US Congress Aims for Carbon Neutrality

The old saying “better late than never” comes to mind here as the United State’s Congress has decided to go carbon neutral by 2020. It is impressive that congress has decided to do this in a nation that has a leader that denies climate change. The fact that congress is trying to become green will hopefully send a message that being environmentally friendly is something that any institution can do.

What stands out for me is that they go beyond carbon neutrality and encourage a bike-to-work program. Good for your health and the environment!

Reducing energy usage is not all that is covered in the report, as it also calls for the use of non-toxic cleaning products, increasing water conservation, and significantly improving recycling, improving access to mass transit and car sharing for employees, changing the current fleet to hybrid vehicles, purchase locally and organically sourced food, changing to 100% recycled paper, and even implementing a bike-to-work program.

No Fare! Free Transit Feasibility in Vancouver

flyign bus
Over at The Tyee they have a five part series on making transit in British Columbia free. So far they have asked if free transit is crazy and looked at a city that provides free transit a bus ride from Vancouver.

The most recent addition to this series looks at the town of Hasslet in Belgium, which has a similar population to Nanimo (on Vancouver Island). The Tyee speculate that free transit is not yet feasible in BC, but given the right factors there’s no reason Nanimo can’t be like Hasslet.

“To be successful, I think that the public transport system must not be crowded at the start. Our project was originally organized to attract more passengers and to have less cars in the city centre. The buses also need separate lanes, because travelling by bus has to be faster than by car, so the infrastructure of intersections and streets has to be adapted. The buses have to be modern, clean … you need to have more bus stops. And the shelters must be attractive.”

Green Docking at the Seattle Port

Seattle’s port is looking to save money and improve its reputation by becoming more environmentally friendly. Part of this plan is to encourage the use of real estate that is not primarily used for transport.

The Port of Seattle’s new goal is to be the cleanest, greenest and most energy-efficient port in the U.S., said its chief executive, Tay Yoshitani, who believes the move will help the port market itself to its customers and keep in good stead with the community.

Politicians and Scientists Ought to Talk

SciDev.net has an article about how scientists and politicians can help developing nations develop in Africa by highlighting science. By creating policies that support research and development countries will benefit from increased keeping educated labour within their borders and perhaps attracting companies to setup shop in their country.

Bernard Aduda, professor of physics at the University of Nairobi said the move would take S&T to the heart of policy making and raise socioeconomic development to levels comparative with countries in Asia.

“We need the linkage to enable MPs and scientists to work together so that we can mainstream science, technology and innovation issues in the countries’ policy making processes for the socioeconomic benefits of the citizens,” he told SciDev.Net.