November 19th, 2010

Eight cities and counties have committed to prepare for climate change effects and will be participating in a new program on adapting to a new warmer world set up by ICLEI, an association devoted to helping cities and counties become more sustainable.

By working with ICLEI’s program — called Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) — the cities will to to find ways to keep their infrastructure, roads, water sources and citizens safe from the effects of climate change. For instance, in Miami-Dade County, officials will look at ways to protect freshwater aquifers from intrusion by salt water caused by rising sea levels and storm-related flooding, problems that are already beginning to affect the area, according to ICLEI.

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October 22nd, 2010

Remember that old real estate adage, location, location, location? There’s a parallel theme among green advocates: Local, local, local. They want more local food, local attention to water and wildlife, businesses that keep jobs in communities, mass transit that reaches neighborhoods, farms connected to cities, and so on.

This is nothing new. We like our cities and somehow, they’ve gotten away from us, whether they’ve become a sprawling, sterile suburb or a congested, irritable metropolis. We yearn for something friendlier and more cohesive. We seek out “local flavor” when we vacation, surely a sign we want more when we’re at home.

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November 14th, 2008

By Kelly Rondeau

Move over Seattle, Portland, and Austin and other green heavyweights — make room for some like-minded, newcomers.

Columbus, Ohio; New Orleans, La., Syracuse, N.Y., and Louisville, Kty., residents might not be wearing Birkenstocks and basking under solar tubes. But they are living in some of the growing number of mid-sized, Middle American cities that are making impressive green strides, changing their attitudes and getting smarter about eco-choices.

Syracuse, led by Mayor Matthew Driscoll, is becoming a greener “Emerald City” of New York with its sustainability website, partnerships with area universities and a solid number 17 placement for 2008 on Popular Science’s list of the 50 Greenest Cities in the U

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