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CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT — 23.JAN.2015
Smarter Cities —
Many planners agree that a more centralized population is a good thing for long-term environmental responsibility. But as people all over the world continue to flock to urban centers, the challenge of creating sustainable cities becomes more pressing. How can cities be improved to ensure that their billions of residents have energy-efficient transportation, housing, waste-stream management, as well as clean air and water? Ecological urban planner Melanie Nutter walks us through some of the emerging policies and practices to promote smart, sustainable, resilient cities. GP comment: Nutter has good ideas, and they seem to be fairly successful in San Francisco. But the success largely depends on the target city being highly prosperous in general and green-minded specifically. Many of these programs simply would not sell politically or economically in, say, Atlanta. I'm not saying Atlantans shouldn't get on board with such ideas; just that it's not likely to happen on nearly the same scale as it has in SF. Original Show Pub Date: 13.Jan.2015 CATEGORY: TRANSPORTATION — 24.MAR.2014
Boosting Public Transit —
Congestion and smog in Paris are bad enough that authorities are taking aggressive measures to deal with the problem. Can bold steps taken in an iconic city abroad make Americans more accepting of the actions necessary to solve transportation woes in US cities? Former Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Fred Salvucci explains why public transit is a key to limiting congestion and reducing emissions from cars. in spite of this, many cities with public transit, including Boston, aren't keeping up with growing demand and infrastructure requirements. GP comment: Mass transit is low-hanging fruit for almost all cities, yet investments always seem to lag. It doesn't make sense. Original Show Pub Date: 21.Mar.2014 CATEGORY: ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION — 29.JAN.2014
Explosive Oil Trains —
The past year has seen a marked increase in oil train derailments and explosions, including the deadly accident in Lac-Megantic in Quebec that killed 47 people. These events have raised questions about oil transport in North America. Canadian journalist Jacquie McNish discusses. GP comment: You gotta love the desperation of industry when they use "it was a once-in-a-lifetime accident" because "there was a hill and the brakes failed." And, as with the ocean-based oil tanker industry, the oil-by-rail industry has mightily resisted the push to use shielded double-wall rail cars. And P.S. Also mentioned in passing is that the US is headed for "energy independence." That is a myth. Original Show Pub Date: 24.Jan.2014
Get more audio clips on transportation issues (and many more topics) in Grinning Planet's biweekly downloadable audio news feed. |
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