A Surcharge for Smoggers

If you live or work in a big city and scratch your head any time you see a driver of a gas-guzzling SUV crawling through the concrete canyons looking for a place to park, you may be impressed by Madrid’s new plan to charge higher parking rates for vehicles that pollute more than average.

Scheduled to be implemented in July, the scheme will charge electric cars nothing to park, hybrid cars 20 percent less than average, and diesel cars made in 2001 and earlier 20 percent more. (Spurred by tax incentives not seen in the U.S., diesel vehicles account for 70 percent of new cars sold in France and Spain. While diesels post admirable mpg figures, which reduces their greenhouse gas emissions compared to gasoline-powered cars, the story isn’t so cheery when it comes to their emissions of smog-forming pollutants such as nitrogen oxides. Older diesel vehicles are particularly noxious.) Madrid’s pricing will also vary depending on how congested a street is at any time of the day.

According to the Guardian, Madrid “continually exceeds the EU limit for nitrogen dioxide in the air – mainly released through car exhaust systems – with rates that have at times spiked five times above the limit deemed safe by the EU.”

It’s unclear how Madrid’s smart parking meters will identify a specific vehicle, whether using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology such as that used for electronic toll-collection systems, or by requiring a driver to punch in their license-plate number, but that’s not much of a hurdle with today’s smart parking meters. Already, San Francisco uses “demand responsive pricing” to raise and lower on-street parking fees based on congestion. And London has charged “congestion fees” for driving in central London on weekdays for more than a decade using plate-recognition technology.

--Image by iStock/scottyh.

Reed McManus is a senior editor at Sierra. He has worked on the magazine since Ronald Reagan’s second term. For inspiration, he turns to cartoonist R. Crumb’s Mr. Natural, who famously noted: “Twas ever thus.”

 

 

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Arbor Day: More Trees, Please

Trees, you guys, trees are awesome. Earth Day may get a lot of press because it’s the “sexy” environmental holiday, but Arbor Day isn’t just for gardening grandmothers. Like bears, trees can lie dormant for most of the winter, but unlike bears, they won’t want to eat you when they wake up. Just three days after Earth Day, Arbor Day honors our lanky limbed friends who don’t shrivel and die at the first nip of frost.

Trees have substantial societal and monetary value. Planting a tree near your home or office can increase your property value, reduce your energy bill, strain local storm water and cache clean groundwater, suck carbon from the atmosphere and improve your air quality. Quantify the benefits of future trees or ones you already have with this benefits calculator. What would Earth Day be without the trees?

Now that you’re sold on planting a tree, how do you choose? Generally, the EPA suggests avoiding trees that are “hard to establish,” “susceptible to disease” and/or “need frequent attention.” When in doubt Master Arborist, Josh Morin recommends, “Go native and diversify.” Native species will be better adapted to the climate and require less maintenance and water. It’s also important to plant a wide variety of trees to avoid contagion among monocultures. To all of you sharpening your earth-moving tools, here’s a list of trees to plant that may do well in your region.

 

Pacific Northwest:

Pink Dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Rubra’): This tree loves sinking its roots into moist earth. It will stand out amongst the evergreens in your backyard with its brilliant pink flowers. Year-round fruit production makes this tree a popular karaoke bar for songbirds.

 

 

 

 

Rocky Mountains:

Concolor Fir (Abies concolor): Also known as the “White Fir” this is beautiful evergreen’s silvery needles and whitish bark make it the ideal holiday tree. It’s also drought resistant and native to the western slope of the Rockies. Forget about the hassle of permits and postholing in your National Forest and grow your Christmas tree in the backyard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southwest:

Thornless Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos inermis): This drought-resistant tree produces delicious smelling flowers, can tolerate all types of soil and loves basking in the sun. Bees can also feast on flowering honeylocusts, so if your bee-farm hasn’t quite taken off, planting one of these will be like building an In-N-Out Burger in your yard.

 

 

 

 

 

Midwest:

Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica): The ash is a tough, fast-growing tree that can withstand just about any climate the Midwest dishes out. However, it’s currently suffering from an outbreak of emerald ash borers and ash trees are dropping like leaves in October. Be a part of the solution and plant ash in your community!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northeast:

Red Maple (Acer rubrum): Rhode Island has already claimed this beauty as its state tree, but that doesn’t mean the rest of you can’t enjoy the year-round color show.  It will flourish in humid Northeastern summers and offer bright pops of red during long winter months.

 

Southeast:

American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua): You could be sipping sweet-tea underneath your sweetgum in a few summers if you plant this beautiful shade tree. The sweetgum turns striking shades of red and yellow in the fall and is very popular among finches, doves, sparrows and turkeys.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before you plant, it’s a good idea to call a certified arborist in your area and get all the information you need regarding placement, maintenance and species. They’re like a veterinarian for your tree, on call and immensely knowledgeable about your pet.

If you belong to the yardless masses, worry not. You too can get involved in Arbor Day. Engage in a little “Urban Forestry,” recommends Rick Tagtow, Executive Director of the Midwestern International Society of Arborists (ISA). Schools, public parks, golf courses and streets all benefit from tree-planting.  Contact local community groups like Rotary clubs, 4H, or the Parks Department to join in a team effort. What better way to channel your cabin fever than fervent digging and shoveling? It’s also a great way to learn about your local ecosystem and get outside with friends and family. New members of the Arbor Day Foundation can receive 10 free trees or choose to have 10 trees planted in our National Forests. 

 

-- Images from istock photo contributors (top to bottom) dianne555, don51, 3pix, Zandebasenjis, sakakawea7, Hailshadow, and maljalen.

Caitlin Kauffman is an editorial intern for Sierra. She is a sea kayak and hiking guide in the Bay Area and the Greater Yellowstone area. She enjoys good eye contact and elk burgers.

 

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The Rebels who Saved the Golden Gate

The city of Marincello was to be built in the virtually untouched Marin Headlands. The area's natural beauty and proximity to San Francisco made it a no-brainer for suburban developers of the time, who had hoped to establish a planned community of 30,000 people. The project city had everything going for it — the rise of suburbia, big corporate sponsorships, and immense natural beauty — that is until it ran up against a nascent environmental movement that would stop the project in its tracks, saving the Headlands forever from development.

Rebels with a Cause tells the story of how a group of conservationists, politicians, ranchers, farmers, and volunteers spearheaded a campaign to block development projects like Marincello. Today, the planned city lies within the boundaries of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the most popular in the entire National Park Service.  The recreation area's existence is a direct result of the tireless work chronicled in Rebels with a Cause. Thanks to the efforts of those depicted in the film,  the only real remnant of Marincello is a mountain biking trail that follows what would have been the potential town's main boulevard.

"They were working against some behemoths, the biggest of which was Gulf Oil," said Kenji Yamamoto, the film's editor and co-producer. Formerly owned by the US military, Gulf Oil helped purchase a vast swath of land in the Headlands for the development. They weren't expecting a relentless effort to protect the land's natural beauty. "The campaigners always knew that it seemed impossible to battle against [Gulf Oil], but they kept on plugging away."

One of the most influential people in the fight against Marincello was Dr. Edgar Wayburn, a five-term president of the Sierra Club who was instrumental in the creation of Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore just to the north. Aside from the influence of Dr. Wayburn, the film also stresses the importance of local government in the fight against Marincello.

"With local government you can accomplish so much more of the groundwork," said Yamamoto. "Local support is key to winning any battle. It could be against a Wal-Mart or any company that wants to come into your community."

Yamamoto believes that the legacy of Golden Gate Recreation Area and the rebels' fight has been felt far beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. The film received an especially warm reception recently at a screening in Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Created in 2000 and just 20 minutes from Cleveland, the park has a similar urban proximity, and Yamamoto believes its creation was directly inspired by the fight for Golden Gate Recreation Area.

And Yamamoto hopes that Rebels has a similarly enduring legacy. The film has received a grant from Marin County that gives every school in the county a copy of the film and an accompanying readers' guide.

The film will be broadcast by American Public Television in tandem with Earth Week and Earth Month celebrations. Visit rebelsdocumentary.org for more info on the film.

--Image courtesy of iStockphoto/carterdayne

Callum Beals is an editorial intern at Sierra. He recently graduated from UC Santa Cruz where he studied history and literature. He enjoys hiking, camping, and waking up at ungodly hours to watch soccer games.

 

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Public Transportation Surges in Los Angeles

The American Public Transportation Association is partying like it's 1956. That's because Americans took 10.65 billion trips on public transit systems in 2013 -- numbers not seen since the 1950s. In its annual ridership report, APTA stated that more Americans were using trains, buses, and subways as an alternative to commuting to work by car.

The 2013 numbers narrowly surpassed the post-1950s high of 10.59 billion in 2008, when gas prices ballooned. According to APTA, what makes the 2013 numbers so exciting is that gas prices are lower now than they were in 2008.

Public transit powerhouse New York City saw a 4.2% heavy rail ridership increase. More surprisingly, Los Angeles posted a 4.8% heavy rail increase coupled with a 6% light rail increase for 2013.

The LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is betting big on public transit as the future of the area. "It has to be," said Marc Littman, the LA Metro's deputy executive officer of public relations. "Mobility is the linchpin of the economy."

By the end of 2014, the LA Metro will have started construction on multiple new heavy and light rail projects that will become operational over the next decade. "Voters in LA are so fed up with traffic that in 2008 they voted to tax themselves three times over," said Littman. The taxes he is referring to are all part of Measure R, a 2008 county ballot that will award around $40 billion of taxpayer money to traffic relief and transportation upgrades over the next 30 years.

While traffic reduction was undoubtedly at the forefront of voters' minds, so too was an increasing environmental consciousness. "You can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 20 pounds of CO₂ per day," says Littman. "We've tapped into people who are fed up with traffic as well as those that are environmentally conscious."

This green rider is exactly who APTA believes is behind 2013's surge in public transportation ridership. In an interview with the Associated Press, APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy proclaimed, "People are making a fundamental shift to having options for getting around. This is a long term trend. This isn't just a blip."

Quantifying the affect of environmentalism on increased public transit ridership is difficult, but the fact that 2013's levels resemble those of the 1950s can't be ignored. With the rise of the automobile and suburbia, public transit has long been a secondary option for commuters.

Littman believes that Americans, especially Los Angelenos, want a return to a sprawling public transit infrastructure. "In Los Angeles, there were more than 1000 miles of track 100 years ago, and people want it back. It's kind of like that baseball movie [Field of Dreams]. If you build it, they will come."

To get involved with local public transit projects, visit publictransportation.org

--Image courtesy of iStockphoto/Merkuri2

Callum Beals is an editorial intern at Sierra. He recently graduated from UC Santa Cruz, where he studied history and literature. He enjoys hiking, camping, and waking up at ungodly hours to watch soccer games.

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An Electric Car for Wheelchairs

Istvan Kissaroslaki was working in finance in Germany when he became sick -- sick enough that he had to stop working for six months. During his convalescence, his perspective on life changed: the finance world just didn't seem right anymore.

"I felt like I wanted to do something more meaningful with my life than making as much money as possible and trying to increase the yield of a financial institution," he said.

Now, Kissaroslaki is the co-founder of Kenguru (Hungarian for "kangaroo"), a company that's designed an eponymous electric car for people who use wheelchairs.

"I was thinking about teenagers in wheelchairs. What do they do when they’re sitting at home and their friends are getting driver's licenses?" Kissaroslaki said. "They hope to have public transportation or someone who can drive them. That was my motivation, to give these teenagers mobility." Between 2006 and 2008, Kissaroslaki worked on this car (which was originally designed by a company he worked for) as a side project. But in the middle of 2008 he realized that Kenguru needed more of his time and attention, so he quit his full-time job to work on the car instead.

In 2009, when the project was in limbo because of financial problems, Stacy Zoern, a Texas lawyer disabled by a muscle disease, happened upon Kenguru online and reached out to Kissaroslaki.

"I told her what happened and that we’re not building them and I’m back fundraising. This answer didn’t make her happy, and she kept calling." Kissaroslaki said.

He went to visit her in Austin a few months later, when he decided to give her a piece of the company and they started working on Kenguru together. A year later, Kissaroslaki moved from Hungary to Austin. Now, they're even earning shout-outs from President Obama.

Kenguru decided to make the car electric for practicality's sake. "It’s more comfortable to ride in a small vehicle that's electric than a small one with a combustion engine," Kissaroslaki said. "Plus, subsidies are more likely to be given by governments if the product is green."

The Kenguru is definitely small -- smaller than a Smart Car in fact. It can travel up to 25-35 miles per hour (depending on the regulations in your state) and around 60 miles a day. The first vehicles will be rolling off the assembly line sometime in 2015. 

"The first generation vehicle will have a retail price around $25,000," Kissaroslaki said. "Our goal internally is to dramatically reduce this price over the first three years, to somewhere under $15,000."

Most customers, he adds, are paying a fraction of the cost, and many pay nothing. This is due in part to subsidies for eco-friendly vehicles, but the biggest deduction available in the US and western Europe is if someone needs the vehicle to go to school, work, or otherwise engage in a way that's beneficial to their country. Some agencies or vocational rehab programs will pick up 95-100 percent of the cost in this case.

"For any city, for any government, it makes sense to invest $50,000 to $100,000 in someone in a wheelchair who’s eager to go to school or work," Kissaroslaki said.

Kissaroslaki, Zoern, and the others at Kenguru are planning to come up with more ideas to increase accessibility and independence of those in wheelchairs, but the first generation vehicle is taking the front seat in priority.

"We will have other products out that will address the same market, but for now I would like to focus on the task in front of us," Kissaroslaki said.

--All images courtesy of Kenguru

Jessica Zischke is an editorial intern at Sierra. She is currently studying environmental studies at Dartmouth College, where she also works as a staff writer for The Dartmouth newspaper.

 

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The Gangsta Gardener of South Los Angeles

23.5 million Americans live in food deserts, regions that lack access to fresh food. Ron Finley saw a need for produce in the food desert he called home and took action, sparking interest around the world, but more importantly, bringing his community together. The South Los Angeles resident taught us a few things about renegade gardening, and the importance of fresh food in his community's schools.

Bianca Hernandez: What led you to start guerrilla gardening?

Ron Finley: I’m not a “guerrilla gardener.” I’m a renegade gardener. A gangsta gardener. Guerrilla gardeners plant and then they bounce. My thing is to have ownership. I bring healthy food into a community that has none. Show people how easy it is. Help people to be able to design their own lives.

BH: Why is that important to South Los Angeles?

RF: This is a small section of the populace that has more disease and sickness than the larger population, and it’s by design. My thing is to self-empower the neighborhood, take matters into your own hands. Grow your own damn food.

BH: How can this be applied to marginalized communities beyond those in Los Angeles?

RF: Already has been -- healthy food is a basic need. Why should your food make you sick? For me, planting a seed in South Central [Los Angeles] has turned into a planet-wide movement. Kids in India are calling themselves gansta gardeners. I get calls from The Netherlands to London and everywhere in between. A lot of people are realizing food is our medicine. It doesn’t kill you right off, but it does eventually.

BH: Any current projects?

RF: Rooftop gardens are being put up in downtown Los Angeles to help feed the homeless. I’m doing consulting work with Los Angeles Unified School District. Kids are eating garbage and you expect their minds and bodies to develop? Grade school kids are having heart attacks, and it’s not from a lack of food, it’s from a lack of real food.

BH: What can someone do today in their community?

RF: Get a shovel, a pitchfork, and get your community together and grow your own food. You save money on food and health bills. Gardens don’t cost - they pay, and in more than one way. Build communities, build healthy bodies.

-- top photo used with permission from Ron Finley

 

Bianca Hernandez is an editorial intern at Sierra. She recently received her MA in Visual Anthropology from the University of Southern California and has written for various publications.

 

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4 of the World's Most Sustainable Islands

Because of their isolated nature, islands are ideal communities for sustainable living. The environmental and economic impact of shipping in fossil fuels and other costly imports is vast, both in its use and transportation. Because of this, islands void of natural resources have unique incentive to seek green and sustainable solutions at home. Here is a list of four islands using green solutions to live within their means.

Eigg, Scotland

If you frequent the Sierra blogs, you'll know that we're fond of Scottish islands, and Eigg is our new favorite. This small island in the Inner Hebrides is home to under 100 souls, but what it lacks in size and population, it makes up for in sustainable impact. Since 2008, Eigg has relied upon a combination of hydro-electric, solar, and wind power to provide around 95% of all electricity needs for its residents. The island used to rely on dirty diesel generators for its electricity, but is now able to provide reliable 24-hour clean energy for the first time in its history. Eigg Electric, the company that manages the island's power supply, is run by trained residents and is completely separate from the rest of the UK's electrical grid. Eigg was able to achieve this green status after its sustainably minded residents bought the island from their feudal landlord in the late 1990s. After Eigg Electric turned on the lights, the isle won a £300,000 prize from the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts, who proclaimed, "The Isle of Eigg has exceeded our expectations for what communities can achieve in reducing carbon emissions, and for this they should be congratulated."

Samso, Denmark

How to Save the World with Two Wheels

If you haven’t already been convinced to start biking to work, then prepare to be converted to the Tao of alternative transportation. Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy (Microcosm Publishing, 2013) by Elly Blue is both a study and a call to action. The book provides readers with examples of cities, companies, and communities that have become bike-centric and explores how these changes reverberate beyond a single person’s actions into a bigger boost to the overall economy. Blue shares some insights into her motives for writing the book and gives us five reasons to hop on a bike today.

What led you to write this book?

A few years ago, as the bicycle movement was starting to gain traction in a big way in the U.S., I noticed something: A lot of the arguments being made against bicycling were economic. Things like bicyclists are freeloaders, they're all rich, they're all poor, they don't pay for the roads, bike lanes and parking are bad for business. What these arguments all have in common is that they are wrong. But at the time, few bike advocates had the tools to effectively set the story straight. I thought I'd see if I could come up with some decent counterarguments -- and I ended up being surprised by just how strong the economic case for bicycling really is.

What outcome do you hope to see?

I'd like to see more commonsense transportation and development policy decisions become the norm in the U.S. Americans are really hungry for options -- anything but driving, which is extraordinarily expensive and stressful. In every place where bicycling has become a comfortable or even feasible option, it has just boomed. Sometimes that's a result of infrastructure, sometimes it's a result of development -- almost always it's the result of a popular movement. My goal with the book is to empower people to spread that movement.

What are five things people should know today about your book or biking?

1. Bicycling is unbelievably fun. And there are studies that suggest it makes you happier to get around by bike.
2. You can carry truly anything by bike, with the right setup. Or anyone.
3. Bicycling is something that has a disproportionately large impact on the economy and your own finances, and you don't have to wait for the government or anyone else to act before you can get started doing it. It's, ahem, "shovel ready."
4. Speaking of things that are easy and rewarding, some readers have reported making it through my entire book in less than a day. I tried to take a bunch of complicated budgetary and economic data and make it accessible, and this feedback suggests that I succeeded. So dive on in!
5. It's not just about biking. People who are passionate about social justice, local food, housing reform, energy issues -- any of these big-picture issues that can be tackled on the level of our daily lives and communities -- will find the book helpful in terms of framing and inspiration. All of this stuff is connected.

What has been the response so far?

So far, nearly all the feedback has been positive, even, surprisingly, from a lot of folks who aren't already into bicycling. Someone wrote on Amazon that they were inspired to give it a try, and that's about the best kind of review there is.

Can you talk a bit about how the bike can serve to do more for social change?

Bikes have proved to be excellent tools for various social movements -- and not necessarily ones that are directly bike-related. Bicycles allow free, flexible personal transportation all over a dispersed city. It's easy to ride in groups and be highly visible, but it's also easy to be strategic and speedy, carry a bunch of stuff, and never get stuck in traffic or end up circling looking for parking.

Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy, by Elly Blue, Microcosm Publishing 2013.

 

--Cover image courtesy of © Microcosm Publishing, 2013

 

Bianca Hernandez is an editorial intern at Sierra. She recently received her MA in Visual Anthropology from the University of Southern California and has written for various publications.

 

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Why is this Professor Living in a Dumpster?

They call him Professor Dumpster, and no, this is not a put down. Dr. Jeff Wilson of Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas literally (or litter-ally as he likes to spell it) lives in a dumpster. 

It's all part of The Dumpster Project, an experiment in sustainability that sees Professor Dumpster and students at Huston-Tillotson retrofitting a dumpster to meet sustainable and livable standards. "Science needs to be juiced up a bit," said Wilson. "I have been an environmental science teacher for the past six years, and I'm tired of kids falling asleep in class."

The Dumpster Project has certainly gotten people's attention. Dr. Wilson and his students recently hosted a "dumpster warming" party to mark the start of what will hopefully be a long a fruitful endeavor for all involved. Around 250 people came to the event, which was accompanied by student presentations related to the project.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Dumpster Project is its symbolic nature, as Wilson will be conserving resources where they are normally discarded. Nevertheless, Wilson believes that facilitating dialogue is more important than metaphorical meaning. "The end game is that the dumpster becomes a conversation," said Wilson. "For some people it'll be about sustainability, for some people it will be about less is more, for some people it will be a business proposition. We just want a conversation."

Brewery to Help LA River Flow Free

While the Los Angeles River won't flow freely with beer, it very well could flow freely because of beer. That's because Golden Road Brewery, a local Los Angeles craft brewery, has partnered with the LA River Revitalization Corps for its newest brew.

Golden Road named their newest seasonal ale the 2020 IPA, in reference to Greenway 2020, a movement spearheaded by the LA River Revitalization Corps with the goal of creating a 51 mile greenway that spans the entire length of the Los Angeles River.

The LA River was channelized in 1935 after massive floods, and since then it has been more famous for movies than its natural features. But the last few years have seen momentum moving towards returning the river to its natural state, turning what was once an eyesore into a place of recreation.