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Green Cities = Calmer Minds and Stronger Hearts
If you're like me, even a short summer getaway from the city, like to the mountains or shore, helps to calm your mind and strengthen your heart. Imagine if our cities were more like the natural places we visit--what beneficial impact could this have on our health? This question has special importance as it pertains to lower-income city-dwellers who can't afford to escape to a quieter place.

The rapid growth and redevelopment sweeping U.S. cities has renewed interest in the impact of urban design on public health, including mental well-being. Spurred by important new research, many health experts are calling for greener, more livable cities to foster happier, healthier people.

To appreciate the role of city design on health, think about the last time you got sick. Often illness occurs at a stressful time, when work and family pressures cascade to cause a weakening of physical defenses.

Now think about the environment of our cities, with rampant noise, exposure to pollutants, and other stressors. Of equal concern, our city environments too often lack trees and other calming greenspaces that have been shown to improve our mental health and sense of physical well-being.

Urban living is most stressful for low-income people, whose neighborhoods are less likely to include trees and other natural features, and more likely to experience extreme heat, flooding, excess noise and pollution from industrial operations, and the visual blight of boarded-up buildings and trash.

All of this comes at a cost to health. When stresses come too fast and frequently, our bodies and minds fall into a depleted state and vulnerable to poor health. New research on the impact of "Adverse Childhood Experiences" reinforces this relationship between stressful experiences and our health, particularly for children.

So what can we do? A serious strategy for health equity in America must include a massive, nationwide commitment to greening our cities--starting with low-income neighborhoods where health-damaging stresses are worst.

Creating green neighborhoods won't just address mental health. Shade trees and other greenspaces also directly lessen environmental health hazards like urban heat islands, caused when asphalt and other built surfaces create an oven-like effect on hot days. If left unaddressed, heat islands put residents of these high heat areas at greater health risk.

Health-promoting cities also need transportation options that increase exercise and fitness, like protected bike lanes, safe biking and walking trails, bike-share programs, and public transit that links to these walk-bike networks. These kinds of high-quality and diverse transit alternatives are often concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods but should be available to all.

So what can we do? Too often our society views parks and other green features as a luxury for civic investment. Given their importance--including for health--we need to make city greening a priority. Every neighborhood should include beautiful parks, greenways, and other outdoor spaces where people can build physical and mental health. By providing places for neighbors to gather, these places also promote community health.

Here are great examples from Chicago and Los Angeles showing how we can turn urban blight like abandoned rail lines and trash-strewn alleys into healthier neighborhoods. Foundations understand the importance of this work, as illustrated by Civic Commons, an exciting new $40 million effort that is one of many public and private initiatives intended to foster urban greening nationally.

We cannot underestimate the challenge ahead. The creation of green neighborhoods requires sophisticated siting analysis using computer mapping tools to assure that we make investment in the highest need locations. Next-generation design is also critical to create "smart parks" and other high-impact greenspace that meets multiple needs. Once we create this vision, the required scale of investment will be in the trillions of dollars.

The potential economic payback in improved public health would be immense. For example, one study in Denmark found health benefits for bicycle commuting far beyond calories burned in the saddle. Bike commuters also ate healthier diets and felt less stress at work, among other positive effects. If we could make biking transportation fully safe and accessible in our cities, the health impacts would be immense.

But the imperative behind this work is moral as well as financial. A person's ability to enjoy a healthy life should not be predetermined by where he or she can afford to live. It is time to spread green more completely and equitably through our cities. Everyone deserves to live in a green neighborhood that supports a calm mind and healthy heart.

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Addicted to oil: US gasoline consumption is higher than ever

Lucas Davis, University of California, Berkeley

August was the biggest month ever for U.S. gasoline consumption. Americans used a staggering 9.7 million barrels per day. That's more than a gallon per day for every U.S. man, woman and child.

The new peak comes as a surprise to many. In 2012, energy expert Daniel Yergin said, "The U.S. has already reached what we can call`peak demand." Many others agreed. The U.S. Department of Energy forecast in 2012 that U.S. gasoline consumption would steadily decline for the foreseeable future.

Source: Constructed by Lucas Davis (UC Berkeley) using EIA data 'Motor Gasoline, 4-Week Averages.'

This seemed to make sense at the time. U.S. gasoline consumption had declined for five years in a row and, in 2012, was a million barrels per day below its July 2007 peak. Also in August 2012, President Obama had just announced aggressive new fuel economy standards that would push average vehicle fuel economy to 54 miles per gallon.

Fast forward to 2016, and U.S. gasoline consumption has increased steadily four years in a row. We now have a new peak. This dramatic reversal has important consequences for petroleum markets, the environment and the U.S. economy.

How did we get here? There were a number of factors, including the the Great Recession and a spike in gasoline prices at the end of the last decade, which are unlikely to be repeated any time soon. But it should come as no surprise. With incomes increasing again and low gasoline prices, Americans are back to buying big cars and driving more miles than ever before.

The Great Recession

The slowdown in U.S. gasoline consumption between 2007 and 2012 occurred during the worst global recession since World War II. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the Great Recession as beginning December 2007, exactly at the beginning of the slowdown in gasoline consumption. The economy remained anemic, with unemployment above 7 percent through 2013, just about when gasoline consumption started to increase again.

Economists have shown in dozens of studies that there is a robust positive relationship between income and gasoline consumption - when people have more to spend, gasoline usage goes up. During the Great Recession, Americans traded in their vehicles for more fuel-efficient models, and drove fewer miles. But now, as incomes are increasing again, Americans are buying bigger cars and trucks with bigger engines, and driving more total miles.

Gasoline prices

The other important explanation is gasoline prices. During the first half of 2008, gasoline prices increased sharply. It is hard to remember now, but U.S. gasoline prices peaked during the summer of 2008 above US$4.00 gallon, driven by crude oil prices that had topped out above $140/barrel.

These $4.00+ prices were short-lived, but gasoline prices nonetheless remained steep during most of 2010 to 2014, before falling sharply during 2014. Indeed, it was these high prices that contributed to the decrease in U.S. gasoline consumption between 2007 and 2012. Demand curves, after all, do slope down. Economists have shown that Americans are getting less sensitive to gasoline prices, but there is still a strong negative relationship between prices and gasoline consumption.

Moreover, since gasoline prices plummeted in the last few months of 2014, Americans have been buying gasoline like crazy. Last year was the biggest year ever for U.S. vehicle sales, with trucks and SUVs leading the charge. This summer Americans took to the roads in record numbers. The U.S. average retail price for gasoline was $2.24 per gallon on August 29, 2016, the lowest Labor Day price in 12 years. No wonder Americans are driving more.

Can fuel economy standards turn the tide?

It's hard to make predictions. Still, in retrospect, it seems clear that the years of the Great Recession were highly unusual. For decades U.S. gasoline consumption has gone up and up - driven by rising incomes - and it appears that we are now very much back on that path.

This all illustrates the deep challenge of reducing fossil fuel use in transportation. U.S. electricity generation, in contrast, has become considerably greener over this same period, with enormous declines in U.S. coal consumption. Reducing gasoline consumption is harder, however. The available substitutes, such as electric vehicles and biofuels, are expensive and not necessarily less carbon-intensive. For example, electric vehicles can actually increase overall carbon emissions in states with mostly coal-fired electricity.

How we roll: Americans are buying less fuel-efficient vehicles, such as SUVs, as gas prices go down.
gas pump from www.shutterstock.com

Can new fuel economy standards turn the tide? Perhaps, but the new "footprint"-based rules are yielding smaller fuel economy gains than was expected. With the new rules, the fuel economy target for each vehicle depends on its overall size (i.e., its "footprint"); so as Americans have purchased more trucks, SUVs and other large vehicles, this relaxes the overall stringency of the standard. So, yes, fuel economy has improved, but much less than it would have without this mechanism.

Also, automakers are pushing back hard, arguing that low gasoline prices make the standards too hard to meet. Some lawmakers have raised similar concerns. The EPA's comment window for the standards' midterm review ends Sept. 26, so we will soon have a better idea what the standards will look like moving forward.

Regardless of what happens, fuel economy standards have a fatal flaw that fundamentally limits their effectiveness. They can increase fuel economy, but they don't increase the cost per mile of driving. Americans will drive 3.2 trillion miles in 2016, more miles than ever before. Why wouldn't we? Gas is cheap.

Lucas Davis, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Doing Well and Doing Good: Learning from KIND Snacks Founder Daniel Lubetzky
Do you eat KIND Bars, those ubiquitous fruit and nut bars wrapped in distinctive striped packaging? There's a good chance you do since they are the fastest growing snack company in the US. Last week, I heard Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of KIND Snacks, speak here in Jerusalem about his vision as a corporate citizen, and I was encouraged by what he said.

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I was hopeful hearing his vision not only for a healthier society, but also for a peaceful one defined by living in balance with the planet. Lubetzky has real credibility in this sphere. He isn't just the founder of KIND Bars; he's also the founder of The PeaceWorks Foundation, whose mission includes "creative and innovative efforts to foster understanding, tolerance and co-existence in regions of conflict through concrete and practical methodologies."

Over the past six years, I have seen first-hand in Israel how joint projects with shared economic and environmental goals can help overcome mistrust and build connection where it seemed impossible. The organization I founded and direct, The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), organized six Jerusalem Eco Fairs earlier this year, bringing together Jews, Christians, and Muslims to buy and sell locally-made ecological products and services. The fairs were a model of cooperation built around a shared vision and goal, and it's a model proven to work.

We at ICSD also organize ecological tours of Jerusalem's Kidron Valley, employing both Israeli and Palestinian guides and visiting Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. In the course of these tours participants experience how all people in Jerusalem, regardless of faith tradition, share a common land and a common home. In the same vein, Peaceworks believes that the power of "mutually beneficial economic initiatives can create good relations between rivaling peoples in the same way that business partners anywhere profit from cooperation in today's marketplace."

Daniel said his environmental concern stems from his desire to leave his children a healthy planet, and it's obvious that environmental awareness permeates how he runs his business. He spoke about the importance of the dual-bottom line - companies being economically profitable AND socially impactful. KIND tries to do this in a variety of ways, including selling products that the FDA recognizes as 'healthy,' and having KIND Causes that supports a range of social ventures. Danile posts about environmental sustainability and social welfare on his personal blog. How many CEOs of major American companies have a blog with an 'environment' section, with articles on bee colony decline, climate change, and ecological food production?

Even environmentally aware businesses have challenges, and KIND is no different. For example, KIND Snacks is now a significant player in the almond market, purchasing 1% of all the almonds grown in the world. So they have to figure out how to maintain a supply of almonds in a way that is both sustainable and affordable.

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The majority of the almonds KIND uses - and they use a LOT - come from California. Almonds are a water-intensive crop: it takes about a gallon of water to grow just one almond. And California, which is in the midst of a prolonged and extreme drought, is the #1 producer of almonds in the world, and the leading supplier to KIND. Lubetsky and his environmentally friendly vision of KIND have to grapple with the multiple challenges this presents. But even with this challenge, there's a plus here.

As Eric Holthaus wrote in Slate, "For now, California's unique Mediterranean climate is almost ideal for almonds to flourish. Yes, almonds use a lot of water, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Almonds are much more efficient water-users, per calorie, than dairy or beef, for example. Replacing a glass of cow's milk with almond milk is a net gain for the environment."

Replacing an egg-and-sausage muffin fast food breakfast with a fruit-and-nut bar is also a net gain environmentally. In the midst of figuring out how to be an environmentally positive corporate citizen, KIND is helping consumers make good choices ever easier with their commitment to not just doing well, but also to doing good. I'm encouraged by their business model built on social and ecological values, and hope they are a model for others.

Photos courtesy of: KIND Snacks and Localwiki.org

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Conservation Measures Needed to Ensure Future Generations of Sharks, Rays
Overexploitation threatens the future of many large animals including sharks and rays. These sleek and majestic animals are often caught as incidental "bycatch" in longline fisheries or targeted specifically for their fins, wings, gill plates, meat, oil, teeth and cartilage. The combination of the "bycatch" fishery and unregulated, international trade in shark products is responsible for the precipitous decline of many species. Indeed, research suggests that some shark species have declined by 75 to 90 percent in the past 15 years.

One mechanism for regulating the international trade of plants and wildlife is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is an agreement among governments from 183 member countries that provides a framework for monitoring and controlling international trade of species at risk. It is recognized globally as one of the most effective and best-enforced international conservation agreements and a powerful instrument for biodiversity conservation.

In response to the growing threats to shark and ray populations, many CITES member countries, including the United States, agreed recently to co-sponsor listing proposals to control trade of several commercially valuable shark and ray species. A listing on CITES would better ensure that products from sharks and rays that are traded internationally come from sustainably-managed fisheries that do not drive depletion of wild populations.

As advocates for the conservation of sharks and other ocean species, the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP) - a partnership of select U.S. public aquariums including Shedd Aquarium - applauds the sponsorship efforts and is raising awareness ahead of the September - October meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17) in Johannesburg, South Africa. There, member countries will review proposals and vote to implement Appendix II listing controls on international trade of sponsored species, including nine species of devil rays, three species of thresher sharks and the silky shark.

Why should we care about sharks swimming in our oceans? Sharks have survived for 450 million years and yet they may be gone within the next few decades because of our negligence. In addition to this philosophical introspection, sharks are critically important apex predators and maintain healthy ocean ecosystems and fisheries, which are both critical for billions of people around the world, especially the world's poorest. Currently, marine fisheries provide a sixth of the animal protein people eat, including the seafood at any restaurant. However, these keystone species - sharks - that help maintain ocean fisheries are quickly losing the battle against over-exploitation and desperately need international protection under CITES.

Ten states and their citizens have acted in the past to protect sharks and we are asking for similar support. In 2012, with backing from residents, Shedd's home state of Illinois became the first inland state to implement a comprehensive ban on the trade, sale or distribution of shark fins. More broadly, in June, Congress introduced legislation that would ban the trade of shark fins widely in the U.S. And, this September, the ACP is hoping to amplify this effort internationally through CITES.

To have the proposals adopted, we need two-thirds of the CITES member countries to cast a supporting vote. Increased international support and advocacy could increase the odds. You can make your voice heard by digitally "signing" a petition through the #SharkStanley social media movement, which will be presented at the CoP17.

Additionally, you can take immediate action by reducing your personal demand for the international trade of shark and ray products by purchasing items that were not created at the expensive of sharks and rays. You can also sign a petition to support the recently-introduced bipartisan Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act.

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"Food and the City" - from nutritional challenge to tasty opportunity

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EATx UNGA 2016, Putting food in urban areas on the agenda during the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York. September 20th, 2016

Four years ago, before I founded EAT, I was a part of the Norwegian government-appointed expert panel for Sustainable City Development. We discussed urban planning, infrastructure and transportation. And we gave advice on active transportation, green lungs and energy positive building. But we all overlooked the haunting challenges and huge possibilities sitting on a plate right in front of us: food!

Why food?
Our global food system is far beyond its expiration date. What we eat, and how it is produced, is driving some of the greatest challenges of our time. Both for people and planet. When we add up those suffering from under- and overnutrition as well as micronutrient deficiencies, almost half the world´s population can be classified as malnourished. While nearly 800 million still are going hungry, more than 2 billions are now overweight or obese, and unhealthy diets has become the biggest cause of early death - bigger than smoking. In the US, today´s children are expected to have a shorter life span than their parents, caused by poor diet and obesity-related diseases.

On top of this, food is also driving an environmental crisis: The global food system is the single most important contributor to climate change, accounting for up to one third of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as being a significant driver of deforestation, loss of biodiversity and the depletion of marine ecosystems.

Why cities?
Rapid and often unplanned city growth and urbanization is amplifying these challenges. Never before have so many people been dependent upon so few to produce their food. All over the world, people are leaving the countryside where food is grown to live out their lives in urban areas where food is eaten out of a can, a plastic bag or a Styrofoam box. Today, more than half the world's population live in cities. By 2050, 7 out of the expected 10 billion of us will live in urban areas.

Cities are responsible for more than 70 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, and hence, represent the single greatest opportunity for tackling climate

And most of the food is consumed in the city. Urban city dwellers are increasingly surrounded and tempted by cheap calories in excess. On every corner, at every hour, there are fast food restaurants and food stands serving cheap and morbidly large portions of meat, sugary drinks and ultra-processed junk.

6.5 million American children are growing up in so-called "food deserts", where fresh fruits and vegetables are not just out of season, but out of stock, out of sight and out of mind completely. Our genetics haven't changed over these past decades, but the environment we live in has! Cities have become "obesogenic environments", with cars, escalators and elevators limiting daily physical activity to a minimum. Consequently, people end up making unhealthy and unsustainable choices and become sick and overweight almost by default.

Without careful planning, cities will struggle to sustainably feed and accommodate an expanding population in a healthy way. And without cities solving its pressing health and environmental challenges, the entire global sustainable development agenda will be threatened.

Three reasons to smile - and get to work
Current statistics may seem gloomy for multiple reasons. But there are also reasons to be optimistic (and start rolling up your sleeves). Here are three.

1: One meal - several goals
First, food is a great way to multitask for health and sustainability. Evidence show that certain food choices greatly benefit both our health and the environment. Eating more plants, less meat and dairy products and less ultraprocessed food, will not only make people healthier, but help cut emissions. Getting food right could be our fast track to reaching several of the Sustainable Development Goals. Instead of singling out individual challenges, it's time we start searching for synergies!

2: Where nations linger, cities act
Mayors, not presidents or prime ministers, are taking the lead on both public health and sustainability. Where nations see obstacles, cities seize opportunities. Cities attract talents and investments, change makers and influencers. And a city council is just small enough to connect different experts, leaders and agendas, instead of creating silos. All of this makes cities great platforms to test, learn, adapt and spread best practice that can later be scaled up to both national and international levels.

Leading up to the Paris Climate Conference (COP 21) in 2015, mayors from all over the world united to push for a global agreement. Among them, they shared not only ambitious targets, but also impressive transitions.

3: New urban food scene on the rise
Members of the C40 Network and the Nordic Council of Ministers have partnered with EAT to create Urban Food System Networks that help accelerate healthier and sustainable food systems solutions at a local level. The cities involved will not only place food on top of their agenda, but start creating a fully integrated and holistic food policy. When cities like New York, Milan, Accra, Wuhan and Curitiba change their default from fat and filthy to healthy, hearty and happy, the rest of the world will be anxious to copy their recipe.

Looking back, it is overwhelming how much our diets, eating habits and the food available to us has changed in just one generation. Going forward, we must envision transforming our food scene once again for our children.

The UN has named this coming period the "Decade of Action on Nutrition". Let's make sure that decade is celebrated in your city too. Cities have the autonomy, the organizations, the money, the ingenuity and the chefs to take a lead and create a menu for a healthy and sustainable future. Everyone has a vote and a voice. We just have to open our eyes to what may be right in front of us: a fresh, well-balanced meal for people and planet and 17 Global Goals within reach!

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post and the EAT Foundation, in conjunction with the high-level side event, "Urban Food Systems: The Nutrition Challenge," during the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York. The EATx at UNGA is a collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. #EATx #eatforum

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Hundreds of Thousands of People Plugged into National Drive Electric Week
Plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales have jumped 29 percent in the United States in the first several months of 2016 over last year -- and a whopping 49 percent increase globally. Consumer Federation of America just released a report showing increasing consumer interest in these vehicles while last week, people flocked to hundreds of National Drive Electric Week events to find out for themselves why EVs are quickly gaining ground.

Spanning across 212 cities, 46 U.S. states, and seven countries, this year's sixth annual National Drive Electric Week yielded the largest number of events to date -- 235 electric vehicle promotion events all happening the same week. With approximately 120,000 people in attendance and more than 400 TV, radio, print, and web articles to date posted about this year's effort, the initiative was the largest and most publicized U.S. clean energy mass mobilization of the year so far. Hundreds of passionate volunteers, many of whom might describe themselves as EVangelical, organized these events in their local communities.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Pace at the Oxnard, California 2016 National Drive Electric Week event.

Mike Kamm, from the Albany/Capital District EV Drivers Group and the event organizer from the Delmar/Albany, New York event where U.S. Congressman Paul Tonko and Sierra Club national board president Aaron Mair were among the speakers. Mike Kamm excitedly shared with us that one of the Kia Soul EVs featured at his event was sold to one of their attendees later that day. Jeff Shaw, who works for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, attended the Raleigh, North Carolina event, and the next day he purchased a Nissan LEAF. As one of the hundreds of thousands of people who had been duped by Volkswagen into buying a so-called "clean diesel" car that turned out to be highly polluting, Jeff was eager to turn over a new...well, leaf.

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Sierra Club national board president Aaron Mair (left) attended the 2016 National Drive Electric Week event near Albany, NY. Photo courtesy of Kat Fisher.

In nearby Asheville, North Carolina, famous racecar driver Leilani Munter, featured with her Tesla in the film Racing Extinction, urged her event crowd to push for the increased availability of EVs in North Carolina where EV inventory is limited (see the Sierra Club's Rev Up EVs report for more details on how automakers and dealers can ramp up the EV customer shopping experience). Known for providing a caffeinated jolt, Dunkin' Donuts used National Drive Electric Week as an opportunity to launch new fast-charging EV stations, including at several Pittsburgh area locations.

Public officials came out in droves to their local events to make appearances and many even issued proclamations, including the governor of Hawaii, the Chair of the California Air Resources Board, U.S. Congressman Paul Tonko (NY), and dozens of city councillors, state representatives, and many mayors from cities ranging from Cupertino, California to Boise, Idaho and New Orleans, Louisiana. The President of the University of Utah and the Mayor of Salt Lake City announced at their event a new round of funding for EV rebates and reduced costs of EVs for area residents through a joint purchasing program.

Electric transit buses were featured at events in Juneau, Alaska, Richmond, California, and Concord, New Hampshire (at the New Hampshire State House where Proterra offered free rides in its electric bus). U.S. service members swarmed the EVs on display at the event at their Groton, Connecticut Naval base. Event organizers in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles featured EV rebates geared specifically toward low-income residents and announced new EV charging stations in Watts.

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Sierra Club chief of staff Jesse Simons (second from left) and Sierra Club volunteers at the Richmond, California National Drive Electric Week event. Photo courtesy of Jesse Simons.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy amplified the week's events on social media. Event organizers in Knoxville, Tennessee were smart to host their event, an EV tailgate party, at the University of Tennessee Neyland Stadium, with a capacity of over 100,000 people, right before the UT versus Ohio State football game -- talk about a large crowd!

National Drive Electric Week, organized nationally by the Sierra Club, Plug In America, and the Electric Auto Association - in partnership with dozens of local groups and hundreds of volunteers - is founded on the idea that drivers of gasoline-powered cars are more likely to convert to driving clean electric vehicles if they are able to talk to real-life EV drivers and test drive the vehicles for themselves. It's the best way to learn about the increasing fun, availability, affordability, reliability, convenience, and lower emissions of electric cars. The San Diego event organizer, Josh Erwin, reported there were nearly 800 EV test rides at that event alone. We're confident many of these folks will soon switch gears and drive electric.

This post was co-authored by Mary Lunetta, the Sierra Club's Electric Vehicles Initiative campaign representative.

Sierra Club interns Sari Klein and Alysha Cross contributed to this article.

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The Florida Everglades: A Cautionary Tale for New Mexico's Gila River
Traveling cross country from the Everglades in Florida to the Gila River in New Mexico last weekend, I felt like a visitor from the future, sent with a cautionary tale. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past came to warn Ebenezer Scrooge of the consequences of his actions, I used the story of our beloved, broken Everglades as an example of what could happen if the beautiful, historic wild Gila River was diverted and drained to satisfy "water rights."

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The legendary Aldo Leopold helped save the Gila River's headwaters as part of our country's wilderness heritage.

The contrast between where the two ecosystems started and where they are today is achingly real, and the proposed change is loaded with foreboding.

According to the South Florida Water Management District, historically, "the Kissimmee River meandered for 103 miles through central Florida. . .....Native wetland plants, wading birds and fish thrived there. ..(But) in the 1960s, the Kissimmee River was channelized by cutting and dredging a 30-feet-deep straightaway through the river's meanders. . .. More than 90 percent of the waterfowl that once graced the wetlands disappeared . . . After the waterway was transformed into a straight, deep canal, it became oxygen-depleted and the fish community it supported changed dramatically..."

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South Florida's reputation for pristine waters and beaches took a significant hit last summer with a widespread algae bloom resulting from destabilizing the Kissimmee River and its Everglades ecosystem.

The ultimate indignity for the mighty Kissimmee and the Everglades ecosystem came this year when the accumulated interventions resulted in a massive algae bloom discharged into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, dealing a severe blow to the health of the system, humans and the region's economy.

Conversely, the Gila Conservation Coalition which invited me to speak at the 12th Annual River Festival describes the river today thus:

"The Gila's headwaters were protected as America's first wilderness area by the legendary naturalist and outdoorsman Aldo Leopold... over 300 species of bird have been recorded; streamside habitat supports wildlife ranging from the reclusive mountain lion to the threatened loach minnow, and no large dams impede the natural flow of waters. Sound like Shangri La? It is. . ."

So WHO in their right mind (?!) would propose to divert such a wonder and treasure of nature? According to the Coalition, "a small but influential group of farmers, business interests and the state water development agency are advocating for construction of a large diversion on the Gila River. Authorized to capture an average of 14,000 acre-feet of water annually, or double current withdrawals, this 'new' water supply is intended to increase crop production and urbanization in the region. Up to $128 million in federal subsidies is available to New Mexico to plan and construct this project. A water development project of this magnitude could severely impact the Gila's unique ecological and recreational values."

My new friend Maxine and her husband Adrian took me to their beloved Gila River where he proposed to her. They were married a week ago.

Standing on a rock in the burbling clear Gila River, I couldn't stop thinking how privileged I am to experience "Shangri-la" there, at George Washington Carver National Monument in Missouri which Superintendent James Heaney calls his little Shangri-la, and at my personal Shangri-la in Jamaica that I visited last month for the first time in 17 years. How short sighted and misguided it would be to compromise the Gila for the benefit of a few and the ruin of this beautiful, wild, elemental treasure.

Speaking at the festival that night I encouraged locals to cast a wide net that engages all the racial/ethnic, age and interest groups around the common interest of burnishing the jewel and keeping the Gila free for the benefit of this and future generations. I told them how, looking for an image of New Mexico's children to press the point that we need to save the Gila for them as Aldo Leopold saved it for us, I found a shocking barrage of negative information: For the third year in a row, the well being of the children of New Mexico ranked 49th in the country in 2015.

I suggested that there had to be other ways to use available funds to settle water rights and other claims so that all feel compensated. In an area where the economy is rapidly changing, including a decline in the traditional activities of ranching and mining, the river could be elevated as an eco-tourism attraction and a major economic driver.

To get to the festival in Silver City required three different planes and a four-hour wait in one airport, but the first thing I saw as I walked down the street early next morning was a sign honoring "the daughter of a slave and a Buffalo Soldier." I immediately felt right at home. While many of my friends were celebrating the long-awaited opening of the National African American Museum of History and Culture in our nation's capital, it was good to know that our presence and contributions extended here and were recognized and celebrated.

At my talk members of the audience eagerly told me about the Buffalo Soldiers buried at Fort Bayard just outside town. I was leaving too early in the morning to visit, so I pledge to go back. Imagine my surprise when I arrived home to this e-mail announcing the NPS' Buffalo Soldiers Study and seeking public input until December 31.

Aldo Leopold warned us that "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

It shouldn't require genius to know that. How could our forbears including Leopold, born 1887, be so much smarter than we are today with all our vaunted technological advancements?

But across our country, our natural resources are under threat, from the National Park Service's Director's Order21 to the Republican Platform salivating to remove large swaths of land from the public domain so they can be exploited for the benefit of a few. It's up to each and every one of us to act in protection of our natural, cultural and historic treasures such as the peerless Gila River, its wilderness environs and the ecosystem of the Florida Everglades.

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Swimming 130 Miles to New York City to Prove Importance of Healthy Rivers

Clean Water Advocate and New York Native Christopher Swain hopes to be the first person in history to swim the entire lengths of the Hudson River, the Gowanus Canal, and Newtown Creek.

The 48-year-old father of two plans to swim more than 130 miles from the easternmost tip of Long Island, to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. His route includes the entire lengths of Long Island Sound and the East River.

“I was born in New York City. I love the water, and I want it to be safe for swimming every day,” Swain said in an email to National Geographic Voices.

"FullSizeRender" — “I got stung in the face by jellyfish once on my first swim day and three times on my second swim day” Swain said in an email to National Geographic Voices. “It hurts, but it seems a small price to pay if it gets us closer to the day when all of New York's waterways are clean enough to swim in.” Photograph courtesy of Christopher Swain

“I believe that every waterway in New York should be safe for swimming every day,” Swain explained in a news statement about this venture. “The point of this swim is to call for a permanent end to the illegal dumping of raw sewage into our waterways.”

Swain aims to spend 4-6 hours a day in the water during the 18-20 days that he reckons it will take him to complete this swim. He will be escorted by a safety boat throughout his journey, and he will take occasional days off to spend time with his family, and to make presentations to schools and other organizations. Swain estimates he will reach New York City in early November, possibly sooner if he enjoys favorable ocean conditions.

Throughout his swim, Swain will be collecting water quality data, documenting conditions he finds in photographs and video clips, and monitoring his own physiological parameters like hours of sleep, calories consumed and burned, and heart rate. All of this information will be made available for free to interested teachers in the region. Educators interested in classroom visits are encouraged to contact Swain by email at onehealthyocean@gmail.com.

Swain's swim also serves as a fundraiser for his Campaign For Swimmable Waterways in NY. He plans to post regular updates on his progress.

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PREP-aring For A Changing Climate By Harnessing The Data Revolution
Co-authored by Francis Gassert

Sonoma County, California and Caldas, Colombia are very different communities, yet they share a common threat—climate change.

Both cities have similar ecological landscapes and agricultural resources. Sonoma's wine region is vulnerable to changing rainfall patterns and droughts spurred by warming temperatures; Caldas' coffee fields face devastating floods and landslides.

So they joined forced to tackle their shared problem. Through a USAID program, Sonoma and Caldas experts met in each location for a total of two weeks, identified the best climate data available, determined the risks they face and shared resiliency planning best practices, including engaging farmers and accounting for carbon storage in watersheds. Sonoma shared its climate risk data, and Caldas shared its watershed management planning information, enabling both to learn from the other.

The case of Sonoma and Caldas is a climate resilience success story, but it's a rare one. Communities like them worldwide face the same kinds of problems, but typically lack necessary access to data and guidance to accurately assess risks. Without this information, they can't make infrastructure investment decisions to protect themselves from escalating climate impacts.

Help is on the way. The Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP), a public-private partnership launching today, will harness the data revolution to strengthen climate resilience efforts, streamline climate data delivery, and inform researchers and data providers on which climate data are most valuable.

PREP is being launched by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), World Resources Institute (WRI), U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and a network of entities working on climate impact data.

A Platform and a Partnership for Resilience

PREP convenes government collaborators, tech companies, civil society and local governments around the world to create more resilient communities through:

An open, accessible platform: While abundant climate data exists, it often resides in government and research silos or is overly technical, with insufficient guidance on which data to use and how to use it. PREP's first major output is an open-source beta information platform building on the data architecture of WRI's Resource Watch collaborative. It facilitates access to critical data sets from entities like NASA, NOAA and DOI, transforming them into actionable information that users will eventually be able to contextualize with local knowledge, such as the location of critical infrastructure or vulnerable populations in a specific community. Data flows in and out of the PREP platform from multiple sources, with users like local governments, businesses and real estate developers accessing government data for their specific locations.
Designed by communities, for communities: PREP's beta platform is being launched with collaborating communities in Sonoma County, California; Puget Sound, Washington; and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Over the next 12 months, PREP will work with other communities, while continually adding new datasets and case studies as they become available, as well as new partners. Eventually, the PREP platform will also help communities like Sonoma and Caldas find each other, connect, and share data and stories of the risks they face and how they are building resilience.
A Platform AND a Partnership: PREP is more than just a data platform—it will also feature working groups including the world's leading researchers and data providers, such as federal agencies. This will allow planners consuming climate data to interact directly with the data providers, with both groups learning from each other. Analysts will get climate change data tailored to their location and context to make smart planning decisions, while science translators will learn which tools can help them meet the tailored needs of local planners.
Customization: In the next planned upgrade of the platform, users will be able to create customized dashboards showing live indicators of climate risk, access and visualize data without worrying about storage shortages or software challenges, and create a learning environment with other communities.

Over the next 12 months, we will expand the functionality of the platform. Here's one example of how we envision it will be used:

Imagine a town planner is developing a climate risk assessment in response to growing public concern after a spate of storms and floods. She convenes a team to conduct an assessment using PREP. The team easily accesses data on climate change and variability—such as temperature increases or sea level rise and rainfall projections—and combines them with local data about critical infrastructure and their vulnerabilities, such as roads, housing developments or power plants. The team can then integrate these findings and data points into their own online community dashboard to provide insights into how climate change could impact their specific circumstances, making long-term planning more climate resilient.

Creating a More Resilient Future

Sonoma and Caldas were lucky—thanks to USAID, they found each other to solve climate resilience challenges. But with a rapidly changing climate, we need a way for all communities to understand the risks they face and get resilience planning assistance.

PREP can help connect communities on the front lines of climate change find the information they need. Visit the PREP beta platform to join the growing partnership, and harness the data revolution to make neighborhoods around the world more resilient.

PREP collaborating partners include: Amazon Web Services, CARTO, Descartes Labs, Earth Knowledge, Esri, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), Future Earth, Forum One, Google Cloud Platform, Google Earth Engine, Group on Earth Observations, Microsoft, Sonoma County Climate Resilience Team, U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), Vizzuality, The Weather Company (an IBM Business), World Resources Institute

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Biofuels and Jet Travel
The sight of thousands of environmental advocates jetting to Paris or Rio for the latest climate conference has often been discussed when analysts assess the environmental footprints of these gatherings. Though I find these calculation exercises a little ridiculous, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from jet travel is a serious issue. While we can imagine an electric vehicle powered by renewable energy, air travel technology seems very dependent on fossil fuels--and the global economy remains highly dependent on air travel. Even though we can provide information and interact via phone, web and video, there is no substitute for humans sitting together and breaking bread. What can we do about air travel? Last week, Jet Blue demonstrated that it is possible to take one small step in a sustainable direction. According to Diane Cardwell of the New York Times:

JetBlue, seeking to get ahead of looming restrictions on airliners' greenhouse gas pollution, has agreed to buy more than 330 million gallons of renewable fuel over 10 years, the company said on Monday. It is one of the largest such purchase agreements yet. Under the agreement with the bioenergy company SG Preston, JetBlue would cover about 20 percent of its annual fuel use at Kennedy International Airport, its home base, with a biofuel blend. That is equivalent to 4 percent of the fuel used throughout its network, the airline said.

Biofuels may be a wasteful way of powering motor vehicles, but could be a useful way of reducing the use of fossil fuels for air travel. Jet Blue's long-term commitment can help build the market and infrastructure for aircraft biofuels. In the future, we will need a different technology for air travel, but it seems a long way off. Given the amount of money that airlines pay for fuel, a less expensive way of powering a jet makes economic sense. Unfortunately, biofuels hold only limited promise for reduced fossil fuel use over the near term due to the low price of oil. Cardwell mentions that Lufthansa and United Airlines are also considering biofuels, and there is some movement among international and U.S. regulatory agencies to require biofuels in a jet's fuel mix. In addition to biofuels, the U.N. is trying to build on the Paris climate agreement by setting goals for jet emissions. The United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization is hoping to approve an agreement next week to cap emissions from international air travel. While these targets have many loopholes and exemptions, and will largely be met by the purchase of offsets, they do signal the direction the world is heading in.

Companies like Jet Blue see the future and are moving ahead on sustainability issues, in part to brand themselves and connect to customers who care about these issues. The significance of these initiatives is that visible and important consumer companies know that the cost differential is small and is made up in customer loyalty. These are important steps in building awareness, but must be followed with new technologies that facilitate deep systemic change.

Recognizing the greenhouse gas pollution caused by air travel, NASA has begun a small-scale research effort to address this issue. This summer, NASA announced its:

Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program for a two-year study. The topics, including three specifically targeted at electrically-propelled aircraft are:
alternative fuel cells;

using 3-D printing to increase electric motor output;

the use of lithium-air batteries for energy storage;

new mechanisms for changing the shape of an aircraft wing in flight; and

the use of a lightweight material called aerogel in the design and development of aircraft antenna.

These five concepts, in addition to three of the six selected in 2015, address NASA's green aviation initiatives to cut fuel use by half, lower harmful emissions by 75 percent, and significantly reduce aircraft noise.

NASA acknowledges that there is no guarantee that these ideas will be practical, feasible or cost effective, but just like Jet Blue's effort, NASA is attempting to define and address the substantial greenhouse gas impact of air travel. These small first steps are important even if they lack drama.

Air travel presents a vivid example of the degree to which sustainability problems stem from our modern way of life. The answer for some is to do without. An all too common response by some environmental advocates is that virtue can only be achieved by denial. Since I have no confidence that denial is a winning strategy in mass politics or mass economic production and consumption, I think it is very important that we identify technologies and organizational practices that allow us to enjoy our modern way of life without damaging the environment.

Global communication and global travel have transformed economic life in our world and have been important tools in improving quality of life for many. They have transformed our world's culture in ways that we do not yet fully understand. The foreign is increasingly familiar, and in a less positive vein, a homogenized world culture is emerging. Young people are mastering social media, the first truly global institution that has ever been developed. They follow the images they see and the virtual relationships they build with travel and live interaction. While this is far from a universal phenomenon, it is a growing one. Many poor young people can see global images, but don't have resources to touch them. Still, travel has become a mass phenomenon. In the 1950s and 1960s, jet travel was limited to the rich and high-level business executives making relatively rare deals. Today, many people, including those who do not occupy executive suites, travel for business. We are all aware of the use of social media and travel by terrorists and criminals, but I guarantee you the positive and beneficial use of these technologies far exceed the use by criminals. (My favorite positive image is the opening and closing montage of the film Love Actually, depicting friends and families reuniting at an airport.)

And we benefit from the exchange and ideas generated due to air travel. The answer to environmental problems is not typically to eliminate the behaviors that cause the problems, but to study the impact of pollution on the planet's wellbeing, regulate the behaviors that cause pollution, and then develop new technologies and practices to comply with regulations. We have had a great deal of success in pursuing this approach to environmental sustainability. In the United States, air pollution, water pollution, and the releases of toxics into the environment have all been reduced as our economy has grown. Many parts of the country are reducing greenhouse gas emissions while they increase energy efficiency and modernize their energy system. Once the Courts permit the Clean Power Plan, we will see even more progress on greenhouse gas reduction.

It may be annoying to see wealthy and famous people jet in their private aircraft from environmental conferences to sustainability media events. But the benefits of their advocacy are worth the cost of their self-indulgence. Sustainability advocates must be about building coalitions and broadening support--not creating a politically correct but smug, self-satisfied permanent minority. Jet Blue and NASA have the right idea. Let's take the first small steps in building the technology and business models most appropriate to a renewable resource-based sustainable economy.

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Meatless Monday: Jewish Veg Offers a Sweet Start to the New Year
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts Sunday at sundown. So what do you want for this new year? Set your intention now. Rosh Hashanah offers "the most positive time to make a change in your life," says Jeffrey Cohan, executive director of Jewish Veg.

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Rosh Hashanah is when Cohan and his wife began their own "plant based journey." Attending temple services a few years ago, they listened as someone read from Genesis 1:29, the section where God tells Adam and Eve, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food." "My wife and I looked at each other and said, 'We're supposed to be vegetarian,'" says Cohan.

The two gave up meat on the spot and ultimately went vegan. Having grown up in a household where meat was served "at every meal," Cohan found going meatless was surprisingly easy and "totally transformative." He not only felt better, it resonated with him spiritually.

Cohan had been raised Jewish, but vaguely so, in a secular family. "I was struggling with Jewish liturgy. My spirituality hadn't developed yet, the High Holidays were tedious for me." Jewish Veg's executive director since 2012, Cohan says, "The amazing thing about going vegan is it changes the way you interact with people and animals. We truly see the world in a different, beautiful way."

Many of Jewish Veg's members first approach giving up meat to boost their health. They've got a great resource with the nonprofit's advisers including Dr. Joel Kahn and Nutrition Facts' Dr. Michael Greger. Increasingly, though, the interest is in animal rights, the environment and of course, ethics, wanting to live and eat in sync with Judaism's tenets. Jewish Veg, which turned 40 last fall, provides information and support for whatever's driving your passion, whether you're looking for a Jewish vegan partner or a veganized version of a cherished holiday recipe.

"We don't have to give up any of our Jewish favorites," says Cohan. "You can have brisket, but it doesn't have to be made animal flesh. Do it using seitan. You've got the same sauce, same onions, it will be just as delicious, you'll feel better about it and you'll be healthy."

I'd add the real special sauce is us. We knot food and feelings together all the time. What we want -- especially at the holidays -- is love, celebration, togetherness, a sense that everything's going to be all right. The key is choosing how to best express it. It doesn't come from brisket. It comes from us. That's what we bring to the table. A meal that causes no harm to others only furthers that love.

"Nobody supports cruelty to animals. People want to be healthier, too," says Cohan. "One of the beautiful things about being vegan is it eliminates" any conflict between "our values and our actions." *

Ready to make a change? Now's the time. "Rosh Hashanah is the most opportune time for action, a prime opportunity to engage in some soul-searching and to look at everything we're doing," says Cohan. "By starting the new year with a vegan meal, you're aligning yourself with the highest ideals of the Jewish religion, starting the year in the most compassionate way possible."

Vegan Date Honey

There are seven sacred foods in Judaism. None of them are brisket. All are vegan, even honey, which here comes from dates and not from bees.

This fruit purée has the thick consistency of apple butter. Spread it on toast, dot it on oatmeal or whole grain pancakes, and by all means, dip apples in it at Rosh Hashanah for a new spin on an old tradition.

Orange flower water is available at Middle Eastern markets.

1-1/3 cup water or black tea
1 cup pitted dates (Deglet Noor or Medjools)
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon orange flower water (optional but heavenly)

In a small saucepan, bring water to boil. Add dates and stir. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Leave the pot on the burner for 30 minutes.

Pour the dates and water or tea into a food processor and process for 2 minutes, or until smooth and saucy. Add lemon juice and optional orange flower water. Process again for another minute. Keeps covered and refrigerated for several months.

Makes 1 cup.

* The alignment of human health, animal rights, social justice and Jewish ethics is the subject at tomorrow night's New York talk with FARM founder and Jewish Veg Advisory Council member Alex Hershaft. Tickets still available.

The original version of this post first ran on September 14, 2015.

More at soulfulvegan.com

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