QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We know that high-speed rail is the new frontier."
--Beth Osborne, U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Assistant Secretary
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7768

 

Article courtesy of Smart Growth

If Cities Focus on Walkable Communities, Economic Development Will Follow

With a third of metro area populations eager for pedestrian-friendly settings, a key path out of the recession leads through urban infill and walkable mixed-use redevelopment of car-dependent suburban malls and strips. Meeting that pent-up market demand will take a generation, said Christopher Leinberger with the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. Speaking at the fifth annual Louisiana Smart Growth Summit, Leinberger advised cities to combine transportation and affordable housing strategies to ensure the viability of walkable neighborhoods. ''Plan for your walkable future. Economic development will follow," he said.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7768

Article courtesy of Smart Growth News

Woods Hole says oil trapped deep, degrading very slowly

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers have mapped a snaking, 22-mile-long underwater oil plume from the BP PLC well in the Gulf of Mexico, work they say provides strong evidence that oil from the disaster could remain trapped deep in the ocean for a prolonged period.   Read more: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2010/08/20/woods_hole_says_oil_trapped_deep_degrading_very_slowly/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Beth Daley

Frack Attack

Hydrofracturing ("fracking," for short) is a brute force way to extract natural gas. It's so lucrative (and potentially dangerous) that Dick Cheney made sure it was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Unfortunately, public safety and environmental concerns about fracking have been swept aside with disastrous results. Where have we seen this before?

 

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune writes about the dangers of letting yet another energy industry run amok -- and what the Sierra Club is doing about it. 

 

Article courtesy of the Sierra Club Insider

Mangrove forests in worldwide decline

Gland, Switzerland / Washington, DC - More than one in six mangrove species worldwide are in danger of extinction due to coastal development and other factors, including climate change, logging, and agriculture, according to the first-ever global assessment on the conservation status of mangroves for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.

 

Mangrove forests grow where saltwater meets the shore in tropical and subtropical regions, thus serving as an interface between terrestrial, fresh-water and marine ecosystems. These forests provide at least $1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services.

Read more:  http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/Report-Mangroves-Worldwide-Decline-IUCN.aspx

Article courtesy of  Conservation International