Economics
Ethanol’s Growing List of Enemies
Businessweek reports on an unlikely group of allies united againt the ethanol craze:
March 22, 2007
“People Act as Though the Hybrid Could Solve All Our Problems”
In a lengthy interview with Spiegel, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn defends his company's environmental record:
March 8, 2007
The Greening of the Times
Today's New York Times has an entire section on "The Business of Being Green" (Times Select), which includes articles on economies of scale in alternative energy, carbon-offset shopping, the possibly endangered practice of truck idling, Danish wind farms, and environmental litigation.
March 7, 2007
Green Collar Jobs for Urban America
In Oakland, California, the pathway out of poverty is the new green wave. Yes Magazine reports on a new movement for urban renewal:
February 28, 2007
No Parking Slope
The B67 bus veers around a double-parked van blocking a car parked in front of a fire hydrant as a Bugaboo-pushing nanny strolls by Councilmember David Yassky and Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White calling for more sensible parking policy this afternoon in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
February 27, 2007
Sustainable Transportation for NYC: How to Make it Happen
Today on Gotham Gazette, Bruce Schaller outlines how transportation policy could fit in to Mayor Bloomberg's sustainability initiative for 2030. The piece merits a full read, but Schaller frames his argument in terms of three big ideas:
February 13, 2007
Streetfilms: “A City Is a Means to a Way of Life”
At last October's Manhattan Transportation Policy Conference, convened by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, people from every neighborhood in Manhattan gathered to discuss a vision for the future of transportation in New York.
February 9, 2007
Robert Moses’s Fundamental Misunderstanding
In the latest issue of the Regional Plan Association's Spotlight on the Region newsletter, editor Alex Marshall has an outstanding essay responding to the recent burst of Robert Moses revisionism. An excerpt:
February 9, 2007
Another Free-Market Argument for Congestion Pricing
An opinion piece in today's New York Sun addresses the congestion-pricing incentives laid out in the Bush Administration's new budget proposal. The article, by Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a former chief economist at the US Department of Labor who is now with the conservative Hudson Institute, argues that "the only effective way to reduce traffic congestion is to use pricing," and that "Americans rely on prices for a
stable supply of food, clothes, water, energy, and telecommunications.
Why should roads be an exception?"
February 9, 2007