Mother Nature News celebrated the renewable energy efforts of Austin, TX, the recycling of San Francisco, the green roofs of Chicago, and the bikeways of Portland, OR. But they left our fair city of New York out of their list of top 10 green US cities. Now it’s up to all of us in NYC to work hard to get our green mojo back. (more…)
Archive for the ‘bicycles’ Category
MNN: “NYC not a top 10 green city”
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009US bike sales higher than car sales in 2009
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
2006 Chapel Hill/Carrboro Blue Bikes Launch
During the first quarter of 2009, more bicycles were sold in the US than cars and trucks. While the Great Recession is hurting bike sales, they didn’t fall as fast as automobiles. Over 2.55 million bicycle purchases were made, compared to less than 2.4 million cars and trucks that left (more…)
Giving thanks and support to greenways
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
Photo by David Tulloch
Yesterday was such a lovely experience – thanks to the Hudson River Greenway. People have worked hard over the decades to establish safe paths for pedestrians and other non-motorized transportation. And they succeeded in fostering for an amazing experience for bicyclists to enjoy the Hudson River and its cool breeze – not having to worry about dangerous vehicles that fill the streets of New York. I explored (more…)
Inaugural Rickshaws
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
I’m back. These past few days have been an amazing step for our country. My friend John David and I gave scores of bicycle rickshaw rides to many of the millions of people celebrating our nation’s first African-American President. We helped the elderly, the injured, and the lost as well as young revelers who wanted to enjoy the novelty. There’s even a Huffington Post article on our green job endeavor this past weekend. (more…)
Higher Ed Going Climate Neutral
Monday, December 1st, 2008
The recession is not preventing progress at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (ACUPCC) and their effort to get our country’s campuses climate neutral. The American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment just passed 600 partner institutions. New signatory institutions include Colgate University of upstate New York and Caldwell Community College in my native state of North Carolina. Of course, signing the commitment is only step one of a decades-long process to achieve climate neutrality. More difficult steps remain for many signatories — from (more…)
Deep US recession could send oil prices free-falling
Friday, October 10th, 2008The continued fall in the price of oil due to stock market crashes worldwide leads most analysts to wonder how far down it can go? To understand the depths of oil’s potential price we have to first understand the potential imbalance of demand and supply that can send prices lower than $80 per barrel. This blog will focus on the demand side and probe US demand specifically.
At ~20 million barrels per day (Mbd), the United States consumes more than double the amount of the world’s #2 consumer, China (~8.3 Mbd). US consumption equals almost 24% of world consumption. Thus, fluctuations in US demand have (more…)
Spirit of Cooperation essential to tackle climate and energy challenges
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008Today was a great day, and a microcosm of how I think we can succeed in our mitigation of climate change and energy price increases. The exciting events took place in the Triangle area of my home state of North Carolina, and showed that even for-profit private companies can aim for the greater good at times. I met with fellow part-owners in Greenway Transit, LLC, a company dedicated to bringing sustainable transportation options like pedicabs and biofuel rides to the communities of Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Durham. We then (more…)
Biking through Manhattan, as Russian and Mexican oil gets harder to come by
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Today was my first full day in Manhattan. After getting an internet and phone system installed in the apartment, I rolled down 80 blocks of this bustling City for a meeting. Glad to be sporting a helmet, this ride was no easy stroll. Unlike some previous cycling in Princeton, New Jersey, and Chapel Hill/Carrboro, North Carolina — Manhattan cycling demands full focus to arrive at your destination unscathed by eager taxi drivers and hurrying pedestrians. It made a real difference when I had a bike lane that gave me some sense of security, with the best part of the trip being the ride through Central Park’s bikeway on my way back. The cool thing was my meeting was with (more…)
IEA Confirms non-OPEC Production Peak Imminent
Monday, July 21st, 2008Ever since July 2007, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has taken the concern of people like me a lot more seriously. A mix of geologists and energy observers have been worried about a potential oil supply future where production hits a plateau and even declines by the late 2010s. IEA calls for demand reduction and supply investment have gotten louder and louder as the months pass by. And today, IEA chief economist acknowledged that we are within two years of the peak in production of non-OPEC conventional oil. This means (more…)
Learning from Paris: Making City Bicycling Convenient
Sunday, July 13th, 2008Today’s New York Times has a great story on the Parisian bike share program, Velib, which just completed its first year in operation. In just twelve months, the program has increased bicycle use 25% (~120,000 rides per day) without costing the city a penny. An advertising firm has contributed the bicycles and agreed to maintain the 20,000 bikes for exclusive rights to ~1,600 billboards. As I move into New York City next week, I am eager to see if such a plan could work in the Big Apple — and many other cities around (more…)