, entitled ''Aligning State Land Use and Water Quality Protection Programs.'' The program is funded by EPA.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7681

MassDOT Will Promote Smart Growth and Complete Streets to Reduce Carbon Footprint

Building upon the state's Global Warming Solutions Act, the Project Development and Design Guide, and similar legislative measures, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) launched a comprehensive GreenDOT "environmental responsibility and sustainability initiative'' to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote walking, biking and transit, and support smart growth.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7687

ULI: Law Has Much Potential to Increase Livability in California's Urban Areas

In SB 375 Impact Analysis Report, the Urban Institute examines the potential effects of a new law on the economic future of California and the quality of life for its residents. SB 375 requires metropolitan planning organizations to create and implement land use plans that use compact, coordinated, and efficient development patterns to reduce auto dependency. The report concludes that the law, if implemented wisely, could help the state’s urban regions become more economically and environmentally sustainable.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7684

Smart Growth Sharpens Focus on Multi-Use Urban Parks

As the smart growth movement matures and applies the economic, social and environmental lessons of development patterns since the 1950s, it makes the significance of public parks and green spaces increasingly clear, according to National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Chief of Public Policy Richard J. Dolesh. John Frece, Director of EPA's Office of Smart Growth, agrees. ''EPA has always considered the creation of high-quality parks as essential to creation of livable, sustainable communities,'' said Frece, pointing out that a park provides ''an essential oasis in a busy, dense, urban environment'' and ''true environmental benefits that are beyond natural beauty.'' With EPA, HUD and DOT working through their Partnership for Sustainable Communities since June 2009 ''to inspire communities to do a better job'' in planning for sustainability goals, Frece said, ''It is logical that parks be an integral part of the next steps to achieve these goals.'' www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7675

Article courtesy of Smart Growth

On the trail of deep-sea oil

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. — The deep-sea photos on Vernon Asper’s laptop don’t look like much to the untrained eye: black squares with flecks of white and orange. But, he says, pressing a fingertip beneath one barely-there dot, that sure looks like oil to him.

Asper, a professor of marine science at the University of Southern Mississippi, will know more once he finishes analyzing data being collected by a deep-diving vessel built by iRobot Corp. in Bedford. The torpedo-shaped vessel, Seaglider 515, and several other seafaring robots are sliding through the Gulf of Mexico, assessing the oil in the water after a rig explosion off the Louisiana coast created a gusher that has turned into the nation’s worst environmental disaster.

Scientists will use the information gathered by the underwater gliders to map the oil swirling hundreds and thousands of feet beneath the ocean’s surface, and that will help them figure out how the oil is moving and where it might appear next. The information, collected with onboard sensors, is critical so cleanup crews can buffer the coast and know where to look for harmed wildlife. Government officials and researchers estimate that as much as 40,000 barrels of oil a day may have been leaking from the blown-out well drilled for BP, making it much bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.

Continue http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/06/15/on_the_trail_of_deep_sea_oil/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe By Erin Ailworth

 

 

Dump the Pump Day June 17 2010

Join Ventura County Transportation Commission and VISTA bus for the fifth annual Dump the Pump Day!

On Thursday, June 17, 2010, VISTA bus' fixed-service will be FREE.  Particpants who carpool, vanpool, ride the bus, walk, or bike on Dump the Pump Day will also have a chance to enter VCTC and VISTA bus' random drawing to win one of five prizes including an Apple iPod Touch.

We encourage you to spread the word to your employees.  Below you will find links to Dump the Pump Day pledge form and flyer.

For more information, visit  www.goventura.org or call (800) 438-1112. 

Westchester Knows HIV Testing Event

    `                                                                WESTCHESTER KNOWS KICK-OFF EVENT

                                                            Free HIV testing on June 21 in downtown White Plains

Did you know?

·  The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 people with HIV do not know they are infected.

·  In New York State, outside of NYC, Westchester County has the most people

     living with HIV and AIDS.

·  Due to delayed HIV testing, close to 40% of Westchester County residents newly

    diagnosed with HIV are also being diagnosed with AIDS within one year.

 

That’s why it’s so important that adults 18 and over get tested for HIV when they seek routine medical care and that all health care partners assist in this endeavor. The new Westchester Knows task force will launch a three year campaign to increase HIV testing at its partnering locations.  The kick-off event will take place on Monday, June 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the corner of Mamaroneck Avenue & Main Street in downtown White Plains.  Individuals living with HIV will speak from personal experience about how a simple HIV test changed their lives and free rapid HIV testing will be offered to the public.  Visit www.westchestergov.com/health for more details.