November 5th, 2012

Sting’s exquisite performance of “Message in a Bottle” hit just the right note for the Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together concert this past Friday.

Sandy, which savaged New Jersey, New York City and many points beyond with an estimated $20 billion in property damage from flooding, wind and rain could certainly be seen as an SOS to the world. More pointedly, it’s an urgent telegram to the U.S., where climate action has been hijacked by the world’s biggest hive of climate deniers, who’d like to either ignore climate change or wiggle away by labeling it “natural” and inescapable.

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May 8th, 2012

New York City Council member Peter F. Vallone,Jr has called a “Speak Out Against Fluoridation” Rally to be held at 11 a.m. on May 15, on the steps of City Hall.

Fluoride chemicals are added to NYC’s water in a failed effort to treat tap-water drinkers against tooth decay, according to Vallone and the two groups that oppose fluoridation and are supporting the rally, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc and Fluoride Action Network.

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November 18th, 2011

Gotham City now has its own bee, one of 11 new bee species discovered by a Cornell University researcher collaborating with the American Museum of Natural History.

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June 24th, 2011

The txchnologist blog, sponsored by GE, has assessed several famous rooftops in the Big Apple to see how solar could reduce the building’s electricity costs.

Celebrities like Madonna could save a lot — and could afford the installation costs — of solar, according to the blog, which challenges the wealthy and famous to think about it.

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February 23rd, 2011

New York City, the nation’s best networked metro area, provides the full course of transportation options. Here you can easily hop a plane, train, bus or taxi. You can live car-free (if you don’t count that taxi) and conduct a low-carbon commute, or even reside a walk away from where you work. You can fly in, you can fly out. You can commute to Boston, if you’re dedicated.

Lincoln residents enjoy an accessible bus service.

So it’s little surprise that NYC — where households average just 9,920 miles of car travel in a year — tops a new list of 15 cities that are providing residents with greener transportation systems.

The list, the result of a study the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Smart Cities project and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, was released today.

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January 6th, 2011

New York City’s hallmark Empire State Building, which is undergoing a major green remodeling, will now become the city’s biggest commercial buyer of renewable energy. The skyscraper’s owners have signed a two-year contract with Green Mountain Energy, which will supply the facility with 100 percent green power by buying Renewable Energy Certificates.

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November 22nd, 2010

Climate action group 350.org wants us to see, really see, what’s happening as the result of climate change here on Earth.
So it’s taken to space to get a better view. Satellites began snapping photos of giant art installations, many involving humans forming pictures, last Friday and will continue through this week. The photos include one of a giant eagle in Los Angeles, created to represent the “Earth to Sky” solutions to climate change; a mural in New York City that shows how the area would look after the seas rise; a picture of a girl on a delta in Spain and a flash flood in New Mexico created by humans with blue posters.

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October 13th, 2010

New York City has one of the most recognizable skylines in the world. It’s famously tall buildings provide maximum occupancy for minimum space, making an ideal situation for a rapidly growing population.
When millions of immigrants flocked to America in the late 1800’s, the need for space to put them all caused the city to grow up instead of out and skyscrapers sprouted like weeds.
The human population is growing. By the year 2050, it is estimated that we will be another 3 billion people. By that time 80 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas.

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September 28th, 2010

Following a years of field and lab testing, New York electric, gas and steam utility Con Edison has approved a new earth-friendly product for exclusive daily use. Officials for GreenPatch, which replaces conventional petroleum-based cold asphalt patching materials, said their repair product will be used throughout New York City and Westchester County

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September 22nd, 2010

Looking for something to do on Oct. 10, also known as 10/10/10? Take the fight against climate change into your hands with a “global work party” on that once-in-a-lifetime date. The efforts are coordinated by 350.org, an action-oriented non-profit focused on creating solutions to global warming. The group’s name is a reference to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which scientists say is the safe limit in the atmosphere for humans, the group says. Right now, we’re at 390 parts per million. Not good.

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September 17th, 2010

With society’s emphasis on a greener future, it should come as no surprise that study of the environment, energy and conservation has made its way into high school classrooms.
Some have taken it much further, creating environmentally themed high schools. Now, the Nature Conservancy’s program aimed at helping students and teachers learn more about eco-topics has joined forces with some of those schools.

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September 16th, 2010

New York City already has smoke-free restaurants. It may soon have smoke-free parks, beaches and outdoor plazas.
Under a proposal announced Thursday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Councilmember Gale Brewer, the existing local Smoke Free Air Act that bans smoking in workplaces and indoor gathering spots, would be expanded to include the great outdoors.

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