The “Green New Deal” proposed by Congresswoman Andrea Ocasio-Cortez, included methane gas expelled by cows as one of the potential contributors to climate change. But capitalists have a plan for solving this. An energy utility company, Dominion Energy Inc., has entered into a $200 million agreement with a renewable energy producer, Vanguard Renewables, of Wellesley,… Read More
Sachs Defines Essential Infrastructure “Long Game”
Jeffrey Sachs recommends: Rather than trying to deploy construction workers within the next 60 days, I propose that we envision the kind of built environment we want for the next 60 years. With a shared vision of America’s infrastructure goals, actually designing and building the new transport, energy, communications, and water systems will surely require… Read More
Infrastructure: John Oliver Explains it All (HBO)
So you don’t think infrastructure can be fun? Watch comedian John Oliver explain its intricate, critically important, hilarious fascinations in this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpzvaqypav8 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Infrastructure (HBO) Infrastructure investment will save lives. Also, from: CEO FORUM GROUP: “Infrastructure refers to the large-scale public systems, services, and facilities of a country… Read More
White House Announces $160MM “Smart Cities” Initiative
The Obama administration, in conjunction with the Smart Cities Council Annual Meeting, on Sept. 14, announced $160mm in federal research, grants and collaborations to help local communities manage major challenges using 21st century tools. As part of the initiative, the Administration is announcing: More than $35 million in new grants and over $10 million in proposed… Read More
Gas Leaks Threaten Public Health, Time to Fix Pipes
(Could this be a job for Big Data, Citizen Journalists and Hackers?) Not only is the greater Boston region losing about $90 million a year from its old cast iron pipeline system, but these leaks, comprised primarily of methane which has 72 times the potent heat trapping effect on atmospheric warming as carbon dioxide, contribute… Read More
Gas Leak Explosion Symbolizes Huge Need for Infrastructure Improvements
Gas leaks resulted in an explosion causing two buildings in East Harlem, NYC to collapse on March 12, 2014. Eight deaths and a substantial destruction of property catch the public attention this week, suggesting an even larger long smoldering issue of inadequate investment in the infrastructure we build our lives on and take for granted.… Read More
Why the Kremlin Won’t Privatize Rosneft
by Luka Oreskovic After World War II, French governments from both sides of the political aisle pursued a policy known as dirigisme. Dirigisme entailed consolidating fragmented industrial assets into large holdings, or “national champions’, that could carry long-term economic growth and speed up recovery in the postwar years. National champions to this day remain enshrined in the national conscience of the French people as proud symbols… Read More