Irvin Dawid discovered Planetizen when a classmate in an urban planning lab at San Jose State University shared it with him in 2003. When he left San Jose State that year, he took with him an interest in Planetizen, if not the master's degree in urban & regional planning.
As a long-time environmental activist, he formed the Sustainable Land Use committee for his local Sierra Club chapter and served six years on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Advisory Council from 2002-2008. He maintains his interest in air quality by representing Sierra Club California on the Clean Air Dialogue, a working group of the Calif. Environmental Dialog representing business, regulatory and public health/environmental interests.
Major interests include transportation funding, e.g., gas taxes, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fees, road tolls and energy subsidies that lead to unlevel playing fields for more sustainable choices.
He hails from Queens (Bayside) and Long Island (Great Neck); received an AAS in Fisheries & Wildlife Technology from SUNY Cobleskill and a B.S. from what is now Excelsior College.
After residing for three years on California’s North Coast, he’s lived on the San Francisco Peninsula since 1983, including 24 years in Palo Alto. Home is now near downtown Burlingame, a short bike-ride to the Caltrain station.
He’s been car-free since driving his 1972 Dodge Tradesman maxi-van, his means to exit Long Island in 1979, to the junkyard in 1988.
Major forms of transportation: A 1991 'citybike' and monthly Caltrain pass, zone 2-2. "It's no LIRR, but it may be the most bike friendly train in America."
Irvin can be reached at [email protected]
Perils Of Green Energy
As renewables replace polluting, carbon-intensive power sources, the reliability of the nation's electricity will be impaired because of the inability of the grid to accommodate power produced from distant sources, according to a new report.
China's Rail Investment Needs Pricing Reform
As China embarks on the greatest rail-building investment since the U.S. built its transcontinental railroad, this article points to the urgent need to reform its state-controlled pricing system, both for freight and passengers, to make it effective.
Plenty Green But Too Tall?
In what may prove a decisive test to see the political limits of what green building offers developers, a LEED Platinum, 10-story office building is proposed along San Francisco's tightly regulated waterfront - exceeding the height limit by 40 feet.
Oil Shortage & Climate Crisis On Horizon
Despite the reduction in oil consumption caused by the global recession, the world faces a duel energy-environmental crisis of an oil shortage and climate crisis, according to the World Energy Outlook written by the International Energy Agency.
Seattle Area Voters: Yes To Transit; No To Road Measure
Puget Sound voters strongly supported Sound Transit's sales tax measure to expand public transit while Washington state voters overwhelmingly rejected an Eyeman initiative to allow solo motorists to use carpool lanes during off-peak hours.