Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Air Quality

A Rising Bicycle Tide in Mexico City

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Back in April, Marcelo Ebrad, the mayor of Mexico City, announced he wanted those who worked in his administration to ride bicycles to work one day a month (at right, Ebrard, center, kicks off the program). Many were shocked at the idea, or simply laughed it off. But this excellent article in the San Diego […]

Good Stuff in This Week’s Mobilizing the Region

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Finally, we get to see just how much former executive director Jon Orcutt was tamping down the high-powered talent at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The latest issue of Mobilizing the Region is jam-packed with good articles. Here are some highlights (and, yes, I’m kidding about Orcutt but serious about this week’s MTR being really good): […]

Just What India Needs: The $3,000 Car

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The Sierra Club points out that in India, there are currently about 7 cars per 1,000 persons (as compared to nearly 500 per 1,000 in the US). With the advent of the $3,000 car, that is surely about to change. The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe reports: If India’s roads seem cluttered and inadequate, things are set […]

Book Review: Twenty-Three Years to Save the Planet

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When George Monbiot, the popular columnist for the UK’s Guardian newspaper, gets interested in something, he digs and digs until he’s found what he’s satisfied is the truth. Monbiot is interested in global warming, and presents in Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning (U.S. Edition: South End Press, May 2007) a heavily footnoted 215-page brisk and compelling case for why […]

California Sues Municipalities for Bad Urban Planning

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USA Today reports on a new development in the fight against climate change: California is pioneering what could be the next battleground against global warming: filing suit to hold cities and counties accountable for greenhouse gas emissions caused by poorly planned suburban sprawl. The unprecedented action is being closely watched by states that have taken […]

Chicago Alley Initiative Shows How to Make Streets Greener

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Chicago’s Department of Transportation started the Green Alleys Program to use the city’s many alleyways to conserve natural resources and improve the environment. Although New York City doesn’t have too many alleys, the beautifully-designed, 47-page Green Alleys Program booklet (PDF) offers several techniques that could still be useful in making New York City streets perform […]