Climate Cities
All Stories
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Portland, Ore., tops sustainable-cities ranking
For the fourth year in a row, Portland, Ore., has been named the most sustainable of the 50 largest U.S. cities. The rankings by green org SustainLane, which take 16 economic and quality-of-life factors into consideration, “reveal which cities are increasingly self-sufficient, prepared for the unexpected, and taking steps toward preserving and enhancing their quality […]
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Severe erosion caused by Hurricane Ike may make many homes illegal
Hundreds of beach houses on the gulf coast of Texas may soon be declared illegal and seized under a state law that prohibits houses from being built (or remaining) between a beach’s high and low tide marks. Hurricane Ike’s 12-foot storm surge and 100-mile-per-hour winds severely eroded many Texas beaches and redrew the tide lines […]
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L.A. train collision dismays new riders
Speaking of trains, the horrific train wreck in L.A. last Friday came as ridership on the region’s rail network was on the rise, The New York Times reports. Los Angeles has long been known for its car-choked freeways. But after gas prices in California rose to more than $4.50 a gallon over the last several […]
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Permit me to ignore building codes
I know everyone’s in the throes of the Obama-McCain frenzy, but allow me to divert your attention to a minor ballot initiative in Oregon: Measure 63. Oh it’s fascinating, I assure you. Measure 63 is the last whimpering gasp of the property rights measures that originated in Oregon. Times change. It was just a few […]
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Let’s hear it for floor area ratio
There’s an interesting exchange going on between Kevin Drum and Matthew Yglesias regarding the reasons that some communities may or may not be walkable. It seems that the Woodbridge section of Irvine, where Kevin Drum lives, is quite walkable, but hardly anyone does it. Yglesias seems to feel that if an area is made fairly […]
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White roofs could help keep climate change at bay
This whole climate-change debacle could be significantly slowed down if the world’s 100 largest cities thing installed white roofs and more-reflective pavement, says a new study to be published in the journal Climatic Change. It may sound like greenwhitewashing, but physicist Hashem Akbari crunches the numbers: By bouncing heat away from the Earth, a 1,000-square-foot […]
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EPA puts kibosh on wetland-destructive Army Corps project
The U.S. EPA has vetoed a giant, expensive plan to build the world’s largest water pump in the Mississippi River delta. The so-called Yazoo Pump flood-control project would have sucked 6 million gallons of water a minute from 67,000 acres of wetlands along the Yazoo River. The scheme, proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of […]
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London mayor releases plan for adapting to climate change
London Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled a draft plan Friday to help the city mitigate and adapt to climate change. Johnson put special attention to water conservation, calling for mandatory metering, increased efficiency, improved drainage, and rainwater harvesting. He also envisions more trees and green space. Environmentalists said the adaptation strategy was a good step, but […]
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California to offer pay-as-you-drive insurance plan
Californians who minimize their driving could shell out less for insurance under a pay-as-you-go plan proposed Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Under the voluntary plan, annual insurance rates would be based on miles driven, incentivizing Golden Staters to stay out of their cars. “As a strong advocate of healthy market competition and a healthy […]
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Anti-bike crusader halts San Francisco’s cycle-friendly plans
With a claim that bike lanes increase pollution, a San Francisco resident has managed to put the brakes on the city’s pro-biking plans. In 2004, San Francisco unveiled a proposal to create more bike lanes and bike parking, aiming to have 10 percent of city trips taken on two wheels by 2010. Enter Rob Anderson, […]
