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Gas-powered lawn mowers are terrible polluters, but they’ll have to clean up their act in the next few years. So say new regulations announced this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Under the EPA’s new standards, small spark-ignition engines such as those used in lawn mowers will have to reduce their hydrocarbon emissions by 35 percent starting in 2011. Gas-powered boats and other personal watercraft will also have to cut their pollution levels, with those new restrictions coming into play in 2010.
Barack Obama is the U.S.’s best hope for developing a clean-energy future, according to a new group formed to promote and raise funds for the Democratic presidential nominee.
Cleantech & Green Business Leaders for Obama (Cleantech for Obama, or CT4O) kicked off its campaign in San Francisco this week. The organization plans to hold fund-raising events across the country to collect at least $1 million to support Obama’s campaign.
Some of the group’s coming events include a Sept. 7 “Barbecue for Barack” in Durham, North Carolina, and an Oct. 11 “Baracktoberfest” in San Francisco.
By The Dave Room •
September 3, 2008
Re-localization is the process through which a community reverts from ever increasing dependence upon the global economic system back to local networks of economic interdependency. Localization brings production closer to consumption obviating the need to rely on long supply chains and distant markets so that communities can largely provision themselves. Local production strengthens the local economy, creates worthwhile jobs, and increases local self reliance. Refocusing the economy locally will necessarily revitalize the community, increasing camaraderie, cooperation, and support for local culture and a sense of place.
The top five reasons we need to localize:
- Make our cities more resilient
- Reduce C02 emissions
- Reduce energy consumption
- Prepare for an energy scarce future
- Create a publicly-owned safety net
In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, regional officials have become increasingly concerned about how the San Francisco Bay Area would fare if another 1906-style earthquake were to occur. The San Francisco city government and CORE - Citizens of Oakland Responding to Emergencies (as well as the national emergency preparedness sector in general) are strongly recommending that people get prepared to live for 3 days without major infrastructural support (i.e., electricity, running water, supermarkets, etc).
Roz Savage is the first to admit she’s not trying to “save the planet.” Despite all the abuses we heap upon it, Earth will be “just fine in several million years,” she says.
We humans, on the other hand, are making it increasingly likely that we’ll “drown in our own filth,” Savage warns. And to draw attention to just how bad we’ve let things get for this Big Blue Marble we call home, she recently rowed — that’s right, rowed — solo from San Francisco to Honolulu.
The 99-day, 2,324-mile trip started near midnight on May 25 and concluded with a pre-dawn arrival on Sept. 1 at the Waikiki Yacht Club.
Amid the distractions of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, Sarah Palin surprises, Hurricane Gustav and beyond sits a vitally important and sadly too-neglected news item: investments in new projects for renewable energy are suffering because Congress hasn’t yet found a way to extend tax credits for such efforts.
The renewable energy tax credits for wind, solar and other clean energies is set to expire on Dec. 31.
The delay in extending those credits is hindering plans for new renewable energy projects. A study by Navigant Consulting, for example, warns that letting the tax credits expire could jeopardize $19 billion in renewables investment, as well as threaten 112,000 jobs in the clean-energy sector.
The sagging U.S. economy apparently causes people to not only tighten their belts, but to throw away less stuff.
A recent ABC news report said solid-waste managers across the country have been seeing noticeable declines in the amount of trash their communities generate … anywhere from 3 to 12 percent over the past few months to year.
Some of the managers attribute most of the decline to the struggling housing market. Fewer homes being built (or torn down to make room for newer, larger houses) mean less construction waste heading toward landfills. Others say increased recycling efforts might also be making a dent in solid waste hauls.
Back-to-school preparations traditionally mean stocking up on lots and lots of paper stuff: filler paper, notepads, laser paper, construction paper, folders and, of course, lots and lots of books. And while students are becoming increasingly eco-aware, a lot of those paper things on their shopping lists are impossible to buy used: notepads and printing paper have to be pristine and even many textbooks become quickly and uselessly out of date.
So what’s a conservation-minded student or teacher to do? Here are some suggestions:
If you’ve ever felt guilty about buying a new book, but really wanted a title you couldn’t find used online or at the library, here’s a cool and greener way to stay on top of new releases from the world of environmental publishing: EcoBrain.
Founded last year by two passionately green families at different ends of North America (one in the U.S., one in Canada), EcoBrain is “dedicated to educating people about environmental living options while affording them the opportunity to purchase materials digitally in an effort to radically reduce the impact on the environment,” according to its Website. In other words, it lets you buy books about green living in a way that’s truly green: in digital, no-printed-paper-or-snail-mail-delivery-necessary format.
While gas prices have dropped from their historic highs of earlier this summer, many believe they’re never likely to return to the low levels that made the U.S. such a motor-happy nation for decades. Because of that, social observers like James Howard Kunstler and others see a bleak future for car-dependent suburbia, with the sprawl degrading into vast slums or being abandoned altogether.
But does that have to be the case? Suburbs might not have been developed with New Urbanism in mind, but maybe they could be reinvented. Perhaps they could become the 21st Century version of the 18th Century farm community, with lots of individual homesteads dotted across a wide swath of agricultural land.
(This is another installment in this week’s “Walk This Way” series on walkable neighborhoods in the U.S.)
Pensacola’s a unique town, as far as both Florida and walkable communities are concerned. Tucked into the northwest corner of Florida, the City of Five Flags is so close to Alabama, it’s often treated not as if it’s part of the Sunshine State but L.A. (as in, “Lower Alabama”).
While it sometimes seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of Florida towns, Pensacola does have a lot going for it, especially in its historic and compact waterfront downtown area. With numerous ancient live oaks and buildings often reminiscent of New Orleans’ French Quarter (Pensacola is equally old and went through waves of Spanish, French and English settlers), downtown Pensacola is a kind of walker’s diamond in the rough.
By Cassie Walker •
July 31, 2008
Despite pervasive refrains of “…nobody walks in LA” (courtesy of ’80s New Wave band Missing Persons) people actually do walk here. Compared to my hometown of Dallas, people in LA walk a LOT. Maybe it’s because the traffic is so bad, and once you get to your destination, there’s nowhere to park. Regardless, the LA area is made up of many different, distinct cities, each with their own [...]
