MORE GLOBAL BLOGS + COOL VIDEOS

March 7, 2011

Circling the blue marble >

London goes carbon – Watch London Mayor Boris Johnson voice halleluyas and tossle his bleach blond coif in this promo video. Including plans for bicycle “freeways” and center city “no car zones”. CLICK: BLon.

Bike sharing – Golden B.C. to Suzhou China – Tons of videos.The “bike sharing” phenomenon is encircling the globe. CLICK: BShare

San Francisco – See great poster showing tongue-in-cheek bike icons for trendy and not-so-trendy districts of the enchanted city on the bay.  Castro, Fisherman’s Wharf, Financial District, etc. From the Timbuk2 messenger bag and apparel folks. CLICK: SFran

Munich, Germany – an catchy film promo of Munich’s campaign to increase the levels of bicycle traffic in the city using positive marketing techniques. To make cycling in the city “normal” and “cool”. Using civic pride, photo competitions and the triangular concept of Attention, Identification and Participation. CLICK: MGerm.

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SMILE FOR (RE) – CYLING

February 12, 2011

 

Cartoon credit: Andy Singer/CarBustersPress

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“SUSTAIN CHARLOTTE” on the Square

November 1, 2010

Presentation +  press conference

Dateline: November 1 -Trade and Tryon
The Charlotte 2030: A Sustainable Vision For Our Region was launched at noon today at Trade and Tryon before a  crowd of  supporters and media reps. It’s the vision of over 100 community leaders  led by Shannon Binns of the nonprofit Sustain Charlotte . CABA has contributed to this vision and Martin Zimmerman, Exec. Director of CABA was the concluding speaker. He urged everyone not to wait till 2030 but get to work right now.
A great list of speakers including:
Charlotte Mayor- Anthony Foxx; Mecklenburg County Commissioner – Jennifer Roberts – Mecklenburg County Commission Chairperson ;George Dunlap – Director of CPCC Center for Sustainability- Ernie McLaney; Director of Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation - Jim Garges; Environmental Manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools – Brian Kasher; Charlotte Green Team Co-Chair and Charlotte Chamber’s GreenWorks Committee Chair - Mary Tribble; Central Piedmont Sierra Club Chair – Bill Gupton: Second Eden Studios Elena Michel. 

Martin and Shannon Binns at the press conference

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HAPPENINGS AND UPDATES

October 23, 2010

In and around Charlotte

  • Dateline: Observer, October 23 – Editor Mary Newsom comments on Envision Charlotte (campaign by business leadership to drastically reduce energy use in Uptown buldings by 2016 -”After all, “sustainable” – a word I’m coming to dislike for its fuzzy applicability to almost everything – means more than electrical use. What about the carbon footprint of the people who drive daily into uptown? ..I asked Duke Energy’s Charles Pfeiler, who spoke Wednesday, whether the Envision:Charlotte initiative would focus only on electricity or would also measure (or try to) activities such as reduced driving. The core of it is electric use, he said, but they may try to devise ways to pull in other data on other behaviors.”  For full article CLICK: Hog Happy
  • More from the Observer - Dateline: October 24 – Letter to the Editor from Paula Fricke titled -”Don’t kill me before I get to church; make way for cyclists”, Paula says: “Sundays I bike to church, 10 miles up Providence Road. I’ve biked near the curb and on sidewalks, but have found both life-threatening due to oblivious or reckless drivers. I’ve concluded the safest way to arrive at church is to create my own bike lane. (By riding towards the middle of the lane) … drivers become humane, slow down and pass with plenty of room to spare. I’m 58, healthy, and my gas bill is minimal. Biking is all good. Please, let all bikers do it safely”. Paula is president of Trips for Kids ( a bicycle non-profit outreach group) and a member of CABA.
  • More from UNCC – Guess what ? Off-campus housing firms are now promoting bicycling. Here’s an ad that appeared last week in the campus newspaper. Not a bad idea since it’s so difficult to park a car on campus and the parking charges are getting totally out of wack. The ad in this photo is for the University Walk apts. across US 49 from campus.
     

    • New Corporate membership – Much thanks to DPZ architects, and especially Tom Low, for their generous contribution to CABA programs and the cause of bicycling. DPZ is a nationally prominent firm with a Charlotte branch and a leader in design of Smart Growth/New Urbanist projects.

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ACTION ALERT ! Meeting tonight

October 22, 2010

Is Charlotte serious about going “green” ?

Town Hall meeting – tonite – Wednesday

Charlotte City Council member Edwin Peacock, Chair of the Environmental Committee, has put out a last minute notice of a second Town Hall meeting tomorrow evening to ostensibly present for discussion the current status of “Environment and Energy”.

What concerns CABA and affiliate groups like the Sierra Club and Clean Air Carolina is that discussion is so limited when so much is at stake. According to the Sustain Charlotte 2030 report which was launched at a November 1 press conference (speakers included Mayor Foxx and among other notables), “energy” is only one of ten sustainability components.  To cite on obvious example, up to 38% of CO2 emissions in urban areas come from other components such as the transportation sector.

I urge you to attend Wednesday evening and voice your concerns. If the Queen City is really serious about competing in the global marketplace, Charlotte needs to get equally serious about going green.

Martin Zimmerman / Executive Director / Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance

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Councilmember Edwin Peacock Town Hall Meeting Focus on the Environment

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 Meeting Chambers, CMGC

Free bicycle parking on the Government Center Plaza

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“ENVISION: CHARLOTTE” ANNOUNCED

October 3, 2010

A sustainable Uptown ?

Dateline: Sept 23 – You may have seen the front page article in the Observer – a lot of razzle dazzle – a big press conference in NYC (Charlotte business /political elite) with the Clinton Global Initiatives folks).  The basic idea is called “Smart Energy Now”. According to the press release, “Duke Energy will provide the smart grid infrastructure in partnership with Cisco as well as energy data and insights that will afford greater visibility into the community’s energy usage. Smart Energy Now: Charlotte will engage major businesses and buildings’ owners in Uptown Charlotte to achieve up to a 20% reduction in energy use by 2016. The “Smart Energy Now” program….(will)  measure, manage and reduce energy use and emissions…..with owners of approximately 60 commercial buildings who control more than 15 million square feet” in Uptown…...  Envision: Charlotte also supports our 2020 Center City Vision Plan for becoming the most sustainable urban core in the nation.”

CABA serves on the transportation working group to the 2020 Vision Plan process. We  will be watching closely to see how the Duke Power/Cisco program is integrated into the overall planning effort that is scheduled to complete early in 2011.  For a more detailed account CLICK: Sustainable City.

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