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Monthly archive for July, 2009
The Daily Dig – High Speed Rail Edition
Friday, July 31st, 2009
. In general news: Following the House’s lead, the Senate passed a $7 billion measure to bail out the nearly-broke Highway Trust Fund. Obama is expected to sign it. (WaPo) [SButtonZ button="digg"] From Canada, a study finds that a high Read more ›
Talking Trains With IBM’s Head Of Rail Innovation
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
The media took notice last month when IBM announced it was opening a “Global Rail Innovation Center” in Beijing. It was an intriguing and timely announcement, certainly. And though we couldn’t help but think that it would have been cool Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘Tear Down This Sign’ Edition
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
. A big story about white roofs as a way to save energy and potentially delay climate change–a drum we’ve been beating here for months–lands on page A1 of the NY Times. “Roof makers are racing to develop” reflective products Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘Kalashnikovs For Clunkers’ Edition
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
. Transportation is responsible for a third of US CO2 emissions. A new report argues that we can halve that figure by 2050 by pursuing smart infrastructure investment and land use policies and being more aggressive in road tolling. (“Moving Read more ›
The Best of TreeHugger: Fat Cars, Vegan Robots, and The World’s Coolest Subway Maps
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Each week, we’ll be doing a round-up of some of our favorite stories from our friends over at TreeHugger. Likewise, a weekly Infrastructurist digest will be kicking off soon at TH. -Jebediah This week, TreeHugger wondered to what extent poor Read more ›
In Teetering Dubai, A New Metro And World’s Tallest Building Are About To Debut (Photo Tour)
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Oh, Dubai. Sometimes we wish you success, because you’re so funny. Other times we can’t wait till you run out of oil and just turn back into a desert wasteland, because you’re so gross. [SButtonZ button="digg"] Of late, the Gulf Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘Throwing SmartCars In Canals’ Edition
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
. Why did oil prices shoot up to $150 last year? A while back, US regulators ruled it was mostly supply and demand, not speculation. Now… they’ve changed their mind. It was speculation after all! (WSJ) [SButtonZ button="digg"] Eight Midwestern Read more ›
What Do Americans Have Against Awesome Toilets?
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Here’s a question: why would a consumer culture reject a technology that makes one of our most basic human functions more comfortable and hygienic? After all, Americans are voracious in their appetite for novel products when it comes to everything Read more ›
Cruise Liner Unwittingly Drags Giant Dead Whale Into Port
Monday, July 27th, 2009
A gruesome scene played out in Vancouver over the weekend as a 950-foot cruise ship pulled into the city’s Canada Place port with 70-foot fin whale impaled on its bow. The animal’s enormous carcass required two tug boats to pull Read more ›
The Daily Dig – New York Bridges Edition
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Total energy consumption in the US grew in 2008. From a global warming perspective that might sound like bad news, but the use of coal and petroleum actually fell, while renewables and nuclear power expanded. (Green Sheet) [SButtonZ button="digg"] OK, Read more ›
The Daily Dig – High Speed Rail Edition
Friday, July 24th, 2009
. Yesterday the House passed a $123 billion transportation and housing bill that includes $4 billion in high speed rail funding. Half of the HSR money could be used as seed capital for a national infrastructure bank, however. (AP) Buffalo’s Read more ›
What’s Your Water Footprint?
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Mine is 1,117 gallons per day, as calculated by the H20 Calculator. Frankly, that’s much bigger than I would have thought, even if slightly below the US average of 1190. But my living arrangements are hardly typical: * I live Read more ›
20/20 Vision: In The Future Will Oil Cost $20/Barrel–or $20/Gallon?
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
There is an interesting resonance in a couple of predictions about energy prices that have hit the press recently. A widely-noted new book announces that gasoline will get so expensive–$20 a gallon–that it will completely upend how the world economy Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘Know Your Fire Hydrants’ Edition
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
. [SButtonZ button="digg"] The House is voting today on a spending bill that includes $4 billion for high speed rail. Tom Latham, a Republican from Iowa, wants to strip $3 billion of the HSR money and spend it on roads. Read more ›
Let’s Replace Central Park With An Airport! Ha?
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Some secret group called the Manhattan Airport Foundation thinks it’s time to do away with the world’s most famous park and put a state of the art aviation facility in middle of Manhattan. Now is certainly the time for bold Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘Plants Are Infrastructure Too’ Edition
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
. Last month’s tragic crash on the DC Metro was caused by a failure of the train control system. Now it seems like those failures are rather common — they’ve been documented on 4 separate lines lately. (WaPo) New Yorkers, Read more ›
Steven Chu Is Totally On Facebook
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] Secretaries of Energy are just like us! They’re on Facebook too, compiling their hobbies and likes and dislikes and throwing up a few old photos, including the one where they’re next to a celeb. By “they,” we mean Read more ›
Between Cell Phones And Higher Speed Limits, 25,000 Deaths And $1 Trillion Lost On US Roads?
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] Big, shocking numbers attached to diffuse phenomena are weird — one reads them and kind of goes, “Hmm, that’s a lot!” But there are no collapsing skyscapers to look at on tv, and after a moment of trying Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ’259-Car Pile Up’ Edition
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] . Officials at the Dept of Transportation were well aware that when drivers use a cell phone (of any sort) they are as dangerous as drunks. But they buried the facts to avoid “antagonizing” Congress and to preserve Read more ›
What Would Our Headlines Look Like If Rail Travel Were Only As Safe As Car Travel?
Monday, July 20th, 2009
There’s an old knock–frequently cited at the expense of Thomas Friedman–about the kind of journalist who quotes his cab driver. That said: I was in Washington, DC, a few days after the recent Metro accident and my cabbie was complaining Read more ›
