Climate Cities

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  • NYC cabs don’t have to bump up fuel efficiency, judge rules

    New York City cab drivers will not be forced to go green, as a federal judge on Friday smacked down a municipal plan to make all new taxis achieve at least 30 miles per gallon by 2012. U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty ruled that fuel-economy standards should be up to the feds, not cities.

    Grist staff Cities

  • U.K. secretary: Economic downturn will not delay measures that could speed economy

    “In order to stimulate Britain’s economic growth and support our position as a leading world economy it is essential that we make the right long-term investments in our transport infrastructure and that we plan for future growth, in a way which is consistent with reducing greenhouse gas emissions overall.”   — U.K. Transport Secretary Geoff […]

    David Roberts Cities

  • Fast Company publishes an unsparing take-down of green architect William McDonough

    This month’s Fast Company has an expose on green architecture guru William McDonough. It is fairly brutal. McDonough’s come in for plenty of hero worship (no small amount of it from me), but as Danielle Sacks tells it, he’s a vainglorious name-dropper and celeb-schmoozer, prone to claiming credit beyond what he is due, devoted above […]

    David Roberts Cities

  • Britain’s eco-town plans are on shaky ground

    Thanks to the shaky economy, a struggling construction industry, and strong local opposition, sources close to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s eco-town plans say that only “one or two” of the 15 shortlisted sites are likely to go forward.

    Grist staff Cities

  • KQED takes a look at California’s high-speed rail ballot measure

    Great look at California’s Proposition 1A: The mind-boggling myopia it takes to call something like this an “extravagance” mystifies me. When did we get so hinky about investing in our future? I will bet anyone $100 right now that ridership on this train, if it is built, exceeds the most optimistic assessments. I’ll bet another […]

    David Roberts Cities

  • And they’re super bad

    Seoul is planning 129 miles of bike paths in the next four years. “We will make sure that bicycles will compete with vehicles for commuting in Seoul,” says mayor Oh Se-Hoon. Sweet.

    David Roberts Cities

  • Green group catalogs world’s 10 worst pollution problems

    The world’s worst pollution problems kill millions of people each year and sicken hundreds of millions of others, mostly in developing countries, according to a new report from green group Blacksmith Institute. For the past few years, the group has ranked the world’s top 10 most-polluted sites in order to focus global attention and fuel […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Town forests gaining popularity

    Living in Switzerland after college, I was amazed by the way communities both revered and used the landscape. Every facet of efficiency was enthusiastically explored, small farms abounded (growing grains on plots as small as an acre or less), and mountain trails were thick with orchids, green woodpeckers, and bell-toting cows. But my favorite thing […]

    Erik Hoffner Cities

  • EPA not great at regulating stormwater pollution, says report

    Stormwater pollution from cities and suburbs is fouling the nation’s waterways, and the U.S. EPA is failing to do much about it, says a new National Academy of Sciences report commissioned by the EPA itself. Rain and melted snow run along paved surfaces — which show up more and more frequently these days — picking […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s HQ is green and gorgeous

    Todd and I arrived early at our first D.C.-area appointment, so we wandered down a path leading out of the parking lot (where our Prius was in a “hybrid only” priority spot) and, to our delight, ended up on a sandy beach along the Chesapeake Bay. Shedding our shoes and any stress we might have […]

    Sarah van Schagen Cities