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Wednesday, January 31st

Grand Rapids swoons Over Streetcars
After a fact-finding mission to Portland, Oregon, a delegation of civic leaders and downtown stakeholders promoted the idea of a streetcar system to declutter the streets and spur investment in this old-line Michigan city. In the Michigian Land Use Institute's website, Andy Guy reports that The Rapid, Grand Rapids’ regional bus system, has formally decided it wants to build a downtown streetcar system. Andy says local leaders there see streetcars as a potent way to boost downtown prosperity.

The project, estimated to cost approximately $69 million, is strikingly similar in terms of scale and cost to a number of streetcar systems already built or underway in cities across the United States. Portland’s, for example, cost $54 million, is 4.8 miles long, and in 10 years stimulated nearly $3 billion in new downtown investment, including the largest economic development project in that city’s history.

"Wherever the track goes down becomes ground zero for massive development," said former Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie, one of the local leaders who went to Portland to study the streetcars and their effect on that city. "But private investment ripples about four blocks away on either side of the streetcar line. So you want to go where development has yet to occur."

To read the entire and exhilarating article, go to MLUI's website.

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 01.31.07 @ 21:44PST

Global Warming and Regional Changes
If you haven't seen Al Gore's movie an article and images in USA Today really brings global warming to home. Also little attention has been paid to the regional impacts of global warming, and comparing the USA today map with a population growth chart, the general public must not believe the impacts of global warming will be realized as they are moving into the most affected areas.

In brief, temperatures on the coasts should only rise 3-4 degrees. The problem there is not temperature, but flooding. New Orleans will be under water by 2100 and Miami long submerged by 2600. This begs the question of whether current investments in New Orleans especially are wise (of course these are social and political reasons to rebuild now). We should at least recognize that whatever is built there is by no measure permanent.

In the interior, temperatures will rise more dramatically in the Southwest and Midwest. While five additional degrees in Upstate New York might not do much but improve the grapes, an additional seven degrees added to a St. Paul summer could be significant. Adding seven degrees to Phoenix or Las Vegas will prove disastrous.

Read the article

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 01.31.07 @ 09:19PST

Monday, January 29th

Meat, Drought, & Global Warming
From the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN:

29 November 2006, Rome - Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars?

Surprise!

According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.

Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes.

Long shadow

The global livestock sector is growing faster than any other agricultural sub-sector. It provides livelihoods to about 1.3 billion people and contributes about 40 percent to global agricultural output. For many poor farmers in developing countries livestock are also a source of renewable energy for draft and an essential source of organic fertilizer for their crops.

But such rapid growth exacts a steep environmental price, according to the FAO report, Livestock’s Long Shadow –Environmental Issues and Options. “The environmental costs per unit of livestock production must be cut by one half, just to avoid the level of damage worsening beyond its present level,” it warns.

When emissions from land use and land use change are included, the livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of CO2 deriving from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases. It generates 65 percent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2. Most of this comes from manure.

And it accounts for respectively 37 percent of all human-induced methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.

Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock, the report notes. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.

Land and water

At the same time herds cause wide-scale land degradation, with about 20 percent of pastures considered as degraded through overgrazing, compaction and erosion. This figure is even higher in the drylands where inappropriate policies and inadequate livestock management contribute to advancing desertification.

The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution, euthropication and the degeneration of coral reefs. The major polluting agents are animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. Widespread overgrazing disturbs water cycles, reducing replenishment of above and below ground water resources. Significant amounts of water are withdrawn for the production of feed.

Livestock are estimated to be the main inland source of phosphorous and nitrogen contamination of the South China Sea, contributing to biodiversity loss in marine ecosystems.

Meat and dairy animals now account for about 20 percent of all terrestrial animal biomass. Livestock’s presence in vast tracts of land and its demand for feed crops also contribute to biodiversity loss; 15 out of 24 important ecosystem services are assessed as in decline, with livestock identified as a culprit.

Remedies

The report, which was produced with the support of the multi-institutional Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative, proposes explicitly to consider these environmental costs and suggests a number of ways of remedying the situation, including:

Land degradation – controlling access and removing obstacles to mobility on common pastures. Use of soil conservation methods and silvopastoralism, together with controlled livestock exclusion from sensitive areas; payment schemes for environmental services in livestock-based land use to help reduce and reverse land degradation.

Atmosphere and climate – increasing the efficiency of livestock production and feed crop agriculture. Improving animals’ diets to reduce enteric fermentation and consequent methane emissions, and setting up biogas plant initiatives to recycle manure.

Water – improving the efficiency of irrigation systems. Introducing full-cost pricing for water together with taxes to discourage large-scale livestock concentration close to cities.

Contact:
Christopher Matthews
Media Relations, FAO
christopher.matthews@fao.org
(+39) 06 570 53762

Reposted by permission.

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 01.29.07 @ 20:17PST

Sunday, January 28th

Bicycles, Health, & Efficiency
Worldwatch Institute, a superb source of environmental statistics, has published a chart correlating bicycle ownership (and use) and a variety of health and environmental indicators. Here's a sample:

Bicycles per 1,000 people in the United States (mid-1990s): 385
In Germany: 588
In the Netherlands: 1,000

Percent of adults that are obese in the United States (2003): 30.6
Percent in Germany: 12.9
Percent in the Netherlands: 10.0

Energy used per passenger-mile (calories):
  Auto: 1,860
  Bus: 920
  Rail: 885
  Foot: 100
  Bicycle: 35

To see the entire chart, or to browse their resources, go to: Worldwatch.org.

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 01.28.07 @ 14:53PST

Wednesday, January 10th

Public Transportation Saves $6,200 Per Household, 1.4 Billion Gallons of Gasoline
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a new study finding that public transportation use saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline every year, and can reduce household expenses by $6,200 - more than the average household pays for food in a year.

"This should be a wake-up call as Congress and the President discuss how America can move towards energy independence," said APTA President William W. Millar. "Public transportation provides Americans with greater freedom, access, opportunity and choice. Ridership is up over 25 percent since 1995, because Americans knew instinctively that it saves money and gasoline. Now we know exactly how much."

The study, "Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.: Reducing Dependence on Oil," was prepared for APTA by ICF International. It finds that:

Public transportation usage reduces U.S. gasoline consumption by 1.4 billion gallons each year - or the equivalent of 108 million cars filling up, almost 300,000 each day. These savings result from the efficiency of carrying multiple passengers in each vehicle; the reduction in traffic congestion from fewer automobiles on the roads; and the varied sources of energy for public transportation. If twice as many Americans had the choice of taking public transportation, these gasoline savings would at least double to 2.8 billion gallons each year.

Households that are likely to use public transportation on a given day save over $6,200 every year, compared to a household with no access to public transportation service. These households have two workers, one car and are within three-quarters of a mile of public transportation.

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?" Millar said. "According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household spends $5,781 on food - and people who are likely to take public transportation can easily save more than that in a year."

As the new Congress begins working on energy legislation, we call on them to make sure that public transportation plays a central role in reducing our dependence on foreign oil," Millar said.

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 01.10.07 @ 05:08PST

Sunday, January 7th

Who Can Rely On The Bus?
Pittsburgh transit riders are upset. PAT, the agency that runs the bus and light-rail system, is out of money and proposes to cut almost half the routes. Some of these routes connect two of the three biggest trip generators in the state, downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland.

It was less than two years ago that Mayoral hopeful Bob O’Connor, unveiling his first major economic proposal, suggested building a new streetcar line connecting downtown and Oakland.

Today it’s a different world-view. The cuts proposed by PAT threaten to confuse if not strand riders who have few options to get to their destination, must add considerable time to their trips or face parking in places with limited parking and less than affordable parking rates.

Changing bus routes also impacts development and the viability of neighborhoods. The 500 for example provides direct access from North neighborhoods like Bellevue and Brighton Heights to Oakland and downtown. Those neighborhoods are not as attractive without that route. full article

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 01.07.07 @ 08:10PST

Friday, January 5th

Signs of the Times

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 01.05.07 @ 12:04PST

Wednesday, January 3rd

A Short Small House Video

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 01.03.07 @ 15:54PST

Katrina Cottages Move Beyond Storm Zone
The first time I saw a Katrina Cottage I though "wow, that would look great on Spring Hill." Spring Hill is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh that has many "shotgun shack" type houses on the sides of the hill where mill workers and others once lived. These were buildt in the Victorian era and often had ornamentation not unlike the painted ladies in San Francisco.

I also can't help but think that the same folks who want small condos and apartments might be persuaded to have an apartment with a little lawn otherwise known as a Katrina Cottage.

An article from a Congress for a New Urbanism explains: "Quality small-scale housing represented by Katrina Cottages is a much-needed alternative in communities determined to address affordability issues without downgrading the architectural character of neighborhoods. Together, these cottages can work as clusters and bungalow courts that can enrich old and new neighborhoods and provide safe, affordable housing for people who might not qualify for quality architecture in larger scale. Yet conventional zoning often precludes this alternative because of setback, lot size, and other restrictions that force only larger homes on larger lots."

I still have images of little Victorians lining Pittsburgh stairways with landscaped edging that would make for a great place to live and walk and really help redefine Pittsburgh as a walking city. Its hard for a city with Pittsburgh's geography to be a walking city, but hey, how many people walk all over Telegraph Hill? Is Fineview or Spring Hill so different? Not at all. A few flowers and some Katrina Cottages and our stairways would be a great place to walk.

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 01.03.07 @ 10:10PST