Eric dP:
I’ve got a pair of good suggestions this week.
In the Vancouver Observer, Barry Saxifrage looks at national emissions trends and reveals that the world leader is—it’s hard to believe it, but it’s true—the United States. And as he points out, US reductions are no small potatoes:
How big is a cut of 430 million tonnes of CO2? It’s equal to all CO2 from all Canadians outside Alberta. From a US perspective, it’s equal to eliminating the combined emissions of ten western states: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.
And at The Nation, Dave Zirin has the definitive case for why we should all root for the Miami Heat.
Clark:
Who knew??!! It seems that the smarter you are, the more vulnerable you are to a wide range of cognitive errors.
[S]cientists gave…students four measures of “cognitive sophistication.” …all four of the measures showed positive correlations, “indicating that more cognitively sophisticated participants showed larger bias blind spots.”
Just a reminder that intelligence is no guarantee that you’re not being dense.
Congestion tolling—where people are charged more for using roads when they’re more crowded—has a lot of support from theorists, but often generates a huge political backlash. (See, for example, the opposition to NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed congestion pricing system for downtown Manhattan.) But it might be possible to achieve some of the same ends—less congestion, shorter trips—by using carrots rather than sticks. Researchers at Stanford are experimenting with congestion-busting incentives, such as giving people an extra $50 in their paychecks to shift their commutes to off-peak times. And according to the New York Times, “[t]he program has proved so popular that it is to be expanded soon to also cover parking.”
Mock me if you will, but I still love charts!!
Fail. Earlier this week, Apple announced that it was moving its mobile devices away from Google maps—but Apple’s new mapping software doesn’t include transit directions! Duh. For me, that kinda defeats the purpose of having maps on your phone in the first place. So if you want to help convince Apple of the error of their ways, the good folks at Walk Score have a petition to restore transit to the iPhone.
Anna:
Dr. Mark Hyman, author of The Blood Sugar Solution, says sugar is more addictive than heroin. I believe it. He offers some solid ways to “upgrade your own biological software” to kick the habit. (Or watch him explain it in a short video.)
From Better Cities: James Bacon (of Bacon’s Rebellion) insists that there is nothing inherently liberal, or conservative, about compact, mixed-use communities. He offers a case for smart growth and urbanism that is tailored for hard-core conservative Republicans.
From GOOD: Gridbid, launching nationwide today (they began testing in California in March), is a website where homeowners can put their roofs up for auction for use by a solar power company:
Interested companies will bid on a rooftop, then roof-owners choose a winner based on the best deal. Homeowners pick a compensation package, like funneling profits toward a lease or mortgage financing, as well as immediately saving big on their utility bill. And companies can save 80 percent of what they would normally spend to scout rooftop locations and install power sources.
Eric H:
Will we be traveling across the cosmos any time soon? Probably not.
