planted city

From Sustainable Business:

South Korea passed legislation to begin a national cap-and-trade program with a near unanimous vote of 148-0, with three abstentions. 

The fourth largest economy in Asia, South Korea is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions among industrialized countries, doubling since 1990. It is the 8th biggest source of GHG emissions in the world and has a national target of cutting them 30% by 2020.

POSCO, the world’s third largest steelmaker, and Samsung Electronics, the largest electronics manufacturer, are among South Korea’s biggest polluters.

Emissions trading is scheduled to begin in Korea in 2015, the same year as those in Australia and China. New Zealand started emissions trading in 2009, and the EU’s went into effect in 2005. South Africa has plans for a program. In the US, the northeastern states have a cap-and-trade program, California’s begins in 2013. 

In April, both Mexico and Peru passed national climate change legislation.

This opens the possibility of linking country cap-and-trade programs - allowing participants to trade regionallly and eventually worldwide - which would raise the value of carbon markets substantially.

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Energy Korea)

A few paragraphs from the CityFix article, ‘User Preference Key to Implementing Sustainable Transportation’, highlighting some important lessons for improving the walkability and bikeability of cities. The article profiles a new report, ‘Integration of Biking and Walking Infrastructure into Urban Communities’, which “highlights best practices and identifies program characteristics associated with high levels of non-motorized travel.” You can check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: TheCityFix)

From USA Today:

The green economy lost fewer jobs than did the overall economy during the height of the United States’ recent recession, finds a study out today on California’s experiences.

The state’s overall economy lost 7% of jobs from January 2009 to January 2010 while its “core green economy” lost 3%, according to the study released by San Francisco-based Next 10, a non-partisan research group focused on innovation. The time period did not cover the collapse of California-based solar manufacturer Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2011 after receiving a half-billion federal loan guarantee.

Longer term, from 1995-2010, the study found that job growth in the wider economy grew 12% but jumped 53% in businesses devoted to clean energy, recycling, reusing materials, conserving natural resources and reducing pollution.

Check out the rest of the article here and full report here. You might also want to check out Fast Company’s profile of the ‘10 Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade’.

(Graphic credits: Next 10 via Grist; Fast Company)

From Atlantic Cities:

New research from Southern California has found that residents of neighborhoods with a central core of shops and services – a pattern typically found in older, traditional communities – walk nearly three times more often than do residents of neighborhoods whose nearest shops and services lie along a major arterial roadway, a pattern typically found in newer suburban development.  Residents of traditionally styled and centered neighborhoods also drive less than their counterparts residing in the newer pattern.

This is true even when the data are controlled for individual and household economic and demographic characteristics.

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Notably, the residents of the centered neighborhoods were found to take shorter trips, suggesting that walkable proximity – both closeness and a safe, direct walking route – to shops and services is also important. It may not do much to encourage walking, for example, if the dry cleaner’s is a quarter mile away as the crow flies but you have to travel two or three times that far navigating busy roads around the subdivision to get there.

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Calgary Herald)

From The Montreal Gazette:

Environment Minister Pierre Arcand announced the official adoption of Quebec’s cap-and-trade system to fight climate change Thursday – three days after what Arcand called the federal government’s “utterly regrettable” announcement that Canada will withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.

Arcand said if industrialized countries abandon Kyoto – the lone legally binding international agreement on greenhouse gas reduction – it becomes all the more crucial for states and provinces to take legislative action to reduce emissions quickly.

Arcand said the cap-and-trade system will be good not just for the climate, but for the economy.

“With the adoption of this legislation, Quebec is positioning itself at the starting line, beside California,” he told a news conference Thursday at Montreal’s Biosphere.

“We are participating in the emergence of an economic tool that will transform one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century into a real trampoline toward a green, prosperous and sustainable economy.”

States and provinces, through endeavours like the Western Climate Initiative, are acting independently to create a linked North American market for carbon credits, which aim to reduce emissions, encourage investment in clean energy technologies, create green jobs and improve public health.

California became the first state to adopt a cap-and-trade program in October, and like Quebec’s system, it comes into full effect in January 2013.

Check out the rest of the article here. 

(Photo credit: Globe & Mail)

(Photo credit: National Geographic)

From Fast Company:

Many consumer goods companies have environmental initiatives. Think of Dell’s e-waste recycling program, for example. Or P&G’s commitment to 100 percent renewable energy. Or the Chevy Volt, even. 

But, as laudable as these are, you might argue that they are secondary to a larger problem. All these companies still want us to buy more products. If a consumer goods company truly wanted to be sustainable, they might suggest that we consume a little less, or at least price their goods at a cost that reflects their true impact. 

Which is a crazy idea, of course. What company would ask us to consume less of their things, and make their stuff deliberately more expensive? 

Patagonia, for one. The Californian apparel company last month launched an initiative encouraging their customers to reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle their clothing and equipment. Their ad even features the line: “Reduce what you buy,” in bold caps, much like something out of an anti-capitalism rally. 

“We realized that what was really needed was a mutual responsibility between company and customer for the full lifecycle of stuff,” Rick Ridgeway, Patagonia’s environment VP. “So we would try to reduce the amount of stuff that people buy, fixing products if they were broken, and asking people to clean out their garages and closets, so that if you have clothes you are no longer using, you put them back into circulation.”

As part of its Common Threads scheme, Patagonia offers to repair its clothes (for a “reasonable” fee) on a 10-day turnaround. It also will help you sell its clothes via an eBay channel or at Patagonia.com. 

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Specifically, Ridgeway points to analysis showing that humanity currently uses natural resources 1.4 times the rate at which the earth can restore them.

“The main thing is that we’re trying to get people to wake up, and we have a lot of loyal customers who appreciate our willingness to initiate dialogue like this,” he says.

“We want to challenge other businesses too. The fundamental assumption that we can continue on a growth economy is flawed in the long term. We need to start talking about what we are going to do about it.”

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“We don’t want to criticize people. We want to ask them to start thinking about their business practices and create a dialogue. All apparel companies have to ask where they are going to be in five, 10, 20 years’ time, when the natural resources of this planet are in increasingly critical condition.”

Check out the rest of the article here. The story is also covered over at Time Magazine.

(Image credit: Ecouterre)

Infographic: ‘Power Consumption Facts for the US’

(Source: PowerSuperSite via Treehugger)

Timothy Beatley on ‘Biophilic Cities’

From the California Academy of Sciences via Fora TV:

This event is the first part of a two-part discussion [Resilient Cities: Creating a Livable World] featuring Timothy Beatley, professor of sustainable communities at the University of Virginia, along with Dean Macris, former director of city planning for San Francisco, and Cathy Simon, design principal at Perkins+Will. Presented in partnership with Island Press.

From the Globe & Mail:

As the carbon tax turned three on Canada Day, early results on emissions data and economic growth suggest B.C. [British Columbia]’s experiment with one of the world’s first carbon levies has been a success. Research by Stewart Elgie, an economist and professor of law at the University of Ottawa, found that B.C.’s per-capita fuel usage had fallen more than 4 per cent compared with the rest of Canada and its economy, measured by gross domestic product, hasn’t been hurt, keeping with Canada as a whole.

The tax applies to about three-quarters of the province’s emissions, everything from gasoline purchased by consumers and business, to natural gas and coal burned to power industrial facilities. The intent is to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions that contribute to global warming. B.C. wants to cut greenhouse gases by a third from 2007 levels by 2020. Ottawa has set a goal of a one-sixth cut by 2020 from 2005 levels.

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The real challenges lay ahead. The tax has escalated each year and in 2012 – after there are no planned increase – the charge on a litre of gasoline will be 6.7 cents. Economists consider this level still too minor to encourage widespread and significant emissions reductions. Environmental think tank Pembina Institute has research that suggest a carbon tax of near 50 cents a litre would be needed by 2020 to achieve emission reduction goals.

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Mark Jaccard, an economist at Simon Fraser University, praises the carbon tax as one of the world’s best climate change policies but said no single measure is the right answer. He said research is showing that the stiff regulation in California for fuel efficiency and clean-electricity generation may be the keys to reducing emissions.

The real hurdle, he said, is selling the policies to the public. “People will tell politicians they want to save the planet but won’t pay more for gasoline,” Prof. Jaccard said. “The policy making is extremely difficult.”

Check out the rest of the article here. The Economist’s ‘Greenery in Canada: We have a winner’ also takes a look at the good, bad and otherwise of BC’s carbon tax.

(Photo credit: Vancouver Sun)