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]
Biden Proposes Gas Tax Holiday to Reduce Gas Prices
President Biden asked Congress on June 22 to suspend federal fuel taxes, unchanged since 1993, for three months to provide motorists 'relief' at the pump. Additionally, he asked states to follow suit and for oil companies to increase refining.
Energy Department Resumes Loan Program with Hydrogen Storage
The Energy Department's loan office, known for a bad loan to the solar panel startup Solyndra in 2011, will loan $504 million to a company that will use renewable energy to create 'green hydrogen' and store it in salt caverns in Utah.
Desalination and Water Recycling Needed to Increase Bay Area Water Supply
In an ongoing drought exacerbated by climate change, the Bay Area needs to look toward two technologies to secure adequate drinking water supply: desalination and wastewater recycling, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Examiner.
Extending the Life of California's Largest Power Plant
Gov. Gavin Newsom has notified the U.S. Department of Energy of his interest in using funding included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant slated to close in three years.
'Are Gas Prices Too High?'
Nominal gas prices have never been higher. But are they too high? The question was posed by the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources to the Secretary of the Interior during a committee hearing on May 19.