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Smart growth to revitalize urban centers

Building on the urban revitalization theme (and unable to resist playing off the title of biodiversivist's post earlier), Smart Growth Online is a great resource for issues relating to the development of green, livable, and desirable communities (without, of course, being too overbearing and centrally planned). Sharing many principles with New Urbanism itself (walkability, mixed use, transportation-centered development, etc.), it's definitely a good idea. I'm planning to get more familiar with some of their publications very soon, but for now I'll just post the link.

Norquist says it’s the small property owner

John Norquist, the president of the Congress for New Urbanism, has an interview on the PBS Online NewsHour regarding the Kelo decision. While the site notes that Congress took no position in the case, Norquists' comments do echo many New Urbanist themes.

But his comments also go against the idea of any kind of central planning by major entities, whether they be government or private developers. These large groups just don't have the foresight or the omniscience to know exactly what will be best for the city or even what will be the best way to promote economic development. A couple of my favorite quotes from Norquist, who's also the former mayor of Milwaukee:

The key to revitalization of American cities is the complexity of cities, the form of cities...[snip]...The small developer, the small business person, the small property owner, they're the ones that are the key to urban revitalization -- not having some big firms that's routinely hiring lobbyists and lawyers and goes down to city hall.

Well put.

DoD conference on making bombing ranges ‘sustainable’

Apparently, even the U.S. Department of Defense has decided to jump on the sustainability-as-a-buzzword bandwagon. In late August, at a "Sustainable Ranges Initiative Conference and Exhibition" in San Antonio, Texas, experts in range management and sustainability will come together to discuss ways to promote sustainability on the military's "operational ranges and training areas" (read: practice bombing zones). Potential topics include endangered species, soil and water quality, and the development of "green munitions."

Whatever that means. Making any part of war "sustainable" sounds like an oxymoron to me. I'm envisioning an F-16 dropping a payload in the desert somewhere, which, upon impact, causes butterflies, daffodils, and spotted owls to spring forth and disperse merrily across the range.

(thanks Krestia)

Toyota to American public: we make bad cars too!

A wire story just caught my eye. The subject? How Toyota is preparing for the potential backlash caused by its growing popularity in the U.S. (Cue Lee Greenwood here.)

Seems that last month, Toyota's U.S. sales increased 7.8 percent, while GM's fell 5.5 percent and Ford's fell 3. It's just part of the bad Detroit juju of late. But according to this article, Toyota -- maker of some of the most fuel-efficient cars on the planet -- is hastening to remind us that it, too, makes gas guzzlers. And that it, too, could be hurt by tougher fuel economy standards in the U.S.

There are too many amazing angles to poke at here. But what a sad state we're in when the good guys have to pump up their bad reputation.

Environmental economics takes center stage

It seems like everyone has one of these newfangled "weblogs" these days -- which makes it all the more exciting when you find a really good one. Started just last week by two economics professors (but featuring contributions from many more), Environmental Economics has already featured fascinating posts on pollution regulations, carbon credits, and the high price of oil, among other things. And, of course, they are syndicated for all the RSS junkies like me out there.

Biodiversivist

I have a friend in Seattle (Ballard, to be more exact) who just bought a diesel Jetta. After doing much research on the subject (selectively reading articles that support biodiesel), she had concluded that it was the most ecologically sound vehicle available. She even has a bumper sticker to make sure everyone knows it: "Biodiesel: fuel for the revolution." Had she consulted me before her purchase, I might have convinced her to do otherwise (as I did with another friend who was also considering a Jetta). Biofuels are going to be bad news for the planet's biodiversity. As environmentalists, we should be resisting the idea, not promoting it.

Going coast to coast by rail.

As Dave points out, we have quite the task ahead of us when it comes to transitioning from an oil-based economy to one where oil is marginal. If oil is marginal, there's no way we keep up the same amount of air traffic we currently have.

But then, how would someone get from coast to coast? Right now the options in this future economy are not pretty. You could pay a premium for the traditional 6 hour flight. You could drive a car at a similar premium.

Carbon confusion

Joel Makower has a must-read post on the intricacies of so-called climate neutrality.

Say Company X manufactures a material; one day, it figures out how to manufacture the material more efficiently, or make it lighter, or some such.

The material is used by Company Y to make a product. With X's more-efficient, lighter material, Y is able to make its product lighter and more efficient, and thus reduce the product's CO2 emissions.

Who gets credit for the carbon reduction? A or B?

Now that CO2 emissions credits are a tradable commodity -- that is, worth money -- this is not an academic question. Figuring out just how credits are allocated is going to become a more and more pressing matter in coming years.

And, as Joel's post illustrates, it's going to be anything but a simple undertaking.

Honda diesel bunny game

So, remember when we told you about that surreal ad Honda UK made for their new, lower-emission diesel engines?

Well, now they have a game to go with it, and it is, if possible, even more surreal.

Vertical farming

A reader sent me a link to the very intriguing idea of vertical farming:

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Over 60% of the human population now lives vertically in cities. The time has arrived for us to learn how to grow our food that way, too. If we do not, then in just another 50 years, 3 billion people will surely go hungry, and the world will be a very unpleasant place in which to live.

Totally speculative and a long, long way from practicable, but: Awesome.

Of course, I meant to blog about it yesterday, and man, the blogosphere never sleeps, so BoingBoing and Alex beat me to it. Alex, as is his wont, includes beaucoup related links to ideas on urban sustainability. Check 'em out.