Urban Form and Public Health
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a very nice story about UCLA's Dick Jackson. To quote this article; "In 2001, while still at the CDC, Dr. Jackson was a co-author of an article published by Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse that contended that poorly planned built environments had adverse effects on air quality, physical activity, and public safety, among other things." So, my colleague is making a strong causal statement that the same person would be much healthier i...
CONTINUE READINGEnergy and the State of the Union
There's quite a bit about energy in the State of the Union, including a discussion of the potential for natural gas and this about clean energy: We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives. The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven’t acted. Well toni...
CONTINUE READINGRebound Redux
I've posted previously about the rebound effect. Improving energy efficiency frees up money, which can be used to purchase more of the same product or different products that use energy. This "rebound" cuts away at the energy savings and correspondingly at the carbon reduction achieved through energy efficiency. Everyone seems to agree that the rebound effect is real; the big dispute is over its size and significance. Blake Hudson pointed me toward a new study ...
CONTINUE READINGAttention K-Mart Shoppers! Get With the Program
I've blogged before about Asia Pulp & Paper, which has one of the worst records on destroying critical species habitat in its logging operations and abusing human rights in the process. (Not surprisingly, it also has a fake certification from greenwahser Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification). Well, the tigers (and humans) have some good news: Kroger -- the largest seller of APP products in the US -- recently put out a public statement saying it...
CONTINUE READINGA Subtle New Paper; “How Not to Save the Planet” by Thom Brooks
Thom Brooks has written a thoughtful new paper. Here is his abstract: Abstract. Climate change presents us with a pressing challenge. A global consensus accepts that human activity is responsible for climate change and its associated dangers. However, there is disagreement on how best to address this challenge. The essay argues that leading proposals are unsatisfactory, such as the ecological footprint and polluter pays principle. The reasons include that they do not ...
CONTINUE READINGObama Administration Rejects Keystone XL
Here: Obama laid the responsibility for the rejection of the pipeline on political gamesmanship by Republicans. "As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment." Obama said. "As a result, the Secretary of State has recommended that the application be denied. ...
CONTINUE READINGCity of Light – City of Magic
While writing yesterday about Charles Haar's work as a special master on the Boston Harbor cleanup, it occurred to me that in our list of great environmental songs, we (although not our commenters) missed an obvious one: The Standells' Dirty Water, which of course is all about that: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5apEctKwiD8] It might not be the best dirty water song ever, though: that honor goes to Randy Newman's classic Burn On, about the Cuyahoga River. ...
CONTINUE READINGThe CEQA Streamlining “Slippery Slope” May Help Rail Transit
Whenever proposals come along to exempt or streamline environmental review for certain projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), CEQA defenders fear the slippery slope. Even if the target projects are environmentally benign, the concern is that once the CEQA armor has been pierced, special interests will be able to exploit the opening to secure favorable treatment for their bad projects. Eventually, the exceptions could swallow the law, and the wh...
CONTINUE READINGCharles M. Haar, 1920-2012
Harvard Law School's Charles Haar, a pioneering land use scholar, passed away last Tuesday at the age of 91. Dan Filler notes that He was an expert in land use, urban development and property law. Among his various achievements, Haar was one of the key draftsmen responsible for developing four of President Johnson's important urban policy initiatives: the Demonstration and Model Cities Act of 1966; the Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968; Title IV of t...
CONTINUE READINGThe Bain-ality of Romney’s Capitalism
Trying to be fair and balanced, Dan says that we should be at least a little heartened by Bain Capital's environmental posture. I try to be fair, but in modern politics that rarely means being balanced (cue joke here), and I am somewhat less impressed. Look, I like recycling as much as the next guy (although maybe not as much as the next gal), and I think it's great that Bain says it wants to be carbon-neutral in its own operations. If there are some firms that wa...
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