First Survey of New Yorkers and Climate Change Finds Majority Worried about Impacts
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
A new survey of New Yorkers finds that most are convinced global warming is happening now and more should be done by key leaders to help New York City deal with climate change. The survey is the first-ever study of New Yorkers’ opinions about global warming and was designed and funded by researchers at Columbia and Yale Universities, and led by the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia. The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research International, is based on English and Spanish telephone interviews with a representative sample of 1,000 adults living in New York City’s five boroughs. The interviews took place from November 28 to December 16, 2007. The survey’s key findings include:
- A large majority of New Yorkers are convinced that global warming is happening (78%), and of that number, 82 percent believe that global warming is caused mainly by human activities or caused equally by humans and natural changes.
- A majority of New Yorkers (60%) say they are personally worried about global warming. Further, 22 percent believe that global warming is already having dangerous impacts on the city while an additional 30 percent believe dangerous impacts are imminent within the next 10 years.
- Large majorities of New Yorkers believe that global warming will cause more heat waves (85%); energy blackouts (79%); worse storms, hurricanes and tornadoes (79%); increased rates of disease (72%); and flooding of subways, tunnels and airports (70%).
- Finally, a majority (69%) say it is likely that parts of New York City will need to be abandoned due to rising sea levels over the next 50 years
The complete summary and executive summary can be viewed here.
Posted in Global Warming, New York City | Permalink
Futurefarmers + Solar One Collaboration Mentioned in NY Metro
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
Modern Victory Gardens may ease urban hunger
by amy zimmer / metro new york
FEB 12, 2008
UNION SQUARE. To Amy Franceschini, the empty space in front of the Gandhi statue here could be an urban garden. The windows on buildings could have boxes for herbs and tomatoes. The roofs could have raised beds.
Franceschini, founder of the San Francisco-based design collective Futurefarmers, has convinced her city to plant crops in front of its City Hall as part of a pilot program to turn yards, balconies and unused land into food production areas. [...]
Franceschini plans to document their gardens online and help other cities adopt the program. She’s been contacted by several New York groups, she said, including Grow Greenpoint.com, the Conflux festival and Solar One.
“We want our audience to think about the potential for change through participation, but also about the messy politics of implementation”… full article
more on victory gardens: here
Posted in Art, Citysol, Native Plants, New York City, S1 in the News | Permalink
Green Renter: Greening NYC’s Transportation System - with Dani Simons, NYC Department of Transportation
Sunday, February 10th, 2008| February 25, 2008 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Posted in New York City, Solar One Events, Transportation | Permalink
Green Renter: Infrastructure and Environmental Health Risks in the South Bronx: A Review of the South Bronx Health and Policy Study With Dr. Carlos Restrepo, New York University
Sunday, February 10th, 2008| February 18, 2008 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Posted in New York City, Pollution, Solar One Events, Sustainability, Waste | Permalink
Newsflash: NY State Solar Incentives Not Right for NYC
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
NYTimes author Jim Dwyer wrote an article (also there is an entertaining video) about his experience getting solar panels installed on his Washington Heights co-op building. After incentives, low-financing, and a very competitive bid from AltPower, he says they will roughly break even throughout the life of the loan and be in the black for the remainder of the life of the panels, which are guaranteed to last for at minimum 25 years.
But the real juice to his story comes from his retelling of uncooperative incentive policies, complicated regulations, and unnecessary ConEd needs. Solar could be a real boon for NYC because of our huge demand and very restricted supply (all of our blackouts are because of high demand and not enough electrons flowing through the wires). The problem is that obviously (except maybe to Albany) incentives that are appropriate for single-family suburban homes are not for the big city.
This is why we started our I Heart PV program, to get grassroots support for proper solar incentives for NYC. Head over there to read all the great arguements and what you can do to help.
Posted in Energy, New York City, Politics | Permalink
Looking for a Job? Try Green.
Friday, January 18th, 2008
It would be difficult to think of one sector with more growth prospects than services, products, and construction in the environmental sector. 80% of the carbon dioxide emissions from NYC is the result of building use. The retrofitting of hundreds of thousands of buildings to use less resources is a good financial investment–and can’t be outsourced. All kinds of products and services will be–and are–undergoing a redesign to focus more on resource consumption and environmental impact. This ranges everywhere from your brokerage firm to your dry cleaning to your contractor.
There was a recent summit in San Francisco called Advancing the New Energy Economy where attendees discussed advancing the long-term growth, financial stability, and job prospects of the new green economy. Read more in a Sustanablog post.
Posted in New York City, Products, Sustainability | Permalink
Preferential City Parking to be Limited by Bloomberg
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Friday that he was going to be limiting the permits that the city gives as perks to employees for free curbside parking. What started as underground pressure from blogs like Uncivil Servants–a not-so-friendly name for a blog that has photographed and documented hundreds of instances of government employees breaking the parking laws (they also photo delivery trucks, taxis, and other common offenders)–has put enough pressure on the city government to create a centralized tracking program for all permits issued, and an to curtail by approximately 20% the permits available. The city has no legal control of the permits issued by the state and fed, but will try to include them in the initiative.
Bloomberg is trying to implement a congestion charge for Lower Manhattan drivers, and initiatives like this will show the public he means it to be a fair policy.
Posted in New York City, Transportation | Permalink
New Video of Green Renter Lecture Up Online
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
For the past three years, our Green Renter lecture series has drawn New Yorkers from all over the five boroughs to Solar 1 to learn about green issues that confront urban dwellers, including programs on recycling, local food, urban planning and the redevelopment of New York Harbor’s native oyster population, among many others. Now, even if you weren’t able to attend in person, you can see the presentation and hear the lectures online! The first available Green Renter is the Sheridan Swap, a plan for transforming the Sheridan Expressway into green space, presented by the South Bronx Watershed Alliance. You can check it out here, and we encourage you to come back often as we’ll be adding more Green Renters very soon.
The next Green Renter will be held Tuesday, January 15 at 7:00pm. The topic is “NYC Greener Gadgets Conference Preview”; come see the fantastic new green electronic products that will be shown at the conference being held in NYC on February 1, and get tips on how to recycle your old cell phone and iPod.
Posted in Education, New York City, Recycling, Renewables, Solar One | Permalink
Gateway National Park Thinking About a Redesign
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
Gateway National Park… Ever been there? It’s one of the largest urban national parks, but a full half of New Yorkers don’t even know it’s there. It stretches around much of Queens and Brooklyn along the waterfront, as well as parts of Staten Island. Chronically underfunded, but culturally significant, Gateway is headed for a redesign. The National Parks Conservation Association is showcasing five of the competing design ideas and asking you to vote on them and submit comments. All the comments will then be given to the National Parks Service on January 31. Some of the designs have new ideas about water, some, new ideas about land. All take an advanced approach to materials used, native plants, and the usual.
Posted in Native Plants, New York City, Water | Permalink
NYC Taxis Go Hybrid
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
Say goodbye to the Ford Crown Victoria. The TLC announced today that it will definitely be increasing fuel efficiency standards for NYC taxicabs purchased after October 1, 2008 to 25 mpg, and then to 30 mpg for new cabs in fall 2009. To meet these standards, fleets will probably be buying hybrids, making NYC’s taxi fleet “the cleanest, greenest large city taxicab fleet in the world”, according to Matthew Daus, the TLC chairman. The NYT reported last May that replacing the 13,000 yellow cabs currently on the streets will have the same air-quality effect as eliminating 32,000 private vehicles from the road. Not bad.
Posted in New York City, Pollution, Transportation | Permalink
