Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
Despite an eventual pricetag of $68 billion and numerous engineering, environmental and political challenges, the California bullet train offers a promising vision of sustainable mobility, posing less impacts and competitive costs than expanding airports and freeways.
Rising CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels has resulted in extreme weather and economic danger. A revenue neutral fee and dividend plan could spur a clean energy industrial revolution and reduce global warming.
“Beasts,” a hard-knock ecological fairy tale about the disappearing Louisiana bayou cultures and coastline, highlights the fragility of the region’s hurricane defenses and the resulting devastation of communities living on the flooding margins.
Extreme weather events, drought, wildfire, torrential rains, tornadoes, hurricanes, attributable to human-caused global warming, are costing society and insurers bilions of dollars worldwide. Mark Reynolds from Citizens Climate Lobby argues it is time for a carbon fee and dividend to even the market for fossil fuels and encourage clean renewable energy alternatives.
Wesleyan University academics argue “unnatural” forests, resulting from fire suppression policies, deplete water supplies and should be cut back. We disagree.
Can scientists engineer a biofuel that will replace the environmental and climate destroying and evermore expensive fossil fuels central to the functioning of our urbanized civilization? The answer is no and yes.
Southern California’s new Sustainable Communities Strategy plan posits that as a region, we have to grow up, not out. That doesn’t mean Hong Kong skyscrapers, but more apartments near light-rail stations and vibrant mixed-use areas like the ones in downtown Pasadena.