Cars and vehicle emissions are undoubtedly central to the climate change problem. The solution, however, might not be cleaner vehicles but rather a drastic change in our relationship to automobiles and driving.
"As nations across the globe get set for the decade of emissions cuts that is mandatory if we are to avoid the catastrophe of global heating of 2C or more, what should be our attitude to driving?" asks The Guardian in an editorial piece.
While proponents argue that electric vehicles are going to be important in addressing climate change, concerns remain about the impacts of vehicle and battery manufacturing. A better focus might be the ways cars and driving have become integral parts of life in the United States and, increasingly, in countries around the world, and how that relationship can change.
"Climate science dictates that the use of petrol and diesel cars and trucks must be drastically reduced. Electric vehicles are part of the solution, but car culture as a whole also needs an overhaul. This will not be easy. As well as their utility, motor vehicles have come to symbolise powerful human longings for privacy, autonomy, speed, mobility and freedom."
Read the full story: The Guardian view on car culture: change is coming
North Carolina Drafts Clean Transportation Plan
Similar to other plans focused on reducing emissions from the transportation plan, North Carolina’s draft Clean Transportation Plan will rely on electric vehicles to reduce emissions from the state’s transportation sector.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
How Planning Fails to Solve Congestion
Solutions for congestion are never as simple and easy as armchair planners and engineers would like you to believe—especially those who suggest that congestion can be solved by forever building more roadway capacity.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
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The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
NYC cools commuters with city's first rain garden above a bus stop
New York City officials say the plants in the rain garden can absorb 16 gallons of rainwater during heavy storms.
Brightline West’s future may rely on $6 billion federal loan
The company has until Nov. 2 to make a $400 million equity investment into its proposed high-speed rail line.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association