Oh pretty! Look at what America can do! Build massive (potentially unnecessary) roads to take us from point A to point B. Sooooo why isn't there public transport used instead? I know Boston has the T, but come on Red Sox fans! You really need your own Spaghetti Junction?
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Big Dig!
Oh pretty! Look at what America can do! Build massive (potentially unnecessary) roads to take us from point A to point B. Sooooo why isn't there public transport used instead? I know Boston has the T, but come on Red Sox fans! You really need your own Spaghetti Junction?
Cities Good and Bad
What makes a good city? Sustainability is the key to any argument. It can make it last and stick around. Since population centers are all about growth and sticking around, sustainable behaviors are key. With this definition in mind, we'll look at some cities that aren't Portland (good) or Atlanta (horribly, horribly bad).
Leicester, England! (Pretty awesome timeline, copy and pasted below)
This city in England doesn't have the best soccer team (yeah, they're not in the EPL so they suck), but they are the United Kingdom's first environment city. This is definitely attributed to their massive amount of plans they have put into place and still in the works. The above link is a chronological laundry list of important moments. (Copyright, Leicester City Council)
Certainly the environment is great around Leicester as well, allowing them to grow intelligently and not haphazardly. In fact, they have a pamphlet that is available for free download on their page. (Click me!) The se are the kind of policies that American cities need to have, well all the world needs to have.
This is definitely a city on the up and up.
You heard me earlier mention Portland as a good city. I claim this due to their city design as of late, trying to become sustainable with alternative transport and innovative design. When a city doesn't have this, urban spraw l can occur. A list on wikipedia reads that urban sprawl leads to:
Leicester, England! (Pretty awesome timeline, copy and pasted below)
This city in England doesn't have the best soccer team (yeah, they're not in the EPL so they suck), but they are the United Kingdom's first environment city. This is definitely attributed to their massive amount of plans they have put into place and still in the works. The above link is a chronological laundry list of important moments.
From Environment City to Sustainable City
This page highlights some of the milestones in Leicester’s progress to reduce its environmental impact and become a more sustainable city. Links are provided to further details where available. For specific queries not answered below, please contact the Environment Team.
2010: Leicester was judged Britain’s second most sustainable city by independent think-tank Forum for the Future in its Sustainable Cities Index and came top in the ‘Environmental Protection’ section of
the index.
2010: The Council joined the national 10:10 campaign – making a pledge to cut its carbon emissions.
2008: A commitment was made to plant an extra 10,000 Trees in Leicester by 2011.
2008: The Coun
cil’s first action plan for Adapting to Climate Change was launched.
2008: The Leicester Partnership launched its 25 year “One Leicester” vision for Leicester to become “Britain’s Sustainable City”. One Leicester’s seven priorities include “Reducing Our Carbon Footprint” and “Planning for People Not Cars”.
2006: The City of
Leicester Local Plan introduced a new policy on Renewable Energy (Policy BE16) requiring Major Developments to be designed to meet a percentage of their energy needs from renewable energy generated on site.
2005: The Council was awarded “Beacon Status’ for “Sustainable Energy”
2003: Bursom Rec
ycling Centre was opened by BIFFA Leicester. It is designed to remove metals, compostable waste and much of the paper and plastic from household waste to reduce landfill.
2003: Leicester’s first Climate Change Strategy was launched.
2002: EMAS in Schools was launched, enabling children and young people to learn about the environment while tak
ing practical steps in their school.
2002: Leicester achieved Fairtrade City status through the work of ‘Leicester Advocates Fairtrade (LAFT) – the City’s Fairtrade action group.
2001: The Council was awarded ‘Beacon Status’ for “Maintaining a Quality Environment”
1999: The Council ac
hieved the prestigious Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) standard for its environmental management of local services. It continues to meet this standard to this day.
1997: The Bike Park was opened by local charity Environ (now Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire) with Council support.
1997: The kerbside recycling service was rolled out city-wide after the success of trials the year before.
1992: Leicester was invited to send a delegation to the first UN ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio de Janiero to discuss the role
of local communities in tackling the world’s environmental challenges. World leaders at the Summit issued ‘Agenda 21’ which included a call for local communities, led by local authorities, to develop their own local Agenda 21 plans for sustainable development.
1990: Leicester was designated Britain’s first Environment City by the Royal Society for Nature Conservation, in recognition of its progress and commitment.
1989: Eco House – one of the UK’s first environmental show-homes, was opened to the public by charity Leicester Ecology Trust (now Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire).
1986: Leicester’s Ecology Strategy – the first such c
ity-wide strategy by a (then) District Council - was launched.
1974: A programme of work was begun which led to the creation of the award-winning linear Riverside Park from north to south through the city, incorporating the Great Central Way walking and cycling route.
Certainly the environment is great around Leicester as well, allowing them to grow intelligently and not haphazardly. In fact, they have a pamphlet that is available for free download on their page. (Click me!) The se are the kind of policies that American cities need to have, well all the world needs to have.
This is definitely a city on the up and up.
You heard me earlier mention Portland as a good city. I claim this due to their city design as of late, trying to become sustainable with alternative transport and innovative design. When a city doesn't have this, urban spraw l can occur. A list on wikipedia reads that urban sprawl leads to:
- High car dependence
- Inadequate facilities, e.g.: cultural, emergency, health, and so forth
- Low public support for sprawl
- High per-person infrastructure costs
- Inefficient street layouts
- Inflated costs for publi c transportation
- Lost time and productivity for commuting
- High levels of racial and socioeconomic segregation
- Low diversity of housing and business types
- High rates of obesity
- Less space for conservation and parks
- High per-capita use of energy, land, and water
Nuclear Power Blog
Sooooo the tsunami just hit Japan after that devastating earthquake. We've seen the problems that have begun to happen at the Fukushima prefecture's nuclear power plant. A meltdown is definitely possible. This isn't to way that the cause of all these problems was human design though. This meltdown is only going to happen because an earthquake and tsunami, two natural disasters, occurred. There is no need for panic or alarm that those facilities in the United States which are built similarly are in any danger. The odds of a catastrophic tsunami in Japan are so minute, and that's light years ahead of any danger the Eastern seaboard would face. The fault lines and Ring of Fire establish that any important construction projects in the Asian continent's Pacific Ocean side must be able to stand up to an earthquake for the most part. No one guessed a tsunami would come immediately following. Basically, a perfect storm has allowed some cesium to escape into the atmosphere. Yes, I'm sure that there is some health risks for those nearby. However, this is not the time to lose a level head and start pointing fingers and claiming nuclear energy is horrible and will kill us all.
Jokes like the one above just help incite the populace against nuclear energy, when the only real problem is the disposal of the waste. Once this part is figured out, there is no telling how much benefit can be gained.
Comics like this one are just fallacies that say "well because BP messed up a sure thing with Deepwater Horizon, nuclear energy is bound to go wrong...and our point is proven thanks to that tsunami!"
This is downright shameful. It's cleaner and better than coal. While coal might be cheaper and easier to use, it has intense emissions problems.
In essence, nuclear energy is still amazing, and it should looked at as a viable alternative. While it won't do much to get us off foreign oil like switching to electric cars would, the vast amount of cheap electricity from a cheap substance could make electric cars in higher demand.
PS- this blog was typed ages ago, but I hit Save as Draft. Whoops!
Jokes like the one above just help incite the populace against nuclear energy, when the only real problem is the disposal of the waste. Once this part is figured out, there is no telling how much benefit can be gained.Comics like this one are just fallacies that say "well because BP messed up a sure thing with Deepwater Horizon, nuclear energy is bound to go wrong...and our point is proven thanks to that tsunami!"
This is downright shameful. It's cleaner and better than coal. While coal might be cheaper and easier to use, it has intense emissions problems.
In essence, nuclear energy is still amazing, and it should looked at as a viable alternative. While it won't do much to get us off foreign oil like switching to electric cars would, the vast amount of cheap electricity from a cheap substance could make electric cars in higher demand.
PS- this blog was typed ages ago, but I hit Save as Draft. Whoops!
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