New York City's First Official Car-sharing Program

New York City announced a new partnership with Zipcar to begin the first official car-sharing program. The car-sharing fleet ,which consists of 23 hybrids and two trucks will be shared by 300 Department of Transportation employees during the week and will be available for use by the public during nights and weekends. www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7816

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network

Planning for a New Energy and Climate Future

by: American Planning Association   

Planners have an important role to play in helping communities meet energy needs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to a changing climate. While most planners recognize the significance of these issues, they are still working to translate these imperatives into on-the-ground plans, actions, and regulations. Planning for a New Energy and Climate Future, the culmination of a three-year research and education project on the integration of climate change and energy issues into planning practice, was prepared by APA in collaboration with the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University of North Carolina Asheville.

The report presents fundamental information about energy and climate change, provides a framework for how to integrate energy and climate into the planning process, and offers strategies for communities to address energy and climate across a variety of issues, including development patterns, transportation, and economic development. Case studies illustrate communities that have already begun taking steps in these areas.   

Resource(s): http://www.planning.org/research/energy/report.htm

Article courtesy of the Smart Growth Network

 

California Dreaming

To spur thought about California’s big questions facing the state, the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society created a map of California’s ''landscape-in-the-making''.

The map lays out four alternative futures for California in 2020. The four futures include: the Smart State - representing a continued economic growth model, the Culture Commons – a constraint scenario where growth is abandoned for conservative natural resource use, 21 Century Superstructures – a future with transformed health, education, food production, and manufacturing institutions, and last the Enclave Economy – a scenario where a natural disaster (forest fire or earthquake) drains wealth from the public sector leading to natural resource privatization. California exhibits signs of each of the alternatives today. The map is a tool meant for neighbors, colleagues, and community leaders to provoke conversation and creative thinking that will build the California of the future.   

Resource(s): http://iftf.me/public/IFTF_SR-1313_CaliforniaDreaming.pdf

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network

 

Different views on threat of radon

Radon — an odorless, colorless gas that seeps from uranium in the soil — accounts for more than half of the ionizing radiation most people encounter in their lives. When inhaled, this radioactive gas can set the stage for lung cancer.
Read more;   http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-overradiated-radon-20101011,0,6604216.story

 

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Chris Woolston

Green energy field is fertile ground for wild concepts

Spray-on solar panels, power beaming down from outer space and gasoline-like fuel made from bacteria.

Sound far-fetched? Maybe, but these and other futuristic concepts for producing power are being taken seriously in scientific, business and academic circles. Some have even raised millions in funding.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-crazy-green-20101014,0,5892388.story

 

Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times by Tiffany Hsu

 

Big Oil goes to college: a conflict of interest?

Have hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from major oil companies compromised the ethics of energy research at such institutions as UC Berkeley, UC Davis and Stanford?

That's what Jennifer Washburn, a longtime critic of academic conflicts of interest, contends in "Big Oil Goes to College," a new report that delves into the details of contracts signed between 10 major U.S. universities and global oil companies.

According to the 212-page study, released by the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank, such companies as BP, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips have funded more than $800 million in potentially compromised research with few protections for academic independence.

to read more:   http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/10/uc-berkeley-stanford-energy-research-oil-companies.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Greenspace  Environmental News by Margot Roosevelt

WASHINGTON — Google and a New York financial firm have each agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Seaboard that could ultimately transform the region’s electrical map.The 350-mile underwater spine, which could remove some critical obstacles to wind power development, has stirred excitement among investors, government officials, and environmentalists who have been briefed on it. Article courtesy of The New York Times by Matthew L. Wald

To read more  http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2010/10/12/google_investing_in_offshore_power_grid_in_atlantic/