John Hennessy III,
P.E.
Keep an eye on your area’s carbon consumption and compare it to the rest of the country with these new interactive maps from UC Berkeley. Linked to their CoolClimate Carbon Footprint Calculator, this new tool visualizes the nation’s carbon consumption in a fresh way and invites new comparisons–pit the East Coast against the West, mountains again valleys or cities against suburbs. Additional maps break down carbon usage into household energy and transportation.
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U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
The cumulative effects of losses in the freshwater system have had consequences for hydrologic and ecosystem connectivity. In certain regions, profound reductions in wetland extent have resulted in habitat loss, fragmentation, and limited opportunities for reestablishment and watershed rehabilitation.
Thanks to oceanographer Greg Johnson, you don’t have to read all 2,000 pages of this recent IPCC report to get up to speed on climate change. Outlining the full scope of climate change, from history and causes to possible solutions, Johnson’s 19 hand-painted watercolor images and haiku convey the spirit of the IPCC report in full color without the dense jargon and statistics.
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SPUR – San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association
The city of San Jose is critical to the future of the Bay Area. The Association of Bay Area Governments projects that San Jose will add more new residents in the coming decades than any other city in the region — more than San Francisco and Oakland combined. The shape of that growth is critically important to the sustainability, livability and economic vitality of the region. San Jose faces a particular set of challenges — shared by many American cities — around how to retool environments built for the automobile for a future that better supports walking, cycling and transit.
Building the world’s largest central tower receiver concentrating solar power (CSP) plant near Tonopah, Nevada is bringing new jobs to the area and bolstering its economy, as well as providing energy to customers hundreds of miles away…When completed, the new Crescent Dunes Solar Energy plant will power up to 75,000 homes with cleaner, cheaper solar energy during peak electricity periods. The majority of clean energy generated will be consumed in northern Nevada.
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CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY
The Safeguarding California Plan provides policy guidance for state decision makers, and is part of continuing efforts to reduce impacts and prepare for climate risks. This plan, which updates the 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy, highlights climate risks in nine sectors in California, discusses progress to date, and makes realistic sector-specific recommendations.
THE TEXAS CLEAN ENERGY COALITION
In the electrically-independent power system of Texas known as ERCOT, the evolution of the power sector is especially related to the development path for renewable energy and natural gas-fired power. With over 12,000 MW of installed capacity, Texas is the largest state producer of wind-powered electricity in the U.S. Wind resources in Texas are more than double the next two largest wind capacity states combined. At the same time, Texas is the leading U.S. producer of natural gas, and the state generates nearly half its electricity from natural gas plants, substantially more than it generates from coal or nuclear power. Texas also has abundant, high-quality wind resources and solar energy potential.
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
With high electricity prices, a reliance on imported energy, and ongoing retirements of fossil fuel power plants, the Northeast has a strong incentive to develop local, renewable sources of energy. Aided by a well-established, supportive portfolio of policies in nearly every Northeastern state, the region ranks second in the nation for both solar power capacity and biomass power capacity. However, renewable energy capacity overall is lower than in the other regions profiled by ACORE’s Renewable Energy in the 50 States report, with fewer large-scale renewable energy facilities like wind farms.
Nearly every state in the American Southwest is affected by a water crisis and is struggling with record dry conditions. On the heels of the American Southwest’s drought, and in an effort to raise awareness, The Chronicles Group with support from grants from the California Water Association, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and other public and private entities, Vegas PBS will present The American Southwest: Are We Running Dry? directed, written, and produced by Jim Thebaut, president of The Chronicles Group, a Los Angeles based non-profit public information/education film production company.
-Nelson Madison Films/Indie Rights on YouTube
NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Making streets safer requires more than the traditional “3 Es” of engineering, education, and enforcement. It also requires working closely with local communities to collaboratively plan changes in how streets are designed and operated. And it requires learning from our successes to identify and implement the most effective approaches to street design.
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