While New York City’s inadequate waste management system is one of my constant themes or perhaps obsessions, at the end of December, the New York Post published a wonderful "man bites dog:" story: The amount of garbage we are producing is going down! David Seifman, one of the Post’s terrific political journalists reported that Read More
As 2008 comes to a close, it really has been the best and worst of years. The economy, the continuing carnage in Iraq, the persistence of extreme poverty and the steady destruction of the planet are certainly on the negative side of the annual ledger. But, as we look toward 2009 there is reason to Read More
It wasn’t all that long ago that supporting nuclear power as a Democrat in New York State was an easy way to lose an election.
"In 1992 I was in a three-way race for the State Assembly," said Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, whose opponents in that race were a high school math teacher in his fifties Read More
As President-Elect Obama focuses his transition team on a green stimulus plan, here in New York, Governor Patterson is also proposing public policies that serve multiple purposes. While in Washington, they are able to print money and run a deficit, at the state and local level we have to pay as we go. In Washington Read More
While New York often looks to California for innovative, environmental ideas, the movie-making business that is centered in Southern California is not known for being frugal or conscious of resource constraints. The creative process dominates, and entertainment is known for excess. "A lot of waste takes place on production sites," said Zahava Stroud, President and Read More
The economy lost 533,000 jobs in November, raising the official US unemployment rate to 6.7%. When you add to that the number of people who have given up their job searches or are working part time when they would rather work full time, our real unemployment rate is probably closer to 12.5%. Over the last Read More
So, you don’t have a job. Could you get one by being green?
In the last year, the U.S. Green Building Council has held two green jobs fairs in New York for would-be sustainable designers and the businesses who want them, drawing about 300 people each. At the third, held last Friday at N.Y.U.’s Read More
This summer I wrote about the need for increased public subsidies for mass transit and about the importance of keeping transit fares as low as possible. Due to over borrowing for capital improvements during the Pataki administration and the reduction in revenues from the City’s real-estate transfer tax, estimates of the size of Read More
The winds of change are certainly blowing out of the District of Columbia these days. While the big news is our newly elected president, we also see that Henry Waxman was able to defeat John Dingell and take over as the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. It has been from this Read More
On November 19 Columbia University and the Manhattan Borough President’s Office held a conference on The Politics of Food. The half-day conference was devoted to one of New York City’s biggest challenges: ensuring that the public has ready access to high-quality food. Speakers included Columbia President Lee Bollinger, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, New York Read More
