"China's Grand Plans for Eco-Cities Now Lie Abandoned"

"The much-touted projects have largely been scrapped."

Weiss alum Andy Sharma wins Impact Award

Congratulations to Weiss alum Andy Sharma for his 2009 Impact Award (scroll down ~1/5 of the page or search on "Sharma")

Van Jones on Green Jobs

The annual meeting for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) was held in Raleigh, NC in November. UNC Chapel Hill is one of almost 900 members of AASHE. The key note speaker for this year's conference was Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. His book was the first environmental book by an African American to reach the New York Times Best Seller List. Here is his speech:

interviewing Weiss associates

Last meeting we discussed datasources on which we could draw for the Weiss documentation project. Obviously the primary source would be interviews of the Weisses themselves and plans for that are already underway. But another set of sources which might be easy for us to tap, and which also might make for relatively discrete and parallel tasks, is interviews with their associates. I've got leads on 11 current UNC faculty who worked with the Weisses earlier in their careers; 3 of them have pretty much volunteered to be interviewed.

Urban Livability

I appreciate the post by Kelly on "what is urban livability." When thinking about this fellowship and Charles and Shirley Weiss, I think the one thing I may add--that maybe moves away from "material culture" that Kelly mentioned--is "roses," as in "give me bread, but give me roses, too." This is a famous phrase in labor history that illuminates how livability is not just material stuff, but intellectual stimulation. I believe that one part of urban livability, like the Weisses have suggested, is the opportunity to participate in community, through attending school, borrowing books from a library, visiting museums, and having access to, for example, the opera. In sum, I think that one aspect of urban livability is culture and the access to cultural institutions.

Wind Power and America's Grid

I recently saw several presentations on the use of wind power in the United States, and more specifically the locations where it is most viable. It is very interesting to see the areas of the country most available to wind power when you put that against our country's current power grid. Some of the areas with the most potential for wind energy production are minimally connected to the national grid.

Although a great alternative to the way we have been doing electrical energy, at the cost of around $1.5 million per turbine, and the added costs of connecting these areas to the national grid in a way possible to transport electricity long distances, wind power becomes more and more expensive. Several national political factors and world energy market factors lead me to believe we will make serious investments into this technology and infrastructure improvements, but to do so will cost billions of dollars.

I am interested in the technology and idea, but disheartened by the lack of resources we have as a nation to pay for this out of pocket. If I think of it as one huge capital improvement project, it makes me feel less bad though.

For more information please check out Wind Powering America.

"What do you mean by Urban Livability?"

In a conversation with a classmate about the Weiss fellowship, I once again stumbled in explaining urban livability and thought I would attempt to give it another try, hopefully with help from everyone. It seems to me that some grand theory or definition of urban livability could never truly exist, since it is or I believe should be historically, culturally and individually situated within the urban space. However, understanding that we must start somewhere, basic access to health, nutrition, shelter and sanitation programs would be essential to sustaining life in the urban setting. Of course these"essentials" reflect my research interest and can be demonstrated through material culture, so please feel free to add your "essentials" to the list or comment on mine.

Natural Gas Hybrid Vehicles

This past Friday, November 7, I had the opportunity to attend the Public Administration Conference held at the School of Government. One of our presenters represented the American Public Gas Association. During his presentation, I was fortunate enough to learn about the amount of natural gas reserves in and around the United States, as well as methane hydrates, or frozen methane.

Although not the main point of the presentation, our presenter stated that he viewed natural gas the bridge between fossil and renewable fuels. I don't know if I am comfortable with that statement, but as the United States begins formulating a new and long-term energy policy (I assume), I am interested to see what other experts and individuals think are the bridges to renewable energy sources, and just how long of a bridge will we build out of present fossil fuels.

I have included links to an article on methane hydrates, the American Public Gas Association, and the Public Administration Conference. I would enjoy any feedback or discussion on this topic.

Energy Talk

Hi all, I thought this might be of interest to those interested in sustainable energy:

The Energy Crisis - How did we get here and where do we go?

When Wed, Nov 19, 4p – 5:30pm

Where: Murphey Hall 116, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC (map)

Description: The election results are now in, and we are back to the daunting questions of policy that the new president will face: among them, the energy crisis and the future of the economy in the face of world energy supply and demand. We invite you therefore to a guest lecture and discussion on this issue on November 19 with a particularly knowledgeable speaker. Please save the date, and pass the word to others! (see poster attached) "The Energy Crisis - How did we get here and where do we go?" J. Robinson West Wednesday, November 19, 2008 4:00-5:30 p.m. Murphey Hall 116 Mr. West is founding president of PFC Energy, a global energy consulting firm, and chair of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, as well as a former Assistant Secretary of the Interior and UNC alum. His talk is sponsored by the Institute for the Environment, the Department of Public Policy, the Public Policy Majors Union, and The Roosevelt Institution.

MyFarm: distributed urban farming

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-11-02-myfarm_N.htm
> For time-starved residents, MyFarm is a way to get
> organic produce grown steps from their kitchen without
> having to touch a trowel. For yardless neighbors, it
> lets them effectively buy a share of their neighbors'
> gardens.

> "It's turning grass into productive landscape, and it's
> not only feeding the people who own the grass, but
> feeding other people who want locally raised organic
> food,"