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Archive for the ‘Climate Change’ Category

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A Global High Shift Scenario: Impacts And Potential For More Public Transport, Walking, And Cycling With Lower Car Use

Thursday, September 18th, 2014
Figure 7: Total Urban Passenger Travel for Select Countries/Regions

INSTITUTE FOR TRANSPORTATION & DEVELOPMENT POLICY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
This report is the first study to examine how major changes in urban transport investments worldwide would affect urban passenger transport emissions as well as mobility by different income groups. It starts with the most recent United Nations urban population forecasts and the most recent model framework and forecasts used by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for global mobility modeling. The study extends these with new research on the extent of various urban passenger transport systems in cities across the world, as well as new estimates of the extent of mobility by non-motorized transport and low power e-bikes.

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Posted in Clean Air, Climate Change, Competitiveness, Environment, Global, Infra Views, Pollution, Public Transportation, Sustainability, Transit, Urban Planning

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Video: Flood Resilience Guide

Thursday, September 11th, 2014

Drinking water and wastewater utilities are vulnerable to damage and service disruptions from flooding. This overview video helps small and medium utilities to become more resilient to flooding. Told from the perspective of a small drinking water utility, the video introduces a 4 step approach with easy-to-use worksheets with corresponding videos. The utility is provided with the tools to examine the threat of flooding, determine impacts to utility assets, identify cost-effective mitigation options, and plan to implement such options.

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Posted in Climate Change, Drinking Water, Inland Waterways, National, Show Us Your Infra, Wastewater

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The External Costs of Fossil Fuels; Environmental and Health Value of Solar

Tuesday, August 26th, 2014
U.S. Net Electricity Generation

ENERGY & POLICY INSTITUTE
Ratepayers and customers have been led to believe that a power plant burning coal or natural gas is the cheapest form of electricity and therefore, should be prioritized over renewable energy generation. However, ratepayers are paying for more than the cost of the fossil fuel that is used to generate electricity. Utility customers pay for the cleanup of toxic spills and health costs associated with burning dirty energy sources. Furthermore, ratepayer’s money spent importing fossil fuels from other states causes unforeseen negative economic impacts when local renewable energy systems could provide economic benefits. Utilities have little economic incentive to reduce fuel costs since the cost of coal and natural gas are passed directly through to customers. Finally, customers ultimately pay for the impacts of climate change, including water scarcity, both of which are fueled and exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels.

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Posted in Clean Air, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Infra Views, Pollution, Sustainability

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Los Angeles County: Profile of Clean Energy Investment Potential

Monday, August 25th, 2014
Mid-century Warming in the Los Angeles Region

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND
UCLA LUSKIN CENTER FOR INNOVATION
The Environmental Defense Fund commissioned the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation to profile the potential for clean energy investments in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles Solar and Efficiency Report (LASER): An Atlas of Investment Potential is multi-faceted. The LASER Atlas begins with this particular profile of clean energy investment potential at the county level. Other profiles that comprise the LASER Atlas are at the sub-regional level…This county level overview is designed to help community stakeholders identify areas of high potential for solar energy and the benefits of green economic investment. These benefits include capitalizing on incoming state and local funding while creating jobs and building community resilience to current environmental health and energy threats that climate change will exacerbate.

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Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Green, Infra Views, Local, Sustainability, Urban Planning

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Back in the Fast Lane: How to Speed Public Transit Planning & Construction in California

Thursday, August 21st, 2014
Figure 1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
EMMETT INSTITUTE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
This brief seeks to explain some of the causes of the planning and construction delays and escalating costs for major public transit projects, such as rail and bus rapid transit. Among the factors are counter-productive regulatory processes, lack of coordination among overlapping agencies and entities, poor agency oversight of construction, and political compromises meant to appease powerful neighborhood groups and automobile drivers at the expense of the regional good.

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Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Infra Views, Local, Public Transportation, Transit

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Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the USA

Wednesday, June 11th, 2014
FIGURE ES. 1 Environmental Concerns Associated with Power Plant Emissions

CERES
This report examines and compares the stack air pollutant emissions of the 100 largest power producers in the United States based on their 2012 generation, plant ownership, and emissions data. Table ES.1 lists the 100 largest power producers featured in this report ranked by their total electricity generation from fossil fuel, nuclear, and renewable energy facilities. These producers include public and private entities1 (collectively referred to as “companies” or “producers” in this report) that own more than 2,700 power plants and account for 86 percent of reported electric generation and 87 percent of the industry’s reported emissions.

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Posted in Clean Air, Climate Change, Energy, Infra Views, Pollution

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Climate Change Puts Our National Landmarks at Risk

Monday, June 9th, 2014
National Monuments at Risk

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
This report is not a comprehensive analysis of climate change threats to all of the United States’ historic places, monuments and memorials, but rather a selection of case studies that vividly illustrate an urgent problem. These examples represent just a few of the many that could have been included, but the places they examine symbolize many of the rich and diverse elements of the American experience. The stories were chosen because the science behind the risks they face is robust, and because together they shine a spotlight on the different kinds of climate impacts already affecting the United States’ cultural heritage.

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Posted in Climate Change, Infra Views

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Why Creating & Preserving Affordable Homes Near Transit is a Highly Effective Climate Protection Strategy

Thursday, June 5th, 2014
FIGURE 1. Household VMT per Day

TRANSFORM
CALIFORNIA HOUSING PARTNERSHIP CORPORATION
A new analysis of data from Caltrans’ California Household Travel Survey (CHTS) completed in February 2013 shows that a well-designed program to put more affordable homes near transit would not just meet the requirements set by the California Air Resources Board (ARB), but would be a powerful and durable GHG reduction strategy – directly reducing driving while creating a host of economic and social benefits.

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Posted in Climate Change, Equity, Green, Infra Views, Policy, Public Transportation, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Transit, Urban Planning

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Energy Use & CO2 Emissions From Different Transportation Modes

Monday, May 5th, 2014
Passenger Miles per Gallon of Fuel

ABA FOUNDATION – AMERICAN BUS ASSOCIATION
This analysis is intended to evaluate the environmental performance of Highway Motorcoach operations, by comparing the energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of motorcoaches with the energy use and CO2 emissions of other common transportation vehicles/modes.

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Posted in Buses, Clean Air, Climate Change, Infra Views, Pollution

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Blackout: Extreme Weather, Climate Change and Power Outages

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014
Extreme Weather is Causing More Power Outages

CLIMATE CENTRAL
Climate change is causing an increase in many types of extreme weather. Heat waves are hotter, heavy rain events are heavier, and winter storms have increased in both frequency and intensity. To date, these kinds of severe weather are among the leading causes of large-scale power outages in the United States. Climate change will increase the risk of more violent weather and more frequent damage to our electrical system, affecting hundreds of millions of people, and costing Americans and the economy tens of billions of dollars each year.

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Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Infra Views, National, Smart Grid

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