| Alternative Energy, Energy supply, Environment, News, Transportation | 0 Comments | Jan 31 2009
Citizens of Norway will soon be able to ride around town on buses powered by nothing other than methane from human excrement. It’s emissions-free, hardly costs a thing and doesn’t require drilling into the earth’s surface. Every single person in Oslo will be contributing something very personal toward this new method of powering the city’s buses. Read the complete Post.
| Activism, Environment, Events, Global Warming, Transportation, Urban Planning | 0 Comments | Jan 23 2009
What are the challenges facing planners and policy makers at our regional and provincial level in addressing transportation issues related to peak oil and climate change? How can we contribute to effective actions that address these challenges? Join us at the upcoming PlanTalk to discuss topics including the proposed provincial Gateway Program, the BC Carbon Tax, and other transportation investments as we debate and challenge one another to think critically about the future of transportation in our region.
Speakers:
Anthony Perl, Director SFU Urban Studies Program and Jordan Bateman, Media Spokesperson for Get Moving BC and Langley Township Councillor will lead this discussion by providing their insight into the unique transportation challenges that face our region in the immediate and long term within the context of peak oil and climate change.
Moderated by Bryn Davidson, Executive Director of non-profit Dynamic Cities Project
When:
Tuesday January 27th, 2009
6:30 PM refreshments * 7:00-9:00 PM speakers & discussion
Where:
SFU Harbour Centre
Segal Centre, Room 1400
515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
www.translink.bc.ca (for transit schedules and routes)
Cost:
$20 PIBC Members
$25 Non-PIBC Members
$5 Students
Payable by cash or cheque at the door. Receipts will be issued.
PIBC Members can earn up to 2.0 LUs of Organized CPD activity for attending this event.
Please RSVP by Monday January 26th to Brian Patterson MCIP, at bpatterson@urban-systems.com or 604-273-8700.
| Economics, News, Politics, Transportation | 0 Comments | Dec 15 2008
From Monday’s Globe and Mail
December 15, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
Humanity is threatened by a global-warming crisis. Canada, facing the crisis of global financial meltdown, is looking for ways to keep people working. The time is ripe, it seems, for an era of massive, green public-works projects.
Projects like a 12-kilometre SkyTrain subway line connecting Vancouver to the University of British Columbia.
Imagine that train packed with smiling, eco-guilt-free students zipping on and off their secluded campus by the sea. The UBC subway line, which would run through the heart of the city, is already on the drawing board, slated for 2020. Provincial and Vancouver political leaders have voiced their enthusiasm. The price tag is set at $2.8-billion.
Well, hold on there. Patrick Condon, senior researcher at the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC, has run further numbers and believes he has a more sensible plan.
Instead of building that train, you could give every new UBC undergrad the keys to their very own Prius automobile. Year after year. Forever.
That’s right. As Prof. Condon calculates in a new study, you’d start by putting the $2.8-billion price of the train into a trust that earns 6-per-cent interest. That would generate $168-million a year - about enough to give every full-time undergrad entering UBC a basic $25,000 hybrid vehicle. (No leather seats - we’re in crisis mode, you know.) Now wouldn’t the planet - not to mention UBC’s recruitment officers - like that approach more than just one measly new subway line? Read the complete Post.
And don't forget to sign up as a member of Vancouver Peak Oil on VPO's Facebook page. Be part of the movement to get Vancouver ready!
