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Archive for the ‘Policy’ Category

The Native-Born STEM Shortage

Thursday, April 28th, 2016
STEM-table1

AMERICAN ACTION FORUM
AAF finds that the U.S. will be short roughly one million U.S. citizen STEM workers by 2024. However, this shortage is not consistent across all STEM occupations…AAF projects a surplus of almost 400,000 U.S. citizen STEM workers in occupations related to computer, mathematics, and life, physical, and social science.

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Analytic Research Foundations for the Next-Generation Electric Grid

Tuesday, April 26th, 2016
FIGURE 1.2 U.S. transmission grid.

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Mathematical modeling and control of the electric grid has been an active area of research for decades. However, in 1996 a major outage that affected 11 Western states and 2 Canadian provinces—coupled with emerging concerns that computers would malfunction after December 31, 1999—increased awareness of a lack of complete understanding of the overall system and its frailties. For several decades the Electric Power Research Institute funded a program of research to develop tools for recognizing early signs of instability and means to counter them. That research was largely of a mathematical nature.

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Oil Market Futures

Friday, April 22nd, 2016
Figure ES.1: Global oil demand from transport in 2015 and under two scenarios for 2050

CAMBRIDGE ECONOMETRICS
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CLEAN TRANSPORTATION
Policies to tackle climate change are likely to lead to lower oil prices, according to the results of this analysis. As governments start implementing the Paris Agreement, they will increasingly need to cut carbon emissions from transport by curbing the combustion of petroleum fuels. Lower oil prices will prevail in this lower-demand scenario, compared to a business-as-usual scenario where oil demand would rise unchecked and in line with economic growth and expanding mobility trends.

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James Siegal: Our Cities Need to Focus on Playability, Not Just Walkability

Thursday, April 21st, 2016

We’ve done a great job making our cities walkable and bike friendly. But James Siegal argues it’s time to think about the kids and build play directly into daily life, in parks, on sidewalks and even bus stops. Building playgrounds as oases is not enough — cities need to embrace playability and create a new generation of kids who can play until the sun goes down.

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Lifting the High Energy Burden in America’s Largest Cities

Thursday, April 21st, 2016
While energy efficiency programs provide benefits beyond energy savings, we find they are an underutilized strategy that could complement bill assistance and weatherization programs to reduce high energy burdens in low-income communities.

AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY (ACEEE)
This report provides a snapshot of energy burdens in cities across the US. We focus on the high home energy burdens faced by select groups in major metropolitan areas…In the first half of this report, we analyze data from the US Census Bureau’s 2011 and 2013 American Housing Survey to determine energy burden values for 48 of the largest US cities and specific households within each city. In the second half of the report, we discuss strategies for alleviating high energy burdens, with a focus on policies and programs to increase the impact of energy efficiency initiatives in these communities.

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Henry Petroski, Historian & Author of The Road Taken: The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure

Wednesday, April 20th, 2016
Henry Petroski Professor of Civil Engineering in Pratt School of Engineering

Henry Petroski is an Aleksandar C. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering at Duke University, as well as an author and historian. His most recent book is titled The Road Taken: The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure.

Roads that aren’t paved correctly should not be paid for. They should be redone. If we have something, work done in our house and it’s not done right, we expect the contractor to redo it. We don’t just write another check. I believe unfortunately that too many times the government that represents the people and spends the people’s tax money does do just that.

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Consumer Impacts of California’s Low-Carbon Transportation Policies

Tuesday, April 19th, 2016
Consumer Impacts of California’s Low Carbon Transportation Policies by 2030

CONSUMERS UNION
California is a global leader in developing and implementing clean transportation policies. The State’s regulatory approach is multifold, using various policy instruments to improve the efficiency of vehicles, reduce the carbon intensity of fuels, and increase options for mobility. These policies are a mix of market-based approaches, direct regulation approaches, and planning opportunities. These policies will have impacts on the pricing of consumer goods such as automobiles and fuels– both of which represent a significant share of consumer expenditures.

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RPA Assembly 2016: Join the Discussion to Ensure a Thriving NYC Metro Region

Monday, April 18th, 2016

Join the Regional Plan Association on May 6 for RPA’s Assembly, a day of engaging discussion about the best ways to address issues including the crisis of affordability, threats to our coastlines, deteriorating infrastructure and pressures on our quality of life.

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America’s Most Endangered Rivers 2016

Thursday, April 14th, 2016
America

AMERICAN RIVERS
The report is not a list of the nation’s “worst” or most polluted rivers, but rather it highlights rivers confronted by critical decisions that will determine their future…The report presents alternatives to proposals that would damage rivers, identifies those who make the crucial decisions, and points out opportunities for the public to take action on behalf of each listed river.

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Best Complete Streets Policies of 2015

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016
Figure 1: Number of Complete Streets policies nationwide, 2005–2015

SMART GROWTH AMERICA
In 2015, communities passed a total of 82 Complete Streets policies. These laws, resolutions, agency policies, and planning and design documents establish a process for selecting, funding, planning, designing, and building transportation projects that allow safe access for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel.

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