The American and Canadian governments are caught in a "policy paradox:" they want to promote green vehicles but they need to save their domestic auto industries. Both may not be possible, says Konrad Yakabuski.
"From gas-powered subcompacts to fuel-efficient diesel engines to all-electric vehicles, the market for green cars is about to reach a tipping point. Just how fast it happens, though, will depend on how governments on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border juggle a set of conflicting objectives.
On one hand, they are vowing to crack down on carbon-emitting activities such as driving gas guzzlers. They are promising to impose tougher fuel-efficiency standards on auto makers. They are pushing public transit like never before.
On the other hand, the same governments are propping up Chrysler and General Motors Corp. with billions of dollars in order to save jobs. Staving off the car companies' collapse revolves around getting consumers to buy more of the larger vehicles that dominate the companies' current offerings, emissions be damned.
The auto bailouts, for all their expediency, represent a case of government policy at odds with itself."
FULL STORY: Green Dreams, Unplugged
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
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