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Interview: London readies for 'energy revolution
EurActiv
London Vice-Mayor Nicky Gavron plans to spearhead decentralised generation so that every household in the city can eventually produce its own energy and cut CO2 emissions. New fines for polluting trucks and coaches are also planned for 2008, she has told EurActiv in an interview.

...The mastermind behind the now-renowned congestion charge, London Vice-Mayor Nicky Gavron, is widely seen as a pioneer in sustainable city planning. She spoke to EurActiv while on a visit to Brussels in June.

* The role of cities in fighting climate change

"When it comes to practical action on the ground, cities have to be centre stage," Gavron said. And she believes that cities can have an easier time filling ambitious environmental objectives. "That's because they have the planning ability. They in fact run most of the environmental infrastructure - and build it. They run transport. They also have that density of property, and activity, and population, which means that it is going to be easier - in a way - to reduce emissions in cities." ...

* Energy-efficiency and micro-generation key to 'energy revolution'

Key to meeting the CO2-reduction target is replacing existing power stations with new, more efficient equipment. "The majority of emissions globally come from inefficient power stations, whether they are coal, gas, oil, nuclear," Gavron explains. "These power stations lose up to 70% of their primary energy. They also waste all their heat, so there is a double loss." ...
(10 July 2007)

No Hassle Transit? Try Hasselt
Belgian city offers BC a workable, fare-free model.
Dave Olsen, TheTyee.ca
Ten years ago the people of Hasselt, Belgium embarked upon a bold experiment: no more charging for bus rides. Ever since, they've been proving the idea can work wonderfully.

This city of 70,000 residents, with 300,000 commuters from the surrounding area, has made traveling by bus easy, affordable, and efficient. Now, people in Hasselt often speak of "their" bus system, and with good reason. The Boulevard Shuttle leaves you waiting for at most five minutes, the Central Shuttle has a 10 minute frequency, and system-wide you never have to wait more than a half an hour.

Just like the Whidbey Island, Washington, system we visited Friday, in Hasselt wheelchair users not only have access to the entire fleet of buses, they can reserve a spot by calling the "Belbus" line an hour in advance. According to the City of Hasselt's website, the driver will help the wheelchair user get aboard, "even giving a push, if desired," and help with unloading, too.

A prime lesson offered by Hasselt is the fact that they radically improved the bus system as well as their walking and cycling infrastructure before they removed the fare boxes. In 1996, there were only three bus routes with about 18,000 service hours/year. Today, there are 11 routes with more than 95,000 service hours/year.

[Editor's note: This is the third in a five-part series funded by you, the readers who donated to a Tyee Fellowship for Solutions-oriented Reporting. To find out more about Tyee Fellowships, click here. To learn more about the series' author, Dave Olsen, go here. Scroll down this page to find an audio interview with Olsen by Katherine Gretsinger.]
(9 July 2007)

New York City Must Prepare Now for Energy Security:
Congestion Pricing is also Security Pricing
Dan Miner, Beyond Oil NYC
Despite the new enthusiasm for green initiatives in New York City, the congestion pricing at the core of the PlaNYC transportation program is still getting the cold shoulder from a substantial number of City residents and lawmakers. Hoping to redirect some travelers to mass transit, Mayor Bloomberg wants to charge a fee to cars and trucks entering midtown Manhattan during the day. The fees, with city and state contributions, would fund $31 billion in metro area mass transit projects and would help unclog our streets and reduce carbon emissions.

Critics agree that more mass transit funding is needed, but oppose the fees as a punitive tax on working class outer-borough residents. Both critics and supporters implicitly assume that the price of gas will remain basically stable, a faith shared by the general public, as shown in a recent Gallup poll where 58% of Americans expected gasoline to reach $4 this summer but almost all doubted it would go higher. In addition, most said that higher prices would not convince them to get to work by carpooling, biking, telecommuting or mass transit.

In spite of the general public's inability to imagine much higher gasoline prices, a growing number of corporate leaders, military analysts and national security advocates worry that even slight disruptions to our oil imports will cause abrupt price spikes to over $100 a barrel, leading gasoline and heating oil prices to rise to over $5 per gallon. Gasoline prices could rise suddenly for many reasons: an attack on Iran causing a blockade of the Straits of Hormuz, the shipping channel for over a third of the world's oil, turmoil in Nigeria or Venezuela, terrorist attacks on oil shipping and refining infrastructure, or Gulf Coast hurricanes. Even without a crisis, the U.S. Government Accountability Office warns that depleting world oil supplies, combined with rising demand, will make energy markets increasingly volatile - and supply disruptions inevitable.

Dan Miner, Sierra Club NYC Group energy committee chair
(8 July 2007)
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