Uncategorized

What we lose if Bloomberg’s plan goes down

It's High Noon for congestion pricing in New York City.

If by week's end the City Council and State Legislature haven't enacted a fee to drive into Manhattan's central business district, the city will forfeit a substantial federal mass-transit grant and congestion pricing will probably be a dead issue for the remainder of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's second and final term.

Coincidentally, this month also brings a deadline of sorts for the Cape Wind project off Cape Cod. The federal Minerals Management Service is accepting comments on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Cape Wind through April 21.

What do a wind farm for Nantucket Sound and congestion pricing for Manhattan have in common, and why are both so significant for the environmental cause?

Both would directly reduce the burning of fossil fuel -- in oil-fired generating plants and gasoline-burning tailpipes, respectively -- thus cutting greenhouse gas emissions. And both have been on the table for a good half-dozen years, if not more, which shows you just how hard it is to take away entitlements cherished by powerful minorities. The entitlements in question are a kind of unpurchased, appropriated ownership of the Nantucket Sound "viewshed" enjoyed by wealthy Cape Cod landowners and an equally groundless right to drive for free enjoyed primarily by relatively well-off New York commuters.

Both proposals demand of citizens that they make connections which are not obvious yet are quite real: that windmills keep fossil fuels elsewhere in the ground, and that congestion pricing is the only sure way for drivers to compensate for the harms they inflict on the city.

Impromptu food court musical

They promise that they’re not wasting trees …

Notable quotable

“I’ll retract the rape complaint from the wombat, because he’s pulled out. Apart from speaking Australian now, I’m pretty all right you know. I didn’t hurt my bum at all.” — New Zealander Arthur Cradock, who was subsequently charged with “using a phone for a fictitious purpose”

Earth Google

Google is celebrating Earth Hour. More here. Don’t forget to turn your lights off for an hour tonight at 8pm.

Report: carbon tariffs could bring manufacturing jobs back from China

Via Greenwire (sub rqd), a new report from Canada-based investment bank CIBC shows that if the U.S. passes domestic carbon caps, and China doesn’t, and the U.S. responds with "carbon tariffs," it could spark a return of manufacturing jobs: The report finds that a carbon tariff, combined with triple-digit oil prices, “could reverse the migration […]

A Nobelist speaks

This talk (about 85 min) by Prof. Steven Schneider (of the IPCC) is titled "Climate Change: Is the Science Settled Enough for Action?" That turned out to be a bit of a trick -- the talk is actually more of an exploration of what "settled enough" would mean, and why we need to be acting.

It's a little slow in spots, but it picks up towards the end, and he really shines during the Q&A. There's something in here for almost all the regular Gristies who post or comment about the subject, and an interesting response on the "mitigation vs. adaptation" question.

Friday music blogging: The Black Keys

The Black Keys are an indie band that’s gained a bit of a cult following over the last few years for their swampy lo-fi blues — like the White Stripes with less polish. On April 1 they’re releasing Attack & Release, which I think is going to be a breakthrough for them. It’s more varied […]

A roundup of news snippets

• On Saturday at 8:00 p.m., cities and businesses around the world will turn off their lights for Earth Hour. • Canada’s annual seal hunt kicked off today. • Today is also the 29th anniversary of the meltdown at Three Mile Island. • The U.S. EPA will reopen five closed libraries this fall. • Parkinson’s […]

Wolf recovery chief Ed Bangs talks about the species’ delisting

The gray wolf population in the northern Rocky Mountains is being dropped from the federal endangered species list on Friday, and on Thursday I just happened to run smack into Ed Bangs, the wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Such is life at the Aspen Environment Forum.) Bangs oversaw the celebrated […]

A roundup of news snippets

• Chemical manufacturer Dupont is being sued for noncompliance with pollution laws. • New England is not on track to meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets, says a report. • Denmark is building 20,000 electric car recharging stations. • Paying bills online saves 24 square feet of forest a year, says a new study.