Category: environment
Highway Deconstruction & Quality of Life
The City Fix highlights an interesting approach to improving the quality of urban life: The famed U.S. intellectual Lewis Mumford once said, “Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” The recently released report on freeway removal from by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and EMBARQ (the producer [...]
Europe Paying a Price for Sustainable Agriculture
According to Deutsche Welle, Europe is experiencing an egg crisis set off by recent regulations intended to promote more humane farming practices: An EU ban on hen battery cages has caused egg prices to reach record levels, with the food industry hardest hit by short supplies, the EU Commission said. The shortage is expected to [...]
Cities & Our Common Future
We’re taking a break from regular blogging this week. We leave you with this TED talk by Alex Steffen, in which he discusses how cities can create a “shareable” sustainable future. Be back next Monday!
Want to Go Green? Get Old. . .
. . . Buildings, that is. According to a recent study released by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, older buildings may make the best green investment: The Greenest Building explores the environmental impacts associated with the decision to demolish and replace existing buildings – and especially the carbon dioxide savings that might be offered [...]
NRDC Reports on the Financial Payback from Green Infrastructure
Based upon case studies from Philadelphia and elsewhere, environmentalists with the National Resources Defense Council report that green infrastructure can save billions of dollars for municipalities throughout the US: In Philadelphia alone, we estimate a potential for $376 million in private investment, if innovative finance approaches are applied to harness the power of the market. [...]
USDA Releases New Planting Map
This post has a little something for the geeks among us, the home gardeners and environmentalists: the USDA has released its new plant hardiness zones map. It is on the agency website in interactive form. It is the first update in over 20 years. For the geeks, it is an interactive app, for the home [...]
