As so often lately, Paul Krugman lays it out:

But the larger reason we're ignoring climate change is that Al Gore was right: This truth is just too inconvenient. Responding to climate change with the vigor that the threat deserves would not, contrary to legend, be devastating for the economy as a whole. But it would shuffle the economic deck, hurting some powerful vested interests even as it created new economic opportunities. And the industries of the past have armies of lobbyists in place right now; the industries of the future don't.

Nor is it just a matter of vested interests. It's also a matter of vested ideas. For three decades the dominant political ideology in America has extolled private enterprise and denigrated government, but climate change is a problem that can only be addressed through government action. And rather than concede the limits of their philosophy, many on the right have chosen to deny that the problem exists.

Read the entire editorial at the New York Times.

Richard Risemberg on 09.28.09 @ 05:35 AM PST [link]  

South Africa, with help from IBM, Cisco, and even, astonishingly, Ford, is studying the establishment of "mobility hubs" to facilitate use of transit by white collar workers, who have traditionally shunned public transit as "dangerous."

The new hubs are meant to make it easier for timid suits to change among buses, trains, and rental bikes to get to work without further burdening the hideously congested roads of Cape Town, since, as "green taxi" service operator Andrew Russell notes, "White collar workers cause 90 percent of the (transit) problems."

From the article:

The Cape Town project leaders are working with some of the city's largest employers to create group transportation solutions. One of the options is to provide security guards on trains and to escort workers on a "walking bus" to their office that would address safety concerns. "It's totally out of the box thinking for business people in South Africa to take public transport to work," says Claire Janisch, of the Cape Town Business Partnership. So far employers Investec, Woolworth's, Nebank and BP have expressed interest in changing commuting behaviors for workers who live in the suburbs, she says.

An interesting and detailed article which you can read in its entirety at Matter Network.

Richard Risemberg on 09.20.09 @ 04:30 PM PST [link]  

Pittsburgh is severely restricting motor vehicle access to its downtown during the G-20 Summit. It may be the city's first car-free day, and one I suggest the city continue. Of course it's not out of any notion of climate change awareness that's changing the notion of a steel city to one of a still city, but those downtown during the summit shutdown will experience and perhaps even appreciate how the quality of life can be improved when cars are removed. Hey car-free by default Pittsburgh, go back, Jack, do it again! Read more in the Post-Gazette

Eric Miller on 09.16.09 @ 10:03 AM PST [link]  

Jane Holtz Kay writes about the rise and triumph of Jane Jacobs in her review of Anthony Flint's new book, Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City.

An excerpt:

The struggle began in Manhattan's West Village, and moved in time to her writing of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which resonated across the nation to Boston, Philadelphia, and, indeed, St. Louis, and across the world.

And there was no mistaking her message. As the banner headline read, in a Random House advertisement of her book: "The City Planners are Ravaging Our Cities!" Now, with Jacobs at the helm, it was being said publicly: the men who were supposed to be improving American cities were, incredibly, startlingly, laying waste to them.

But then there was Moses--Robert Moses, the great power broker of his day, whose decades of activity encompassed such urban highlights as Lincoln Center, Central Park Zoo, Jones Beach. Yet he had his dark side: running highways roughshod across New York that would have destroyed Jane Jacobs' Washington Square Park and the West Village neighborhood. And, here, her battle began, as, against all odds she dared to launch the cause, and ended up winning.

Read the entire review at Citiwire.net.

Richard Risemberg on 09.15.09 @ 04:32 PM PST [link]  

A new docudrama about Global Warming. In their own words:

The Age of Stupid is the new movie from Director Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and producer John Battsek (One Day In September). Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance? It was released in UK cinemas on 20 March 2009, and will be followed by other countries.

Go to the film's website for lists of screenings and dates by city: www.ageofstupid.net. (US screenings seem to start around September 21^st.)

Richard Risemberg on 09.09.09 @ 09:36 AM PST [link]  

Upcoming presentation in Los Angeles, Friday, October 2^nd:

Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around
An Evening with: David Byrne, artist/musician; Jimmy Lizama, co-founder, Bicycle Kitchen; Michelle Mowery, senior project coordinator, bicycle planning and programming. LADOT; & Donald Shoup, professor of Urban Planning, UCLA

Musician, artist, author and devout bicyclist David Byrne turns his attention to the fractured, car-mad city of Los Angeles. How can LA--with one of the world's most challenging transportation systems--become a more bicycle-friendly city? How might the city change if more people made a bicycle their primary mode of transportation? Join David Byrne as he leads a panel of bike advocates, city officials and urban planners in examining the bicycle's role in transforming the urban experience.

Panelists: Jimmy Lizama, co-founder, the Bicycle Kitchen; Michelle Mowery, Senior Bicycle Coordinator, LADOT; Dr. Donald Shoup, Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA.

Bicycle valet services provided by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

Signed copies of David Byrne's book, Bicycle Diaries will be available for purchase courtesy of The Library Store.

For more information, go to The Library Foundation of Los Angeles.

Richard Risemberg on 09.07.09 @ 07:22 AM PST [link]  

PORTLAND, Ore.--Working with the Embassy of Denmark, Washington, D.C., and the City of Portland, Oregon Manifest--Portland's multi-faceted celebration of cycling culture and lifestyle--will bring the acclaimed exhibit Dreams On Wheels to Portland in October 2009. Developed by curator Thomas Ermacora, in collaboration with Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl, Dreams On Wheels showcases Danish cycling culture and Denmark's commitment to sustainability via urban design that promotes active transportation.

An international traveling exhibit that has shown in Paris, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Moscow, and London, Dreams On Wheels merges urban cycling culture, design intelligence, and environmental consciousness. The exhibit features case studies on how cycling has affected Danish culture, analyzing the history and social development of biking as a viable transportation alternative.

"Oregon Manifest has expanded this year to broadcast the many ways cycling can impact our lives," explained event director Jocelyn SyCip. "Launching Dreams of Wheels on its U.S. tour is a terrific coup for our event. We're incredibly excited that Portlanders will be able to see how cycling has transformed the transportation mix in Denmark."

Portland Mayor Sam Adams concurs: "I look forward to Oregon Manifest and the highly anticipated Dreams on Wheels exhibit this year. Portland leads the nation in bike commuting and community, but we have much to learn from our European counterparts. I predict great reception for these events."

The Danish Ambassador to the U.S., Friis Arne Peterson, will be on hand for the exhibit's opening festivities, October 9 at 7 p.m. at the Oregon Manifest Bike Union storefront. Appearing October 29th will be Mikael Colville-Andersen, a Danish filmmaker, photographer and journalist who is considered Copenhagen's leading bicycle culture advocate. Colville-Andersen's photographs are central to the Dreams on Wheels exhibit. Dreams on Wheels will be open to the public for the entire six-week run of Oregon Manifest at the event's Pop-Up Bike Union Storefront, located at 539 NW 10th at Hoyt in Portland's Pearl District.

Dreams on Wheels serves as a comparative study that inspires reflection on how metro areas can embrace cycling as a means of creating sustainable urban environments, thereby improving quality of life. The exhibit is a prelude to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Danish exhibit will be one facet of the expanded Oregon Manifest event. This year's Manifest will feature six weekends of cycling-centric events, including a transportation bicycle Design Challenge, a special Constructor's Race--featuring bikes from the design challenge--a Pop-Up Bike Union storefront, guest speakers, a cycling apparel fashion show, a family bicycle transportation day, and the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships.

For more information on Oregon Manifest visit www.oregonmanifest.com. To learn more about Dreams on Wheels, visit www.dreamsonwheels.dk

About Oregon Manifest

Oregon Manifest is a non-profit organization celebrating the art, craft and community of bicycling. Running from October 2 to November 8 in Portland, Oregon Manifest 09 (presented by Chris King Precision Components with generous help from the City of Portland) will highlight the bike's influence on culture, sustainability, and urban design. There's something great in store for every type of bike lover. For the full schedule, visit www.oregonmanifest.com.

About the City of Portland

Long recognized as a leader in bicycle transportation and sustainability, Portland was the first large American city to achieve Platinum-Level Bicycle Friendly Community status by the League of American Bicyclists. Not content with simply making bicycling a part of daily life, through the update to its Bicycle Master Plan, Portland is actively working to make the bicycle a pillar of its transportation system.

Contact: Jocelyn Sycip, Director: 503.956.4071
Contact: Gary Medley, Medley Communications, 503.516.1468

Richard Risemberg on 09.02.09 @ 07:05 PM PST [link]  

My wife and occasional New Colonist contributor, Gina Morey, photographed the plume of smoke from the Station fire in the San Gabriel Mountains three or four days ago, using her iPhone. At the time she was in the parking lot of the Whole Foods on Fairfax and Third, not too far from our apartment, and a good thirty or forty miles from the fire.

As of today, the fire has burned over 140,000 acres of mostly wildland, but has also come close to entering the cities of Alta Dena, Sierra Madre, Pasadena, Glendale, Sylmar, and a few others south of the San Gabriels, as well as Action and other small towns and bedroom communities on the other side of the hill.

The weather has been hot and dry--hotter and drier than "normal" for LA in August--and we are yet again in the midst of a long drought. The fire has been almost impossible to fight--firefighters dedicate themselves to saving a few important structures (including the famed Mt. Wilson Observatory!) and keeping the fire out of the city grids that creep right onto the foothills.

The Santa Ana winds are not blowing, or it is certain that, with this "uberfire," large stretches of city would be in flames.

That's a matter of luck, for which all here are thankful.

What is not a matter of luck is the influence of Global Warming on these increasingly vicious fire seasons here (or floods or droughts elsewhere), and that's what makes this photo both poignant and maddening to me: the vast parking lot filled with big cars, most of them from nearby neighborhoods, are a direct cause of this fire's ferocity.

Yes, we always have fires, but not like this....

More maddening as Whole Foods likes to tout itself as "green," and its customers no doubt think of themselves as righteously "green" for shopping there.

Yet this Whole Foods, at least, has but one poorly designed bicycle rack--a type you cannot use a U-lock on--and if it is full, and you lock up to the rail around the café tables in front, a guard comes out and yells at you. (This has happened to Gina at this store.)

And don't sputter to me about carrying groceries: I did all the grocery shopping for a family of three for over ten years by bicycle. An ordinary bicycle too, not a bakfiets or cargo bike.

It comes down to this: if you are driving a personal motor vehicle, you are not green. The rest is bullshit. Even electric cars are not green: the embedded energy is huge, the electricity must be made somewhere, and the excessive acreage of roads and parking in itself imposes a massive carbon burden.

Every mile you drive adds just a bit more fuel to the fire of climate catastrophe.

Richard Risemberg on 09.02.09 @ 11:00 AM PST [link]