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News & Views Curation

August 31, 2018

Signs Of The Times

Look around town for the Climate Museum 10 distress sign installations

Printable Solar Power Panels

Cheap + easy to make, printable solar panels get a pilot installation in Australia

Help Wanted: Two Manager Positions

The Municipal Art Society is hiring a Senior Project Manger for Planning + a Communications Manager for Social Media/Publications

Now For The Hard Part

Poised for a 100% zero-carbon electric power law, how might California get it done by 2045?

Insuring The Sun

Oregon solar projects buy insurance to guarantee against failures to generate contracted-for power

Transit Review: Take The N Train

The Municipal Art Society is moved by the newly renovated N train stations in Astoria

More EV Sales, Faster

Canadian Province Abandons Climate Plan

Canada's climate action plan loses Alberta in fight over oil pipeline

The Grapes Of Climate Change

Bordeaux wine makers, facing hotter weather, must change their venerable ways or become climate losers

August 30, 2018

Urban Climate Action Is Great But...

...Without US commitment it's not enough to prevent giant climate disruptions

August 29, 2018

PV Slump Linked To Consumer Complaints

Unhappy rooftop PV leasers linked to slumping installations on Long Island

Quote Of The Day

"...a reminder of one of the great truths about climate change, and one that is hardest to grasp: In our rapidly changing world, no place is too distant or too far away to matter. Like it or not, we are all in this together. When ice melts in the Arctic, the west burns." Jeff Goodell

The Arctic Meltdown And You

If you think the massive Arctic meltdown won't change your life, think again

Canada: Climate v NAFTA

The pro-climate position staked out by PM Trudeau, could be put to the test in the Canada/US NAFTA negotiations

August 28, 2018

Sallan Climate Week Event Partner Honor

Learning To Live With The Heat

The number of US heat-related deaths dropped from 1987-2005, but not because the temperature's gone down

Facebook: 75x20

Facebook to cut its GHG emissions 75% by 2020, adding to corporate climate commitments in an era of the opposite in Washington

August 27, 2018

Urban Public Opinion On Climate

As most Americans live in metro areas, their views on climate change + action ought to carry some political weight

Catch The Wind

Rhode Island education, business + government planning youth job-training for employment in the wind power industry

Germany: Don't Aim Higher Now

German Prime Minister Merkel is cool to proposals for raising EU climate action targets

1 Million EV's In Europe

Here's a sales trend that's a climate friend

Climate Primers

Climate Change - Health Disruptor

"Climate change is sickening" is the scientific truth

John McCain - GOP Climate Maverick

Does the McCain climate legacy signal the past or the future for his party?

August 24, 2018

Looking For The Missing Piece Of Pie

Houston After Harvey, What Resilience Needs

"If the money doesn’t feel safe—if it isn’t going to be protected from flood risk, along with the workers who work there—it’s going to go elsewhere.”

Social Science At Work: Building Energy Retrofit Decisions

Decision making in multi-family has a dynamic that makes decisions to improve building energy performance a challenge, according to new research

Climate Denialism, GOP Warm Up For Trump Denialsim

Paul Krugman speaks truth to power, but is the GOP listening?

Sea Level Rise Eroding Property Values

Coastal state home owners are already starting to pay for flooding linked to sea level rise

August 23, 2018

Albany Not On Track For 50x30

Renewable energy is growing, so why would the state miss its goal of getting 50% of its energy for renewable sources by 2030

Gulp - The Future Of Water In Texas

Think rainwater catchment desalinization + toilet-to-tap replacing dams + reservoirs in Texan cities

NY Farmers In A Bad State Of Mind

Weird weather, tariffs + immigration add up to worries + woes for NY farmers

August 22, 2018

Big Bucks For Big Solar

Capital Dynamics, operator of industrial scale solar power projects, assembles $1.2 billion to go on a renewable energy buying spree

Climate Follies

Name a country with retrograde climate policies, where coal still calls the shots

Quote Of The Day

"The announcement of a replacement rule (for the Obama era Clean Power Plan) may largely represent a political milestone for a President who promised to end his predecessor’s 'war on coal,' but we also view it as a significant policy action that could to make it difficult for a differently oriented successor to establish greenhouse gas (GHG) limits on any stationary sector via executive discretion." Clearview Energy Partners

Spokane: 100x30

The City Council of Spokane, WA votes 6-1 in favor of a bill that requires 100% of the City's electric power to come from renewable energy by 2030

Separating Fact From Fiction

NRDC, a national environmental advocacy organization, spells out detailed rebuttals of claims made by the EPA's proposed all-power-to-coal rule. Here's a 6 point analysis done by The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

August 21, 2018

Quote Of The Day

"Building a more compassionate society means reminding ourselves of luck, + of the gratitude + obligations it entails, against inevitable resistance." Dave Roberts, journalist

This Will Crack You Up

Political Power For Electric Power

Will one of Germany's most powerful agency ministers, succeed at expanding the nation's power grid?

What Ails Australia

Despite the clear + present climate change dangers facing Australia, it's government refuses to act, why?

Greens Sue Nuke Power Subsidy

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater sues NY for what it deems illegal subsidies given to nuclear power plant owners

Think Concretely

Concrete blocks are a new contender in the race to develop energy storage systems

Help Wanted: Deputy Director Of Equity

The Sierra Club seeks an Equity Department Deputy Director to engage in transforming the organization to become more equitable, just + inclusive. Location: Denver (preferred) Oakland, Denver, or Washington DC

Trump Gives Coal A Whole Lotta Love

Trump's war on clean air begins with a move to gut EPA clean power/ climate mitigation regulations. "Fact Sheet" here

August 20, 2018

Winning Climate Cases

Analyzing 26 years of climate litigation reveals what wins in court + what loses

Big Push For Energy Efficient Buildings

Calling for 20% cuts in building energy use by 2030 + bigger cuts by 2050, this now-being-drafted NYC Council bill could be the start of something big

Thought Of The Day

NY Looks To Offshore Wind Leaders

With ambitions offshore wind power goals, New York looks for lessons from European industry leaders

Dallas: Tree Planting Made Smarter

The urban cooling impact of planting 1,000 trees in Dallas gets a boost with GIS mapping

Defrosting The Arctic

Scientists discover Arctic sites that don't freeze, even in winter, a worry for accelerating climate change

August 17, 2018

Gear Up To Pay For NJ Offshore Wind

A subsidy to advance offshore wind projects in NJ, will come from surcharge on utility bills

So Last Century, So Now

Early in the 20th Century, NYC architects found inspiration in designing ways for citizens to interact with nature, some projects are being rediscovered now

Toronto: Big Timber For Big Building

The world's biggest 'big timber' building project, sponsored by Alphabet, Inc.,could rise on Toronto's waterfront

Enough With The Trash Already

Big City Booms

Which will be the cities of 1 million or more people in 2035?

August 16, 2018

Let's Look At The Energy Subsidy Record

Sydney: New Era For Bushfires

Hotter, drier summers plus urban sprawl add up to Sydney a bush fire season that both longer + riskier

August 15, 2018

Democrats Are More Than the DNC

Bill McKibben writes that climate activists must not abandon progressive Democratic candidates because of the DNC decision to take fossil fuel money -- they're different

Blueprint For Green Partnerships

Collaboration is key for a can-do energy performance policy to drive efficiency in NYC's large buildings + to cut its carbon footprint 80% by 2050. Here's the Urban Green Council how-to report

Blue Green Rift For Dems

If organized labor interests are the rationale for the Democratic National Committee reversing its ban on accepting fossil fuel industry money, is this a return to BAU or are other forces in play now?

UK: Weird Weather Bares Ghosts

Extreme drought + heat expose traces of pre-history + medieval times in the UK landscape

Solar Shoving Match

August 14, 2018

Memory Palace

Listen to Nate Dimeo's Memory Palace podcast "White Heat White Light", NYC, Summer, 1892

Weather Forecast - 'Anomalous' Heat

Why are scientists predicting five years of 'anomalous' heat + do other scientists think it's significant?

Charge

NZ: Getting Carbon Neutral

A New Zealand crown commission releases a plan for reaching the nation's carbon neutrality goal by 2050

There's No Free Clean Energy Lunch

For all the benefits of a switch to electric vehicles, there is also a job cost in the ICE industry

Hottest Saunas Subways In Town

Want to sweat more? Try these 10 NYC subway stations

Halfway To Boiling

If only temperatures of 50 degrees C were just dystopian fantasies

Help Wanted: Sr. Policy Advisor, Land Use/Buildings

The NYC Mayor's Office seeks candidate for a new Land Use + Buildings team that will analyze climate-related threats to NYC neighborhoods, buildings + residents, as well as define + implement cohesive program initiatives

China Doesn't Love NY Recycling

China's sharp cutbacks on imports of recyclable materials drive up costs to NY programs

August 13, 2018

Science At Work: Urban Mercury

Mercury, a known neurotoxin, now has mapped sources in Toronto's environment

"Oil Slick Award" Winner

John Flanagan , the NY Senate Majority Leader, is voted the environmentally worst elected official in the state

Knokke-Heist: On Climate Frontlines

Called Belgium's San Tropez, can this shoreline resort save itself from rising seas?

Visit the BronXchange

Encouraging local, sustainable business + job growth, the BronxXChange is a project of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative

Fake News Or Feared News

NYC Waterfronts: Revival And Reinvention

Reviving NYC's polluted waterfronts won't mean turning back the clock, what does the Hudson Riverkeeper envision instead?

Italy: Energy Politics Now

Domestic political promises fuel pipelines + international politics collide in Italy

Molten Salt For Nuclear Power - The Press Releasase

August 10, 2018

Start By Talking The Talk

Two folks take a road trip across the country to talk with people, not at people, about climate change

Slimy Politics In Florida

Florida's US Senate race could pivot on an infestation of toxic blue-green algae, as candidates accuse each other of inaction

Update On Antarctic Ice

What happens to Antarctic ice will impact you, here's how

August 09, 2018

East River Greenery

A long time in coming, but now new East River-edge parks in Brooklyn, Queens + the Bronx are open to all

It's Never Too Late

The battery pioneer John Goodenough, at age 96, reinvents this essential gear for EV's

Farewell Fossil Fuel

Bill McKibben's take on California legislation to end fossil fuel use to create electricity by 2045

It's Not Just About Auto Congestion

The human toll of the Uber/Lyft gig economy is also part of this supposedly liberating urban 'disruption'

Help Your Devices Weather The Summer

Advice for keeping your electronic devices cool + operational in the summer heat

August 08, 2018

Don't Follow The Money

Tax Changes Loom For Wind Power

With the coming phase-out of the production tax credit for wind power projects, what to expect for the industry?

The 'New Normal' Now

Words matter - so what's the debate about calling our climate changed circumstances the 'new normal'?

Too Darn Hot At Night

Down On Tesla Solar Roofs

Is there a cure for what's ails the Tesla solar roof factory in Buffalo?

August 07, 2018

California: We Won't Be Trumped

California is up in arms over Trump's threatened roll back of the state's power to regulate auto emissions, calls it "contrary to the facts + the law" + pledges action

Renewable Energy - Newsmaker

Become An Effective Climate Communicator

Here's a website loaded with practical ideas for becoming a better climate communicator to foster civic + political action

Book Review: 1,200 Pages of Climate Catastrophe

Award-winning novelist William T. Vollman writes a 2 volume non-fiction work, which views climate as an unavoidable calamity

The Big Question

What would electrification of buildings' heat + hot water gear mean for consumers + the climate?

August 06, 2018

Green Rating For NY Elected's

How does your state legislator score in the New York League of Conservation Voter ratings?

Summer In The City

Coney Island lit by moonbeams + electric lights in 1927

Ideology In The Driver's Seat

There are so many things wrong with Trump's effort to freeze vehicle fuel efficiency standards, here are just some

Crashing The Grid

Should the US expect Russian cyber attacks on the power grid?

Seattle Goes Bold Green

A bold but underutilized high-performance building model is tweaked with zoning bonuses in a new Seattle energy retrofit initiative

Another Manhattan Beach

Not a novel, not in Brooklyn, but an idea for places to swim of the island of Manhattan

August 03, 2018

Heat Wave Bakes Wheat Crop

World wheat prices up 20% as Europe's heat wave devastates crops

Jamaica Bay - Resilience Rx

Key findings of a Rand Corporation study with a framework for analyzing resilience proposals for protecting Jamaica Bay communities from superstorms + sea level rise

De-Toxing NYC

NYC's Brownfields program for cleaning up polluted industrial sites is 9 years old, how's it doing?

More Ferries Launching

Manhattan + the Bronx will get expanded ferry services starting this month

Greased With Oil

The oil industry is the biggest booster + beneficiary of Trump's move to freeze vehicle fuel efficiency standards

August 02, 2018

That's Rich

Cogent criticisms of Nathaniel Rich's 40,000 word "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change" published in the NY Times Magazine

Pioneering Energy Justice

Renewable energy + energy efficiency upgrades are on the environmental justice frontier in California thanks to carbon cap + trade revenue

Burn, Baby, Burn

Freezing fuel economy standards is touted by the EPA as as way to cut costs + road deaths, many not convinced

August 01, 2018

The Funnies

The States That Set The PACE

Which states lead + which lag on PACE, innovative financing paths for energy smart commercial + residential buildings?

Cuomo To Feds - Support Offshore Wind

Governor Cuomo urges the US Interior Department to support New York's 2.4 gigawatt offshore wind power goal

Meet Kelvin Droegemeier

Trump to nominate Kelvin Droegmeier, an extreme weather expert, as his science + technology advisor

The Future Isn't Plastics

The beginning of the end for the Age of Plastics?