Unchecked development causes many urban crises with water problems. Troubles such as too much impervious infrastructure are overwhelmed when strong storms arrive. A recently reported crisis in St. Petersburg, Florida — “The Calamity of the Century” — examines one of the many water problems of this complex environmental conundrum in South Florida. The plight of the Gulf Coast
It is no secret that the health of the air affects everyone. Presently, California’s plan for zero emissions includes using cap-and-trade revenue to help stop air pollution in specific clean transportation programs. Following last year’s carsharing programs in low-income neighborhoods, California now allows cap-and-trade revenue to fund California disadvantaged neighborhood bikeshare projects. Nextcity.org relates, “Last year, the [state]
If you are in Los Angeles and are up for some vital community activity and fresh ocean breezes, we received a press release of cleantech highlights being presented next week at the Port of Los Angeles. Details that follow include a series of clean air initiatives, including $26 million for electric vehicles: “Mayor Garcetti and Port of
Originally published on CleanTechnica. Proof of the hazardous, risky, severe results from fracking grows. Local communities are at serious risk from the process of fracking. A new report, Fracking by the Numbers, states: “The combination of two technologies—hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling—has enabled the oil and gas industry to engage to unlock oil and gas in underground rock formations
The solar transition is well underway in the UK. Our sister site SolarLove has reported that solar energy generation surged by around 153% over the last year in the UK (2014–2015). So, without much ado, research about the effects of solar farms on biodiversity continues. The fertile news is that after a conclusive study of solar farms, the
Originally published on CleanTechnica As I slow to a stop at an EV charger, someone walking by the LEAF takes a long look at the EV and what I am doing. I see the quizzical bubbles of questions popping. The questions people ask about the Nissan LEAF at a charging station have me falling into
Originally published on CleanTechnica.com Habitat for Humanity homes are a remarkable support to families. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E), the leading utility with rooftop solar in the nation, deserves more praise for new support for Habitat for Humanity. In a news release, the utility announced its $1 million commitment to the installation of rooftop solar on
Originally posted on CleanTechnica. Imagine that the norm is electricity meters running backward. Yes, your solar panel collected so much it turned your meter around. Decentralized power plants, the people collecting and storing energy. Just a few of the thoughts on the following videos. Imagine a new energy system that some are creating — but why not
Diesel Pollution Is NOT Good.
Originally published on CleanTechnica. I live in an area with plenty of EV chargers, and typically I experience no charging problems due to lack of chargers. A few times, I’ve found gas cars in EV charging spaces. So I slowly moved on. The question arising: Why does a gas car park directly in front of
Originally published on CleanTechnica. The most genuine and buoyant EV enthusiast I’ve met (outside of a CleanTechnica person) pulled up next to me recently at an EV charger late one night in Fort Myers. Driving home that evening from out of town, I needed one last charge on the way. I had to find a bathroom.
Originally published on CleanTechnica. What could make more sense than to have groups of homeowners, neighbors, collaborating with community solar systems and activating community use and the benefits of solar? Predictions are that residential users will increasingly join and build community-based solar systems and partnerships. Quite naturally, some structures lend themselves better than others to solar
Originally published on CleanTechnica. Everyone will have a different take — rather, taste — about the following list. Certainly, I never seem to have a mainstream perspective on much of anything — except perhaps with avant-garde, holistic types. I started a collection of songs that compare to the drive and experience of the EVs I love. Continue the idea and
The Royal Society For Protection Of Birds (RSPB) in the UK last week announced an objective that began about 10 years ago — a renewable energy project for the charity to offset its contributions to climate change. Collaborating with Ecotricity, the Royal Society For Protection Of Birds installed a new wind turbine at RSPB Headquarters at the Lodge. A 100-metre wind
Take a few moments for this video — despite the compromised visual quality, the sound is fine. The conversation flows nicely. Climate Reality leader Al Gore and Bill Maher talk climate change and the deniers. It is a short conversation complete with great reminders and touches of humour (as typical of Maher’s style). Mayer’s questions enhance the
Originally published on EV Obsession. When you set out on a road trip in an electric car, consider all the charging stations on the journey that you can find on PlugShare or via in-car navigation, but know there are more that are not yet charted. I have found there are often more options than on the navigation system. Going
Originally published on EV Obsession. In Paris, Renault-Nissan Alliance is providing official transport for the United Nation’s COP21. It is the largest fleet of electric vehicles for an international conference, with 200 EVs to transport delegates. 200 pure electric cars quietly, silently transporting people emissions-free to the annual summit that runs from November 30 to December 11. Now,
Originally published on CleanTechnica. What I love about Florida is the torrential downpours of summer afternoons that break through the intensity of the never-ending brilliant sunshine. The ocean is not far from wherever one lives — jutting out into some of the most emerald green-blue waters lit up by nearly constant sunshine over the Gulf. What
Originally published on EV Obsession. Car and Driver has declared the Tesla Model S 70/70D one of the “10 Best Cars of 2016.” Car and Driver points out Tesla’s innovation and Musk’s popular appeal but says that, even ignoring all of that, “the Model S still points a spotlight on the auto industry’s complacency.” Absolutely. Complacency and the status quo
Four Belgian energy ministers, the federal minister, and three regional ministers commissioned three scientific partners as part of an effort towards evolving the Belgian energy system in 2011. The three partners are the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB), the Council of Institute and Studies in Sustainable Development (ICEDD), and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO). The consortium
A recent Floridians For Solar Choice news release relates a breakthrough for Florida and hopefully a bright note for diversity in a backwards state. A broad coalition of Floridians have put forward a ballot initiative for more renewable energy in the state, via policies allowing more renewable energy business models. Conservative groups and others have gathered with lefty
Originally published on CleanTechnica. In 1974, a group of San Francisco’s pragmatic idealists, the Food Conspiracy, a grass-roots organization of food-buying clubs committed to buying and distributing wholesale food among themselves, became Other Avenues Worker Cooperative. Its mission is and was “food for the people, not profit.” Other stores expanded out of this group and yet, today,
Food is a problem. Food is the solution. Many urban areas suffering from depression of the economy suffer from the lack of whole food, good foods. A liquor store and a vacant lot are alright. However, try to plant green gardens, so you don’t have to drive 45 minutes to buy something besides fast food
To “make a difference,” a life and death difference in the lives of children is the highest value of human service. Listening to Sister Nyirumbe, I immediately understand a truth — there is no other experience that empowers or allows such fierce fearlessness and emanating joy as the joy one owns who connects to the
Originally published on Bikocity. For the next generation of bike-sharing innovations, take a look at Copenhagen and smile. Trains and a bike-sharing program working as one travel option now offer a GPS built into the bike. Not only do you know where to pick up your next connection – you have a schedule of all
Originally published on Bikocity. Redefining is the catchword for our progressive bicycle landscape. It is not lip service. As part of that, companies are rapidly redefining bicycles, and consumers now have a grand wave of bicycles to choose from. Gliding over and around the entire globe has never before been so diversely accommodating. The electrifying
Coconut is one of my favorite foods, favorite waters, favorite creams. It is wise to consider coconut milk, after mother’s milk, and goat milk. Coconut milk is desirable for the young to old. It is balancing and nourishing. (Fresh water of young coconuts is especially balancing for the electrolytes of the body.) So, it follows
Editor’s Note: Reposted from Bikocity, here’s an interesting article about some cool bikes that have flipped the switch on urban transportation as well as how to sell bikes. Even though I am a lifelong biker, I don’t care about the latest in the “best” head gear, and even though I am naturally quite athletic, I
A bit of exposed leg led to a very impressive discovery in the remote Xinjiang region of northwestern China. A new species of Theropod, named Aorun zhaoi, for the Dragon King from the Chinese epic tale of Journey to the West, was discovered by a George Washington University biologist and his team. This flesh-eating, carnivorous
One oil spill is too much. Three oil spills happened in the last short week, bringing horror to humans and wildlife alike. Dirty oil, at the root of this, has no moral compass. It is a style of bullying at the worst level. If the earth did not have the resources for renewable energy that its
22 families had to evacuate a suburban neighborhood in Mayflower, Arkansas due to Exxon’s recent oil spill. It is not yet a week since Mayflower began to suffer from the Exxon oil spill, which is estimated at 12,000 barrels of oil and chemicals. The smelly mess is horrific, with risks to nearby bodies of water
Dr. James E. Hansen has announced his retirement as head of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, where he began his career in 1967. He plans to engage more actively in politics around the issue of climate change, continuing his work as the most educated pioneer of scientific climate change research. Dr. Hansen, now 72 years
“Blink and you might have missed it.” Even though Food Democracy Now protesters took their fight straight to Obama, protesting in front of the White House against Section 735 of the bill, he signed anyway. Coming quickly to the forefront are disappointment and concerns for the population of the United States. Below are some more
“I am going out on this broken fin, and I assume it won’t collapse” — so says James Balog as he slides over to the edge of an endless cliff of ice that would make many feel faint simply to observe. Balog is nothing if not obsessive — however, brilliantly so. Needing his third knee
“We can see oil running down the road like a river,” explains a Mayflower resident. Crude oil has leaked and this is extremely unfortunate to Mayflower, Arkansas; damaging neighborhoods, and possibly endangering Lake Conrad. The size of the spill remains unclear. Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated the spill
After years of trial and break, I have been looking for an easy-to-clean, durable bottle for my glass-packing way of life. I finally found a delightful bottle that meets all these requirements and more — truly the one. A really safe and durable bottle to tote water, coffee, blueberries, and even something such as coconut
The way of leadership is best in example. I don’t think the White House is blind or deaf to peak oil, but oil pressure in DC is strong. Tar Sands and Occupy movements have surrounded the White House to bring home our hope that environmental concerns are not only for the tried and true naturalists, but
All of the sudden people said, “Wait a minute, this is not how we have to live.” …Call us Peace, We’re about peace… Paul Watson on a wide screen is sweet looking, kind of like a baby as a young man, thinner with dark curly hair framing his doe-eyed face as he stands in life-threatening
Train Commute Haiku #559: Your North Face parka Leads me to believe you’re on A grand adventure Continuing on with PlanetSave’s coverage of a recent Environmental Film Festival in Florida, here’s a post on the new documentary Trainsforming America: Trainsforming America — New Documentary A new film, Trainsforming America, takes a look at passenger rail
Every one of us is on a learning curve capable of transformation. Every one of us chooses a path, or the path takes us. We grow attached to our efforts, ideas, the commitment to our beliefs — the environmentalist who concerns himself with saving the trees; the logger, happy to have the only real work
The American Indians listen to the messages of their dreams, their great-grandchildren and their great-grandmother speaks to them. Akira Kurosawa made a film called Dreams that I have watched more than a dozen times. This film captures the beauty of folk tale dreams with foxes and peach blossoms spirits. In the same film, he captures
Should brave men die so you can drive? And what about innocents burning? There is nothing new about our concern with the nonsense and destructiveness of our dependency on oil. Our gross needs for gas could be done away with, transformed to clean energy, or at least mitigated to a lesser need. By using mass transit, bicycles,
I love the way this attention-getting, eye-catching, visibelt for cyclists, runners, pedestrians, and any night-time traveler is made of energy-efficient LED lights; spinning out from one’s body like an aura. I want one. It would go great with an actual “Aura” system on my wheels when biking at night. This visibelt will bring bright notice of me or you
I love the way this attention-getting, eye-catching, visibelt for cyclists, runners, pedestrians, and any night-time traveler is made of energy-efficient LED lights; spinning out from one’s body like an aura. I want one. It would go great with an actual “Aura” system on my wheels when biking at night. This visibelt will bring bright notice of me or you as the
The Alfa weighs just 20lbs, yet supports riders up to 24 times its weight. It’s mostly cardboard and 100% recycled materials. It uses a belt-driven pedal system that makes it maintenance free. And, maybe best of all, it’s projected to be manufactured at about $9 to $12 per unit (and just $5 for a kids version), making
Bike Romance Romancing the Open Road in the Season of Locusts I fell in love with my bike at the age of 5. I would jump on it and go anywhere I wanted on my own. I was one with the wind. When I was seven, we had the seven-year locusts come to live
Republished story Cynthia Shahan Thanks to a report in Indian Country Today Jul 28, 2012 Indian Country A rare white buffalo born June 6th is bringing hundreds of American Indians together to celebrate this auspicious birth event. They are joining together in a naming ceremony. “[The event] brings so much happiness to us because of the stories of the white buffalo calf
Is there any violence that is not senseless? Last week’s massacre brought to the surface — as senseless violence will — the ongoing discussion on gun control. Another tragic massacre occurred and the fact that easy availability of guns played into this is unquestionable, it is unarguable. Only a few days past the shooting
