Climate Cities
All Stories
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It’s a Sprawl World After All
Two Anti-Sprawl Initiatives Fail in California In other, less eco-friendly initiative news, two separate measures intended to limit sprawl were defeated in California yesterday. In San Diego County, voters bucked statewide trends by rejecting the Rural Lands Initiative, which would have put a 20-year ban on development in 1,000 acres of the county’s “backcountry.” And […]
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Missouri Loves Company
New Missouri River Management Plan Sparks Protest A massive new plan to manage the Missouri River, released by the Army Corps of Engineers on Friday, managed to please exactly nobody, in keeping with the tenor of 15 years of debate over the future of the “Big Muddy.” Conservation groups immediately protested and filed lawsuits, saying […]
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Umbra on SUVs
Dear Umbra, Please help; my friend Kathryn Schulz, Grist’s managing editor, is sick of hearing about my guilt. I own an SUV. In my defense, I got it almost six years ago, when I was moving to the mountains and needed a big car with four-wheel drive to support my rugged, transient lifestyle, and it’s […]
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Wheeze and No Thank You
Pollution a Likely Contributor to Rising Asthma Rates Asthma rates are climbing around the world, and though scientists can’t say precisely what’s causing the increase, pollution is thought to be a serious contributor. The respiratory disease has become a particular problem in Asia, where terrible air quality, rapid urbanization, and poor medical treatment have contributed […]
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Ballast Off!
Invasive Species in Ballast Water Messing With World’s Oceans Ships that carry ballast water — used to balance and stabilize the vessels — also carry thousands of aquatic species across the globe to foreign habitats, where they can have environmentally catastrophic effects. Recognizing this as one of the top four environmental problems facing the world’s […]
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Built Ford? Tough.
Environmental Groups Target Bill Ford, Jr. Ford Motor Co. CEO Bill Ford, Jr., once a darling of the eco-friendly set, has come under attack by a coalition of environmental groups led by California-based Bluewater Network. In full-page national newspaper ads that began appearing Wednesday, the group lambasted Ford, Jr., for reneging on his July 2000 […]
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Sore Like an Eagle
The greatest threat to the bald eagle is no longer pesticides, but development and suburban sprawl, say environmental scientists. The bald eagle has starred in one of the most successful species-restoration stories in U.S. history; thanks to the banning of DDT in 1972 and the careful efforts of environmental advocates, the eagle has soared back […]
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Going on the Rails on a Crazy Train
Study Find Trains Best Transportation Solution for California Building a high-speed rail system that would connect California’s major cities would be more cost-effective and less environmentally destructive than expanding the state’s highways and airports, says a long-awaited government environmental study released today. The study — which considered ways of linking the Bay Area and San […]
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The Big Apple of Our Eye
World Trade Center Reconstruction Will Set New Eco-Friendly Standard Reconstruction of New York City’s World Trade Center area — site of the 2001 terrorist attacks — is set to make a green splash as one of the largest eco-friendly building projects ever undertaken. Under environmental guidelines expected to be released today for public comment, new […]
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We Love to Fly and It Shows
Britain Mulls Ways to Limit Impact of Aviation Industry With the holidays looming, the airports and skies are fuller than ever — unfortunately for the environment. Air travel is the most environmentally damaging way to get around, with planes using vast quantities of fossil fuels and emitting toxic byproducts and greenhouse gases. The issue is […]
