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Archive for the ‘Smart Growth’ Category

Green Electricity and Transportation (GET) Smart

Friday, May 10th, 2013

POLICY MATTERS OHIO
Ohioans spend a large amount of money on energy. In 2010, we spent $45 billion, nearly 10 percent of our state’s gross domestic product. Nearly half of those energy dollars (or more than $20 billion) was spent to fuel cars, trucks, and buses, and nearly all of which left the state or country in order to import oil. Ohio can reduce its dependence on imported oil by promoting electric vehicles (EVs) and buses, as well as passenger and freight rail.

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Interactive Map: State Solar Jobs

Friday, April 26th, 2013

THE SOLAR FOUNDATION
Employment figures in the State Solar Jobs Map were generated using thousands of data points from a combination of high-quality sources, including The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census 2012, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s National Solar Database, and other sources. These numbers are believed to be the most credible and up-to-date state-level jobs numbers in existence.

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Enhancing Economic Opportunity Through Transit

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

RECONNECTING AMERICA
The Denver region is currently embarking on one of the most ambitious and extensive investments in new rail and bus service in the United States. In less than a decade, the $7.8 billion FasTracks transportation infrastructure project will connect much of the Denver Metro region with 122 miles of new commuter and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit, 70 new transit stations and a variety of other expanded multimodal options. This investment has the potential to expand the reach of opportunity for many people, providing better connections between housing, jobs and other essential destinations.

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NextGen Air Transportation System

Monday, April 15th, 2013

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is pursuing key operational improvements to implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) in the “midterm,” which is 2013 through 2018. These improvements focus on establishing Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures at key airports, but benefits could be limited in the midterm. PBN uses satellite-based guidance to improve air-traffic control routes (known as “procedures”). These procedures can deliver benefits to airlines, such as fuel savings and increased efficiency, particularly in congested airspace.

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Broadband’s Economic Impact in Michigan

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

CONNECT MICHIGAN
Does broadband matter to the economy? The answer to this question has a number of far-reaching implications. If increasing broadband access, adoption, and usage helps households save money or earn income in excess of what they have to pay to be connected, then getting connected to the Internet would represent a positive return on investment, and show itself worth the cost of subscribing.

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Jason Hartke, U.S. Green Building Council

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

Jason Hartke is the Vice President of National Policy at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Topics include:
Integrating the Building Process
Common Goals: Sustainability and Resiliency
How Building Green is Working Now
The LEED System: Stretching the Market Toward Sustainability
How to Get Things Done

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Vice Admiral Dennis V. McGinn, American Council On Renewable Energy

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn (USN, ret.) is the President of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). Topics include:
The Truth About Renewable Energy
Clean Energy Meets the Challenges
Energy Security Trust
Do We Really Need More Disasters?
Renewable Energy Knowledge Breeds Demand

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Reactions to the ASCE 2013 Report Card on America’s Infrastructure

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

 Transportation for America’s Director James Corless: “Our country’s association of civil engineers continues to do the yeoman’s work of sounding the alarm on our country’s infrastructure — the roads, rails and waterways that we depend on to move our goods from place to place and get us where we need to go each day. But [...]

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2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Once every four years, America’s civil engineers provide a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s major infrastructure categories in ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure (Report Card). Using a simple A to F school report card format, the Report Card provides a comprehensive assessment of current infrastructure conditions and needs, both assigning grades and making recommendations for how to raise the grades. An Advisory Council of ASCE members assigns the grades according to the following eight criteria: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation. Since 1998, the grades have been near failing, averaging only Ds, due to delayed maintenance and underinvestment across most categories.

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The Carbon Footprint of Grid Energy Storage

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

Researchers are developing new batteries capable of delivering stored solar- and wind-generated electricity when sunlight and wind are in short supply. But the fossil fuel required to build these storage technologies could outweigh the environmental benefits of installing new solar and wind farms, says Stanford postdoc Charlie Barnhart of the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP).

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