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  • Baoxing Match

    Fast-developing China to push for $200 billion energy-efficiency investment China will try to nudge its burgeoning economy in a green direction by prompting building owners to spend some $200 billion by 2020 on energy efficiency for apartments and office buildings, Vice Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing announced yesterday. Construction makes up 27 percent (and rising) […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • An urban denizen beseeches nature writers to focus on cities for a change

    A plea to nature writers: Come write about Los Angeles. To all the young aspiring Thoreaus out there: Head to this megalopolis in droves, as if to Mecca. Chicago is also good. New York. Pittsburgh. Atlanta. Reno. Providence. Houston. Indianapolis. Why does the venerable American literary genre of nature writing continue to ignore cities? Sure, […]

    Jenny Price Cities

  • Ready Orleans Not

    Big Easy residents move back into homes that remain in danger’s path While officials continue to debate the best way to rebuild New Orleans, those who lived there just want to go home. But as residents slowly but surely return, many are reinhabiting houses that may not stand up to severe weather and returning to […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • A pedal-tastic roundup

    On a personal new year's note, I can't help but mention the only-months-old but hopelessly addictive new habit I know I'll be nursing throughout the year: mountain biking at night.

    No idea why I only started doing this recently, and in the winter no less, but there you go. And since I splurged on a set of burly studded mountain-bike tires that should be arriving any day now, snow and ice riding on both trail and street at all hours are up next. That, and on snowmobile trails.

    Any others out there who want to join the ranks of proud all-weather winter cyclists, check out this excellent website. And for night riders on road or trail, I can't say enough good things about NiteRider Trail Rat headlights. For best results, get at least one extra battery (I have three extras) and maybe a fast recharger. Combine with a $30 LED headlamp for the best night cycling around.

    Now for the news:

    Todd Hymas Samkara Cities

  • There’s Always the Phone

    Norway launches carbon-offset program for officials flying abroad World leaders like to kick off the year with stirring energy-related pronouncements (see: “addicted to oil”). But this New Year’s Day, in a speech peppered with grand statements, Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg made a concrete pledge: the country will begin buying credits to offset the greenhouse-gas […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Warning: techno-engineering speak ahead

    hydrogenAmory Lovins is rightfully admired by environmentalists. But nobody is right all the time, and the hydrogen path is one of his few mistakes. He summarizes his argument for hydrogen in Twenty Hydrogen Myths (PDF). More extensive discussion is embedded in his book Winning the Oil Endgame (book-length PDF).

    His basic proposal:

    Gar Lipow Cities

  • This Rocks Our Sox Off

    Boston will require new large buildings to meet green building standards Hooray, Boston: The city is soon expected to require that all new construction projects of 50,000 square feet or more meet green building standards. Projects will be required to follow at least 26 of about 70 suggestions for green design and construction, similar to […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • How a grassroots biodiesel group can show the way for others

    The way that Rob Del Bueno backed into the world of biofuel almost by accident, as told in the article “Small Potatoes,” is emblematic of the way most folks get engaged in grassroots biofuel development. It starts with a desire to use a renewable fuel to power your life long before a GMO-happy megacorporation was […]

    Erik Hoffner Cities

  • Mileage in Mirror Is Smaller Than It Appears

    U.S. EPA revises vehicle mileage formula for 2008 and beyond Wondering why your Escalade gets eight miles to the gallon, not the 11 that was advertised? U.S. EPA to the rescue! In a move reflecting “real-world numbers,” the agency has revised the way it crunches mileage numbers for the first time since 1984. The new […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Using grease and other goodies, small biodiesel producers are making a big difference

    If you live in a city of any size, you’ve likely seen them out there: boxy little ’80s-era foreign cars, bumpers adorned with pro-ecology and anti-war slogans, and references to “grease.” Even the fumes they emit may smell different: literally like French fries, in some cases; like generic used vegetable oil in others. Foh sizzle […]

    Emily Gertz Cities