Naked bicyclists, folding bikes, balloon bikes, and more — enjoy this bicycle photo tour of Barcelona.

The third B in a row, Barcelona is next on this list of great bicycle cities (right ahead of Basel, Switzerland and Bogota, Columbia). As a dense city with a wonderful climate, Barcelona is naturally a wonderful place for bicyclists. However, a lot has been done to make it more so. The biggest carrot encouraging bicycling, by far, is Barcelona’s relatively new bike sharing program — Bicing. This is perhaps the best or second best bike sharing program in the world. It is one of a new generation of sophisticated, smart bike sharing programs. Read more about it on page 2.

Beyond Bicing, the city is also working on creating new bicycling routes and bike parking and it hosts fun Bike Week celebrations every year in May. Also, it has been creating better infrastructure for bicyclists due to so many more people bicycling within the past few years. It is transforming itself into a truly world-leading bicycle city.

Read more of this story »

China just awarded Bombardier Sifang a contract to build 80 “very high speed trains” for the country.

These are super progressive trains that are energy efficient as well as lightning fast. China intends to invest a total of $300 billion in high speed trains by 2020.

Read more of this story »

Sean Daily, Green Living Ideas’ Editor-In-Chief, discusses the history, present, and future of electric cars with Alex Campbell, Director of Communications for Zap.

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Bicing — Great (3rd Generation) Bicycle Sharing Program

Bicycle sharing programs started out as simple systems in which bikes were painted a certain color and then made available for use for free by anyone in the community, to be picked up or dropped off at undetermined places. The problem with these systems, naturally, was that there was no accountability or security and the bikes would eventually disappear.

In recent years, some more sophisticated programs have been developed in various European countries. One type of more sophisticated program requires that a cash deposit be made to borrow a locked bike and then once the bike is returned the deposit is returned. More sophisticated than this, a few newer programs (such as Bicing) were recently launched in which a customer must become a member of the program to borrow a bike and then the person is able to unlock bikes with their membership card through a fairly sophisticated computer system (similar to carsharing programs such as Zipcar and Flexcar).

Barcelona’s system is one of the most successful to date. It is interesting because it is only open to Barcelonians — not tourists. They can pay a yearly fee of 30 Euros and then get a bike for free for half an hour anytime. If they want it for more than half an hour, they pay 30 cents per every extra 30 minutes. They can return bikes to any of the hundreds of bike parking “stations” around the city. The system started with 100 stations and 1,500 bikes. The system blew-up, was hugely popular, and today it consists of 6,000 bikes and 375 stations.

The system cut into the transportation infrastructure for cars a little bit, and generated some controversy at the beginning, but it seems that people have come to realise more and more the benefits of bicycle transportation for their city. Similar to Bogota, Barcelona has transformed its city into a more bicycle and pedestrian focused place, and as a result “the number of cars coming into Barcelona (has been reduced) by 15 percent.”

Enjoy the photos and YouTube video of this great bike sharing program below!

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.
.

Image Credit 1: synes via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Paco CT via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: Altamar via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: frodrig via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: almogaver via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: JesuSarmiento via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Maufdi via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Beautiful Places to Bicycle

Barcelona is beautiful, and that makes bicycling there that much better. Rather than close yourself in a car, tram, or bus, you can enjoy the beauty and atmosphere of Barcelona better on a bike.

Image Credit 1: ras263 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: JorgeMiente.es via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: _Asane_ via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: lcrf via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: Plug 1 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Tuquetu via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 8: JaulaDeArdilla via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Bikin’ in the Rain, Kids on Bikes, & Men in Suits

Image Credit 1: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Folding Bikes

Easy to travel with or bring to work, these folding bikes are very popular in Barcelona. (There’s one on page nine, too.) The photographer for the first picture here writes: “Barcelona seems to be something of a magnet for Bromptons and other types of folding bikes. It recently hosted an event specifically for Bromptons.” A few artistic pictures of these super utilitarian bikes for all of us to enjoy:

Image Credit 1: identity chris is via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Brújulo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: . SantiMB . via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Big Bike Taxis

Image Credit 1: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: jose_gonzalvo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: james. via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Balloons on Bikes

Image Credit 1: karuleta* via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Naked Bicyclists

Mix Spain and bicycles and you get a few naked people! What a free look this picture has.

Image Credit 1: sheenabizarre via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Moving or Shipping Bikes & Critical Mass Bike Rides

Image Credit 1: Liz Castro via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: funkyfabriz via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Flowers or Pac-Man in the Bikes Lanes?

At first, I thought these were tulips. Then, I realized (partly by seeing the title of the second one) that it is actually a tribute to pac-man! Interesting bike lane art.

Hope you enjoyed the photo tours of Basel (Switzerland), Bogota (Columbia), and Barcelona (Spain). To keep yourself updated on the next seven photo tours, keep your eye on EcoWorldly or even subscribe to its feed or email list. Have something extra to add? Comment below!

Image Credit 1: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Sean Daily, Green Living Ideas’ Editor-In-Chief, talks about the new Enertia Electric Motorcycle and new plug-in technologies with Craig Bramscher, CEO of Brammo.

Click Play Below,or

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Bicing — Great (3rd Generation) Bicycle Sharing Program

Bicycle sharing programs started out as simple systems in which bikes were painted a certain color and then made available for use for free by anyone in the community, to be picked up or dropped off at undetermined places. The problem with these systems, naturally, was that there was no accountability or security and the bikes would eventually disappear.

In recent years, some more sophisticated programs have been developed in various European countries. One type of more sophisticated program requires that a cash deposit be made to borrow a locked bike and then once the bike is returned the deposit is returned. More sophisticated than this, a few newer programs (such as Bicing) were recently launched in which a customer must become a member of the program to borrow a bike and then the person is able to unlock bikes with their membership card through a fairly sophisticated computer system (similar to carsharing programs such as Zipcar and Flexcar).

Barcelona’s system is one of the most successful to date. It is interesting because it is only open to Barcelonians — not tourists. They can pay a yearly fee of 30 Euros and then get a bike for free for half an hour anytime. If they want it for more than half an hour, they pay 30 cents per every extra 30 minutes. They can return bikes to any of the hundreds of bike parking “stations” around the city. The system started with 100 stations and 1,500 bikes. The system blew-up, was hugely popular, and today it consists of 6,000 bikes and 375 stations.

The system cut into the transportation infrastructure for cars a little bit, and generated some controversy at the beginning, but it seems that people have come to realise more and more the benefits of bicycle transportation for their city. Similar to Bogota, Barcelona has transformed its city into a more bicycle and pedestrian focused place, and as a result “the number of cars coming into Barcelona (has been reduced) by 15 percent.”

Enjoy the photos and YouTube video of this great bike sharing program below!

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.
.

Image Credit 1: synes via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Paco CT via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: Altamar via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: frodrig via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: almogaver via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: JesuSarmiento via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Maufdi via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Beautiful Places to Bicycle

Barcelona is beautiful, and that makes bicycling there that much better. Rather than close yourself in a car, tram, or bus, you can enjoy the beauty and atmosphere of Barcelona better on a bike.

Image Credit 1: ras263 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: JorgeMiente.es via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: _Asane_ via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: lcrf via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: Plug 1 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Tuquetu via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 8: JaulaDeArdilla via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Bikin’ in the Rain, Kids on Bikes, & Men in Suits

Image Credit 1: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Folding Bikes

Easy to travel with or bring to work, these folding bikes are very popular in Barcelona. (There’s one on page nine, too.) The photographer for the first picture here writes: “Barcelona seems to be something of a magnet for Bromptons and other types of folding bikes. It recently hosted an event specifically for Bromptons.” A few artistic pictures of these super utilitarian bikes for all of us to enjoy:

Image Credit 1: identity chris is via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Brújulo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: . SantiMB . via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Big Bike Taxis

Image Credit 1: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: jose_gonzalvo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: james. via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Balloons on Bikes

Image Credit 1: karuleta* via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Naked Bicyclists

Mix Spain and bicycles and you get a few naked people! What a free look this picture has.

Image Credit 1: sheenabizarre via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Moving or Shipping Bikes & Critical Mass Bike Rides

Image Credit 1: Liz Castro via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: funkyfabriz via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Flowers or Pac-Man in the Bikes Lanes?

At first, I thought these were tulips. Then, I realized (partly by seeing the title of the second one) that it is actually a tribute to pac-man! Interesting bike lane art.

Hope you enjoyed the photo tours of Basel (Switzerland), Bogota (Columbia), and Barcelona (Spain). To keep yourself updated on the next seven photo tours, keep your eye on EcoWorldly or even subscribe to its feed or email list. Have something extra to add? Comment below!

Image Credit 1: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Last week, the Internet celebrated its 40th birthday! Forty glorious years that saw not just the transition from ARPANet to the now popular Internet but also Web 2.0 and what not! The Internet has been a revolution–in the making! The Internet that we know of today has been around for a little over a decade. That is also the time period when awareness and action on the “global” climate crisis has been phenomenal. And the link, evident!

According to the Internet Governance Forum, Internet consumes up to one trillion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, amounting to around 5% of the world’s total electricity consumption. The ‘tools’ of the IT sector are also manufactured using metals of various kinds. So the question remains, can Internet really help solve the climate crisis? The answer, on behalf of a generation grown up with the Internet, a firm Yes!

Here are five ways how Internet is helping fight climate change:

Read more of this story »

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Bicing — Great (3rd Generation) Bicycle Sharing Program

Bicycle sharing programs started out as simple systems in which bikes were painted a certain color and then made available for use for free by anyone in the community, to be picked up or dropped off at undetermined places. The problem with these systems, naturally, was that there was no accountability or security and the bikes would eventually disappear.

In recent years, some more sophisticated programs have been developed in various European countries. One type of more sophisticated program requires that a cash deposit be made to borrow a locked bike and then once the bike is returned the deposit is returned. More sophisticated than this, a few newer programs (such as Bicing) were recently launched in which a customer must become a member of the program to borrow a bike and then the person is able to unlock bikes with their membership card through a fairly sophisticated computer system (similar to carsharing programs such as Zipcar and Flexcar).

Barcelona’s system is one of the most successful to date. It is interesting because it is only open to Barcelonians — not tourists. They can pay a yearly fee of 30 Euros and then get a bike for free for half an hour anytime. If they want it for more than half an hour, they pay 30 cents per every extra 30 minutes. They can return bikes to any of the hundreds of bike parking “stations” around the city. The system started with 100 stations and 1,500 bikes. The system blew-up, was hugely popular, and today it consists of 6,000 bikes and 375 stations.

The system cut into the transportation infrastructure for cars a little bit, and generated some controversy at the beginning, but it seems that people have come to realise more and more the benefits of bicycle transportation for their city. Similar to Bogota, Barcelona has transformed its city into a more bicycle and pedestrian focused place, and as a result “the number of cars coming into Barcelona (has been reduced) by 15 percent.”

Enjoy the photos and YouTube video of this great bike sharing program below!

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.
.

Image Credit 1: synes via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Paco CT via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: Altamar via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: frodrig via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: almogaver via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: JesuSarmiento via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Maufdi via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Beautiful Places to Bicycle

Barcelona is beautiful, and that makes bicycling there that much better. Rather than close yourself in a car, tram, or bus, you can enjoy the beauty and atmosphere of Barcelona better on a bike.

Image Credit 1: ras263 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: JorgeMiente.es via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: _Asane_ via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: lcrf via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: Plug 1 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Tuquetu via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 8: JaulaDeArdilla via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Bikin’ in the Rain, Kids on Bikes, & Men in Suits

Image Credit 1: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Folding Bikes

Easy to travel with or bring to work, these folding bikes are very popular in Barcelona. (There’s one on page nine, too.) The photographer for the first picture here writes: “Barcelona seems to be something of a magnet for Bromptons and other types of folding bikes. It recently hosted an event specifically for Bromptons.” A few artistic pictures of these super utilitarian bikes for all of us to enjoy:

Image Credit 1: identity chris is via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Brújulo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: . SantiMB . via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Big Bike Taxis

Image Credit 1: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: jose_gonzalvo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: james. via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Balloons on Bikes

Image Credit 1: karuleta* via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Naked Bicyclists

Mix Spain and bicycles and you get a few naked people! What a free look this picture has.

Image Credit 1: sheenabizarre via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Moving or Shipping Bikes & Critical Mass Bike Rides

Image Credit 1: Liz Castro via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: funkyfabriz via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Flowers or Pac-Man in the Bikes Lanes?

At first, I thought these were tulips. Then, I realized (partly by seeing the title of the second one) that it is actually a tribute to pac-man! Interesting bike lane art.

Hope you enjoyed the photo tours of Basel (Switzerland), Bogota (Columbia), and Barcelona (Spain). To keep yourself updated on the next seven photo tours, keep your eye on EcoWorldly or even subscribe to its feed or email list. Have something extra to add? Comment below!

Image Credit 1: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Sean Daily, Green Living Ideas‘ Editor-In-Chief, talks Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and EEStor’s promising new battery technologies with Ian Clifford, CEO of ZENN Motor Company.

Click Play Below,or

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Bicing — Great (3rd Generation) Bicycle Sharing Program

Bicycle sharing programs started out as simple systems in which bikes were painted a certain color and then made available for use for free by anyone in the community, to be picked up or dropped off at undetermined places. The problem with these systems, naturally, was that there was no accountability or security and the bikes would eventually disappear.

In recent years, some more sophisticated programs have been developed in various European countries. One type of more sophisticated program requires that a cash deposit be made to borrow a locked bike and then once the bike is returned the deposit is returned. More sophisticated than this, a few newer programs (such as Bicing) were recently launched in which a customer must become a member of the program to borrow a bike and then the person is able to unlock bikes with their membership card through a fairly sophisticated computer system (similar to carsharing programs such as Zipcar and Flexcar).

Barcelona’s system is one of the most successful to date. It is interesting because it is only open to Barcelonians — not tourists. They can pay a yearly fee of 30 Euros and then get a bike for free for half an hour anytime. If they want it for more than half an hour, they pay 30 cents per every extra 30 minutes. They can return bikes to any of the hundreds of bike parking “stations” around the city. The system started with 100 stations and 1,500 bikes. The system blew-up, was hugely popular, and today it consists of 6,000 bikes and 375 stations.

The system cut into the transportation infrastructure for cars a little bit, and generated some controversy at the beginning, but it seems that people have come to realise more and more the benefits of bicycle transportation for their city. Similar to Bogota, Barcelona has transformed its city into a more bicycle and pedestrian focused place, and as a result “the number of cars coming into Barcelona (has been reduced) by 15 percent.”

Enjoy the photos and YouTube video of this great bike sharing program below!

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.
.

Image Credit 1: synes via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Paco CT via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: Altamar via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: frodrig via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: almogaver via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: JesuSarmiento via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Maufdi via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Beautiful Places to Bicycle

Barcelona is beautiful, and that makes bicycling there that much better. Rather than close yourself in a car, tram, or bus, you can enjoy the beauty and atmosphere of Barcelona better on a bike.

Image Credit 1: ras263 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: JorgeMiente.es via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: _Asane_ via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: lcrf via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: Plug 1 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: Tuquetu via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 8: JaulaDeArdilla via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Bikin’ in the Rain, Kids on Bikes, & Men in Suits

Image Credit 1: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: vitelone via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Folding Bikes

Easy to travel with or bring to work, these folding bikes are very popular in Barcelona. (There’s one on page nine, too.) The photographer for the first picture here writes: “Barcelona seems to be something of a magnet for Bromptons and other types of folding bikes. It recently hosted an event specifically for Bromptons.” A few artistic pictures of these super utilitarian bikes for all of us to enjoy:

Image Credit 1: identity chris is via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Brújulo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: . SantiMB . via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: Juan Carlos! via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Big Bike Taxis

Image Credit 1: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: uayebt via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: jose_gonzalvo via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: james. via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Balloons on Bikes

Image Credit 1: karuleta* via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Naked Bicyclists

Mix Spain and bicycles and you get a few naked people! What a free look this picture has.

Image Credit 1: sheenabizarre via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Moving or Shipping Bikes & Critical Mass Bike Rides

Image Credit 1: Liz Castro via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: funkyfabriz via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Flowers or Pac-Man in the Bikes Lanes?

At first, I thought these were tulips. Then, I realized (partly by seeing the title of the second one) that it is actually a tribute to pac-man! Interesting bike lane art.

Hope you enjoyed the photo tours of Basel (Switzerland), Bogota (Columbia), and Barcelona (Spain). To keep yourself updated on the next seven photo tours, keep your eye on EcoWorldly or even subscribe to its feed or email list. Have something extra to add? Comment below!

Image Credit 1: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Ibán via flickr under a Creative Commons license

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Tested on the California/Nevada border, the Ecotricity Greenbird broke the land speed record for wind-powered vehicles.  The Greenbird clocked in at a top speed of 126.4 mph and maintained a speed of 126.2 mph for three seconds.  The previous record was 116mph.

The Greenbird is a collaboration between Ecotricity and engineer Richard Jenkins.  Ecotricity is an independent green electricity company based in the UK founded and owned by entrepreneur Dale
Vince.  Jenkins is the founder of the Windjet project and has a wide range of skills in engineering, design, piloting, and construction experience.  Both sides are innovative, experienced, and have a passion for wind energy as a solution for transportation and utilities.

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Portland, Oregon-based businessman Joe Doebele has another complaint about the program: there’s nothing in it to get commuters to shift from four wheels to two. Rather than just throw stones, though, Doeble decided to do something about this shortcoming: he’s started his own “cash for clunkers” program at his cargo bike shop Joe Bike.

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You’re waiting at a red light, your engine idling lightly. You check the crosswalk signal: 20 seconds, you have some time. You turn your classical music up a notch to the perfect volume and you close your eyes, relaxing on your way home from work. But your moment of relaxation is interrupted by the thump thump of bass coming from the car next to you. You look over at the car, the tinted windows keep you from seeing the driver. But the car’s engine revs. The light changes green and, as you lightly press the gas, the car next to you squeals past you, burning rubber.

Now, there is a lot of that situation that you would probably change. But I wonder if rubber made it high on your list. Well, it’s high on the list of researchers at Oregon State University. Their idea is not to do away with rubber altogether, but they are looking at the possibility of using trees in the tire-making process, which means that you and I could drive around on tires made partially out of trees some day.

Wood science researchers at Oregon State University have made some surprising findings about the potential of microcrystalline cellulose – a product made easily from almost any type of plant fibers – to partially replace silica as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires.

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There won’t be only one winner.

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July 20th, 2009 was the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic flight to the moon, where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the moon. 40 years ago, space flight inspired such awe that astronauts were hailed as heroes and celebrities by men, women, and children alike. 40 years later none of us, besides the most avid space fanatic, would likely to be able to name one astronaut in service today.

Despite the tragedies of Space Shuttle Challenger, and later Columbia, where the world is shocked into being reminded of the inherit dangers of sitting on 1 million gallons of rocket fuel, or re-entering the earth’s atmosphere at 1,870 miles per hour. We all see space flight as mundane because the vast majority of space flights since Apollo 11, have been mostly conducting seemingly routine scientific experiments. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in the importance of science in space, but these experiments don’t exactly inspire awe in the general population like, oh say, a manned mission to Mars would. We also don’t have the fever of beating those damned Ruskies because they might go to space and blow us all up, which we had during the height of the cold war when Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar Sea of Tranquility.

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Unfortunately, delay due to lawmakers’ inability to come to a consensus and the Obama administration’s reluctancy to increase gas prices at this time (which are much lower, in real terms, than they were 54 years ago) may postpone the bill for another 18 months. However, there is opportunity to take action!

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As shown year after year, public transit is a key factor keeping our planet from warming much further than it already is! It is also one of our best bets for slowing and eventually stopping global warming in the future. Beyond that, public transit helps the environment, the economy, and you in many other ways as well.

An organization working for you to increase and improve public transportation and to fight global warming, smog, excessive traffic congestion, water pollution, hours lost from home, stress, road rage, and your car becoming your home needs your help now.

Read more of this story »

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A new report by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) finds that public transit saved Americans “646 million hours in travel time and 398 million gallons of fuel” in 2007. The 2009 Urban Mobility Report identifies the great advantages of public transit for everyone, not just those who use it. The report also identifies that the cost of congestion increased in 2007 but that it would have increased considerably more (16%, or, an additional $13.7, from two years before) if it weren’t for public transit.

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Recently, I came up with a list of seven things that really stand out to me as good environmental practices in Europe that could be transferred to the US. These could all be adopted in the US, but some are more personal in nature and some are more systematic. Furthermore, some of the personal ones regard large, life decisions, and some are much simpler in nature and easier to implement into your life now.

Of course, Europe is not one country and things vary from country to country. Nonetheless, there are also several similarities across borders. I have friends in other countries and have traveled a bit as well, so I hope to be sharing the best of the best.

Here’s the list!

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