Climate Cities
All Stories
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Take This Job and SUV It
Golden State senators will no longer be allowed to use SUVs to tool around their districts, if the president pro tem of the California senate gets his way. Most lawmakers in California lease their vehicles at the state’s expense; now, Sen. John Burton (D) wants to ban the lease of SUVs to protect the environment […]
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Advice on driving vs. flying
Hi Umbra, I’m wondering if you have any numbers comparing the fuel efficiency of flying versus driving the average car for the same distance. Also, how does carbon dioxide production compare for the same trip? SteveLoomis, Calif. Dearest Steve, Flight blight? Here’s what I can find so far, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Institute in […]
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The rebuilt World Trade Center complex could be a model of sustainable building
Early one morning last month, over fresh-squeezed orange juice and silver platters of breakfast treats, a coterie of New York’s leading architects, developers, politicians, and environmentalists convened in a chandeliered room at the Embassy Suites hotel in lower Manhattan for a conference entitled “Greening Our Downtown.” The keynote speaker was Gov. George Pataki (R), who […]
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Swiss Miss
In a closely watched referendum, Swiss citizens voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to keep nuclear power going strong in the country. Although Switzerland has abundant sources of hydroelectric power, voters rejected two initiatives on the ballot that would have phased out the nation’s five nuclear power plants over the coming decades. Philippe de Rougemont, representative for […]
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The Food Less Traveled
A fledgling “buy local” movement is inspiring a growing number of Americans to get more of their food from local sources and resist an increasingly globalized agriculture industry. Today produce travels an average of 1,500 to 2,500 miles to reach Americans’ plates, 25 percent farther than in 1980. Grapes, for example, make an average trek […]
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Orange You Glad?
Orange County, Calif., is generally associated with urban sprawl, not magnificent parklands — but a massive new land deal could help change that. The 4,738-acre “County Great Park” will be bigger than New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park put together, and will include riparian corridors, botanical gardens, sports and educational facilities, […]
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The Progress of Engines
Bulldozers, tractors, irrigation equipment, and other diesel-powered off-road machines will be subject to stricter emissions standards under a new plan announced yesterday by the U.S. EPA. The plan calls for cutting emissions by up to 95 percent, a move that would bring the standards for off-road vehicles in line with those for cars and trucks […]
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Road to Nowhere
To the dismay of environmentalists, state and local officials in Utah will be able to claim the rights to thousands of miles of dirt roads on federal lands, under the terms of an agreement announced yesterday by Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Utah Gov. Mark Leavitt (R). Leavitt and Norton said the deal would prevent […]
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Pampas and Circumstances
The massive economic crisis in Argentina has had an unexpected silver lining for the environment: It has led to a surge in the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) in cars, a cleaner fuel than either diesel or gasoline. Argentina is home to the third-largest natural-gas reserves in Latin America and the world’s largest fleet […]
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Low Prestige
More than four months after the Prestige oil tanker sank off the coast of Spain, a new plan is underway for permanently cleaning up what proved to be the worst environmental disaster in the nation’s history. About half of the ship’s load of 77,000 tons of fuel oil has already leaked out and devastated the […]
