DailyCancun: A Mayor Breakthrough!

by citisven

This week in Cancun, governments and NGOs from around the world are taking another shot at solving the climate crisis after last year's highly anticipated VIP-laden COP 15 conference in Copenhagen that created a big bubbly buzz and ended in a long contemplative sigh of nothingness.

While much of the approach to the Big Kahuna in Cancuna is still centered around cryptic diplomat speak that tries to accommodate everybody and pleases nobody, the one question that the indefatigable ecocity advocate Richard Register has been asking for over 35 years — Why on earth aren't they talking about cities??? —

seems to finally have been heard:

After cities were shut out at COP15, Marcelo Ebrard, Mayor of Mexico City and Chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, has been invited to speak at a high level panel at COP16.

HALLELUJAH!

continued at Daily Kos....

What on Earth is an Ecocity?

by citisven

Some of you may be familiar with my diaries about ecocities. From Venice and Istanbul to West Oakland, I've written about urban areas within an ecocity context, and I'm about to launch another series about places I've visited or studied recently.

While it's fun to showcase elements of cities considered to be in balance with the web of life, it's equally important that there be a metric with which to measure a city's "econess." Not only to avoid greenwashing, but to make sure that well-intentioned city planners', architects' and residents' efforts are channeled toward the greatest possible ecological good.

Enter International Ecocity Standards. Please follow me below the fold for an overview of this new and exciting project that I think will revolutionize city design the way the LEED® rating system revolutionized building design.      

continued at Daily Kos...

Bikes in Istanbul?

by citisven

A while ago I wrote about a bicycle tour I took as part of the Ecocity World Summit last December in Istanbul. It was organized by Bisikletliler, the Istanbul and Turkish Cyclist Association, and afterward I got to speak to their founder and captain, Murat Suyabatmaz, about the challenges and opportunities of bringing bicycle infrastructure and culture to a rapidly growing megalopolis of currently 15 million.

Parts of the interview are integrated in a piece entitled Istanbul and Bicycling, Like Dark Bread It's Good For Everyone I just posted yesterday on sfgate.com, but I thought our talk was inspiring and educating enough to post it here in its entirety.

continued at Daily Kos...

EcoAdvocates: Wind Farms, Cities, & Urgent Action on Conflict Minerals and Burning Sea Turtles

by citisven

While no one technology or source of energy can or should claim to be the exclusive savior in our quest to find alternatives to fossil fuels, offshore wind power has moved beyond symbolic feelgood status and become one of the most promising contenders to be an economically viable source of energy.

Aside from the obvious environmental benefit that a malfunctioning turbine or platform doesn't annihilate entire ecosystems, windmill technology has come a long way since its early days. You know it's not just pretty talk when energy companies are investing billions in offshore wind parks. That's exactly what's happening in the North Sea, where major international power companies are currently staking out the future of Europe's energy supply off the coasts of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain.  

continued at Daily Kos....