Seattle.BloggersPub

A couple of weeks ago I was in Vancouver, BC at a conference where it seemed like everyone was talking about a new book called Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change.

Reviewing dozens of empirical studies, the book’s central argument is that urban form is inextricably linked to climate. Low density sprawl has been a principal contributor to North American climate emissisons. And by the same token, smart compact development — the kind that fosters less driving — is essential to curbing climate change.

From the executive summary:

…if sprawling development continues to fuel growth in driving, the projected 59 percent increase in the total miles driven between 2005 and 2030 will overwhelm expected gains from vehicle efficiency and low-carbon fuels. Even if the most stringent fuel-efficiency proposals under consideration are enacted, notes co-author Steve Winkelman, “vehicle emissions still would be 40 percent above 1990 levels in 2030 – entirely off-track from reductions of 60-80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 required for climate protection.“

This is exactly right. Transportation emissions, whch are mostly (but not entirely) auto-based, account for over half of the Northwest’s climate emissions from fossil fuels. Under any realistic climate program, it is imperative that we reduce emissions from transportation. But even the rosiest assumptions about fuel efficiency and biofuels won’t get us there: we’ll need to reduce driving. The best way — and maybe the only meaningful way — is to invest now in climate-friendly urban form. Now, because the neighborhoods we build today will be with us for many decades. They will create the conditions of possibility — or impossibility — of reducing our transportation emissions.

I suppose I should mention that I haven’t, you know, actually read the book yet. I’m just passing it along to the many smart readers of this blog who like to stay informed about these issues. But I do know some of the contributing authors, and I can vouch for their smarts. The full text is available here, as a big pdf.

I saw two very entertaining football videos today, the first sent to me by my friend Mike:

And the second via Seattlest:

Gotta love football.

I saw this post this morning and thought it was worth sharing. I’m not familiar with the InfoSys blogs and it doesn’t seem like they get a lot of comments but I liked that this article talked a bit about RIAs in the enterprise (and the blocks there) as well as the reasons why it’s […]

TeamDirection is very pleased to have inked a partnership agreement with Bamboo Solutions. We provide desktop connectivity to SharePoint. Bamboo offers a wealth of web parts to enhance your SharePoint experience.We will soon be making ‘Project Share fo…

We’ve had a huge response to the release of our boffo customization of SharePoint Task Lists. Our accountant had some work to do last week! Expect to see a few TeamDirection IntelliGantt ads to start popping up here and there– all very tasteful and in…

Just got settled into my hotel in Tokyo and I’m about to go grab some food to eat before sitting down to some hard core email and feeds. I’m here for MAX Tokyo which should be a ton of fun and it’s also my first trip to Tokyo so I’m looking forward to that part […]

The reality is that ?average people? don?t create a lot of content–at least not the commercially viable kind. True.

I love this. It jives with so much I’ve been thinking about lately, while at the same time gives me loads of new ideas.

In 1998, shortly after Sightline (then, Northwest Environment Watch) published Tax Shift (pdf), Gordon Campbell, then BC’s opposition leader, invited me for a sit-down to discuss the book. He had read it and said he loved it. At the time, the New Democratic BC government was gearing up to do a pilot tax shift, inspired by the book. It was also about to be routed in provincial elections, to be replaced by Campbell’s Liberals.

Campbell said, “In our first term, we’re not going to shift taxes. We’re going to lower them. But in our second term, we might.” I didn’t put much stock in his words.

Maybe I should have.

Today’s Globe and Mail reports that Campbell’s Finance Minister Carole Taylor is seriously considering introducing North America’s first real carbon tax, paired with reduced income taxes.  She calls it a “tax shift.”

Imagine that.