Deepwater horizon: Guardian web users' solutions to oil spill.
the best of the ideas for tackling the deepwater horizon disaster, assessed by professor geoffrey maitland of imperial college london via the guardian [RK]
Empty los angeles.
until bp solves its gulf problems we will feature environ – mental topics. empty los angeles by photographer matt logue.
if you can imagine the city of angels without cars. a highly debated statistic retains los angeles
as the nation’s “king of congestion”.
Photographer: matt logue
Bike the drive 2010.
from high atop the john hancock building looking north. notice no cars only bicycles on two ( outer ) drive lanes.
above: with john hancock in the foreground we are looking southwest. the green dot is the midway point between a 15-mile stretch on lsd that is closed down from 6am – 10am. the orange dot 7.5 miles away ending at the museum of science and industry.
above: looking north again, the green dot 7.5 miles away where the drive abruptly ends. of interest, lsd is on a landfill, part of a plan ( daniel burnham plan ) to keep the lakefront open to the public.
above: back down to earth this near the midway point where 18,000 will pass.
above: a 2006 cervelo soloist team with zipp 404 clinchers, zero gravity brakes, campy record, selle CF seat, and CSC water bottles. with the $2350 zipp 404 wheels this bike is $9000. not mine btw.
may 30, 2010, was the ninth annual MB financial bank “bike the drive.” the event is a fundraiser for the active transportation alliance chicago’s voice for better biking, walking and transit. the fun continues at the post-ride festival from 8 a.m. to noon in grant park, with live entertainment, event sponsor giveaways, and $7 breakfast options from goose island brew pub.
History:
early bicycles arrived in Chicago in the 1860s. by 1900, there were 54 bicycle clubs with more than 10,000 members. by the late 1890s, chicago was the “bicycle-building capital of america”. according to the 1898 chicago bicycle directory, approximately two-thirds of the country’s bicycles and accessories were manufactured within 150 miles (240 km) of the city.
chicago has recently seen an increase in the amount of bikers traveling throughout the city. this can in part be attributed to the current mayor, richard m. daley. daley has said, “my goal is to make the city of chicago the most bicycle-friendly city in the U.S.” daley created a mayor’s bicycle advisory council (MBAC) in order to encourage bicycling in the city.
the council created the chicago department of transportation bike program. the program, whose efforts are guided by the bike 2015 plan, approved in june 2006, has created over 100 miles (160 km) of new bike lanes, installed 10,000 bicycle racks, and installed 165 miles (266 km) of signed bike routes in 2006.
Resources:
bike the drive org
cycling in chicago
2015 bike plan
twitter journalism
100 years. daniel burnham
BP releases four new videos of spill.
at request from senators bill nelson of florida and barbara boxer of california BP agreed this week to release all video footage of the spill. these videos will help scientist estimate the daily leakage. we can also see the progress of oil containment efforts. the spill is bad but the ocean is doing some of the heavy lifting to contain the damage. jane lubchenco, head of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration says that the spill could be swept up into the loop current, which curls around the florida peninsula. but by the time it reaches the florida straits, possibly eight to 12 days, “it would likely be significantly weathered and degraded as well as diluted. see the videos and more coverage at fastcompany. [RK]
Earth day 2010. Join the movement.
happy earth day. 4/22. get involved.
visit the earth day network.
When infographics go bad.
infographics 101.
a great community of smart and thoughtful readers pointed out some errors.
via TreeHugger
Earth day 2010.
on april 22, earth day network will be celebrating its 40th birthday. [RK]
Architecture for humanity announces new spokesanimal.
April 6, 2010 marks the end of ten years of Architecture for Humanity, a non profit that brings design, construction and development services to communities in need. In celebration of this milestone and to raise awareness of the organizations’ impact, Architecture for Humanity is announcing a new spokesperson [Correction: spokesanimal] for the organization, Hugh Manatee. via huffintonpost [RK]
Earth hour 2010 alert.
join one billion people in 1760 cities around the world. march 27, 2010, 8:30 pm local time.
We are inviting communities, business and governments to switch off their lights! Be part of this historic event. There are
5,635,485 people globally newly signed up for Earth Hour this year. The global cities. The US cities. AND NEW earth hour kids.
Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
we’ve been visiting the chicago auto show and applaud the very green push. we also just posted an electric scooter article that was not intended to be a wheel count poke. that said, here’s a thoughtful story on the merits of riding one’s bike . via the guardian [RK]