With the world’s population topping 8 billion people and decent, safe, affordable housing becoming increasingly hard to find urbanists and housing advocates are pushing hard for the development of more housing units, creating images of more dense neighborhoods in municipalities. At least on the coastal states of the USA where the pressure for housing is… Read More
Pakistan Takes Brunt of World Climate Change
While contributing only about one half of 1% (0.05%) of the world’s carbon emissions, this country of about 178 million people is slammed with the monsoons, melting glaciers, massive floods of what has been “theory” about what climate change can do. A third of the country is under water. 1300 people have been killed. That’s… Read More
Cow Poop Gets Monetized
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
FIVE US Cities Could Run Out of Water
Cape Town, South Africa came close, saved by a rainfall, from running out of water in early 2018. Climate change brings water shortages to many areas in the Middle East and Africa. America is not immune from water shortages. Polluted water strikes closer to home with Flint, Michigan as an example. In America population growth… Read More
Court Says Citizens Can Sue Feds for Clean Water
A federal judge ruled on Friday (April 19, 2019) that residents of Flint, Michigan, can move forward with a lawsuit against the federal government regarding the city’s lack of clean drinking water. The government is not immune from legal action, ruled Judge Linda Parker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. … Read More
ClimateNet Offers Hope for Managing Climate Change Future
Massive computing power using mammoth databases combines with cutting edge approaches born from Artificial Intelligence (AI) research. In the capable hands of a team of scientists and mathematicians at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, new approaches to forecasting and managing climate change and major weather events are in development. The ClimateNet project will bring the power of… Read More
Oregon Mayor Speaks on Trump, Cities, Climate Change
(from article by Carey L. Biron) WASHINGTON — Donald Drumpf’s surprise victory in the U. S. presidential election this week scrambled domestic and international calculations, with particularly notable questions looming about the potential impact on global action around climate change. The news broke just as the international community is gathering to discuss global warming for the… Read More
Planning for Open Space in an Urbanizing World
Cities around the world are exploding with new inhabitants and newly built structures. The world population is growing at about 750 million people per decade. That is the equivalent of adding 88 new New York Citys in 10 years. By far the fastest growth, 80% of the growth, is happening on the edges of current… 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
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