Unlike the usual blog post here, I just want to share a couple of links to some good articles from a couple Ivy League alumni magazines. The first is a great story on the East Coast Greenway – with a special focus on the New England route – in the Harvard Alumni Magazine entitled, Eisenhower 2.0.
The second is (more…)
TIGER grant to create unified regional trail system in Pennsylvania & New Jersey
Pennsylvania/New Jersey, February 18, 2010 – The East Coast Greenway (ECG) is about to get safer and more accessible throughout the Philadelphia region thanks to significant support from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). On Wednesday, $23 million was awarded to complete numerous sections of the ECG through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants (more…)
by Dennis Markatos-Soriano
As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to negotiate international strategy to lower global greenhouse emissions, I’d like to share a vision for part of the solution. Greenways and other improvements in bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure can make make a huge impact lowering emissions in the coming decade. Some economists and politicians who drag their feet regarding climate action complain that lowering emissions could come with a difficult price tag. But at least half of Obama’s 2020 goal can be achieved alongside large savings if we seize the opportunity to increase our use of renewable (more…)
ECGA-US DOT Partnership Begins (From left: US DOT Assistant Secretary for Policy Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary John Porcari, ECGA Mid-Atlantic Trail Coordinator Mike Oliva, and Executive Director Dennis Markatos-Soriano - photo by Jack Wells)
This week, our East Coast Greenway began to move from a solely grassroots initiative to a project also backed by the most important transportation institution in the country. We have great relationships with many of the state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), but achieving federal partnership interest will effect a huge leap in our ability to make our route safe and accessible to all.
It all started last week when (more…)
Bicyclists ready for a greenway 
Thank you for reading the Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) blogs and being involved in our initiatives over the past 13 months! The experience I gained working on SET efforts has been essential for me as I stayed abreast of recent changes in our energy system and their effects on climate change. After ~35,000 visits, more than 250 blogs, and scores of endorsements for our campaigns – I have found an amazing opportunity that I can’t pass up. I will be the next (more…)
I got a call a few weeks ago from my good friend and former college roommate, Pablo Torres from Durham, NC. He said he and his girlfriend, Gabrielle Trapenberg, were planning to ride their bicycles from New York City to DC (a 300-mile journey) as part of the 2009 Climate Ride! Covering the distance over just five days, they will ride with hundreds of others to raise public awareness and put pressure on federal lawmakers to act to address climate change.
The Climate Ride initiative started (more…)
I’ve been sharing the slow reduction of US oil output as oil drilling counts fall during the last few months. Now production has finally fallen below last year’s level. While petroleum fuel inventories remain very high, lower output should tighten them in the months ahead. Even so, I expect oil output to be higher than 2008 on average due to the (more…)
A new report just came out related to my recent blog on the need for more active transportation in America. It does a great job giving some historical context for federal surface transportation funding over the last two decades and shares a path forward based largely on (more…)
Most of the time we think of NYC innovating policy and then sharing it with the local suburbs and beyond. But this summer, New York City’s suburb of New Rochelle has passed a groundbreaking policy for the region that will hopefully make its way to NYC. The policy helps New Rochelle and Westchester County take the lead toward becoming a (more…)
Photo by David Tulloch
Unfortunate news just came out of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded report: Americans are losing the battle against obesity. This problem of growing obesity is related to many of our country’s greatest challenges. Luckily for us, there is a solution that can tackle obesity as well as many related difficulties simultaneously. (more…)