Jason Varone
Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.
Recent Posts
Who Wants to Drive Into a City That’s Under Water?
| | No Comments
Elizabeth Kolbert, author of the outstanding Field Notes From a Catastrophe, covers climate change for the New Yorker. In this week’s issue, she takes up congestion pricing and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2030 plan: The case against congestion pricing is often posed in egalitarian terms. "The middle class and the poor will not be able to […]
Black Clouds Over China
| | No Comments
The balloon says: Drive one day less and look how much carbon dioxide you’ll keep out of the air we breathe. While the Chinese economy is booming, the skies above its cities are blackening. China will actually pass the United States as the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gases this year. The World Wildlife Federation […]
Streetfilms: Little Legs for Green Streets
| | No Comments
Little Legs For Green Streets A StreetFilm by Clarence Eckerson Jr. Running Time: 2 minutes 41 seconds This Streetfilm celebrates the students at P.S. 321 in Park Slope who are going green. The entire school participated in an Earth Day walk-a-thon to raise money for Transportation Alternatives, Amazon Watch, and Added Value.
PlaNYC: Foster the Market For Renewable Energy
| | 9 Comments
One interesting case study in the mayor’s plan is the real-time pricing of electricity. According to research done at Carnegie Mellon University, Americans would save nearly $23 billion a year if they shifted just 7% of their usage during peak hours to less expensive times – the equivalent of the whole nation getting a free […]
Zero Carbon is the Goal for Woodstock
| | 2 Comments
Randolph Horner, renewable energy developer, on the roof of town hall Mayor Bloomberg is not the only one going green. Woodstock, New York wants to be America’s first carbon neutral city by 2017. The Telegraph reports: Woodstock town hall’s large flat roof is blotted out by 112 solar panels – an early manifestation of the […]
The Ultimate System: Free Mass Transit and Congestion Pricing
| | 15 Comments
WABC’s John Gambling spoke with Michael Bloomberg this morning. In anticipation of the Mayor’s Earth Day speech, they discussed everything from congestion charging to light bulbs. Below are some highlights from their conversation; you can download to the entire show here. On congestion pricing: If you were to charge, and I’ll let you know on […]
Queens Residents Oppose Loss of Parking for Bus Rapid Transit
| | 13 Comments
Trend Watch: New York City Community Boards and civic groups opposing progressive transportation projects on the grounds that they interfere with car owners’ on-street parking and double-parking privileges. Last week, while DOT was catching flack in Brooklyn for its plan to stripe bike lanes on Brooklyn’s 9th Street, Community Board 13 in Queens was putting […]
In the East River, Verdant Power Sleeps With the Fishes
| | 14 Comments
One of Verdant Power’s tidal turbines prior to installation in the East River. Apparently, you have to read British newspapers to catch news about innovative environmental developments in New York City. The Guardian looks at Verdant Power, a small company that is working with the State to develop hydro-electric power right here in the East […]
Support Builds for Carbon Taxes Over “Cap and Trade”
| | 3 Comments
The Independent reports that European CO2 emissions are rising not falling, casting doubt on the EU’s touted Emissions Trading Scheme: Europe’s big polluters pumped more climate-changing gases into the atmosphere in 2006 than during the previous year, according to figures that show the EU’s carbon trading system failing to deliver curbs. Critics said the data […]
Mayor Says Toronto Will be North America’s Greenest City
| | 2 Comments
Toronto Mayor David Miller vowed last week to make Toronto "the leading environmental city in North America." The Toronto Star reports: Mayor David Miller is pledging to slash the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and a whopping 80 per cent by 2050. Miller and city council will unveil a plan […]
Will “Crazy Technology” Thwart Climate Change?
| | 2 Comments
Between automobile advertisements, ABC news reports on some far-out ideas to mitigate global climate change: Crazy-sounding ideas for saving the planet are getting a serious look from top scientists, a sign of their fears about global warming and the desire for an insurance policy in case things get worse. How crazy? There’s the man-made "volcano" […]
Sydney Organizes World’s First Climate Change Blackout
| | 1 Comment
Reported on Yahoo news: Australia’s largest city will be plunged into darkness for an hour on Saturday in an attempt at a world first blackout to raise awareness of global warming, organisers say. A successful switch-off could then be copied by major cities around the world in a drive to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions […]