Why an emissions-cutting ‘one-size-fits-all’ tack won’t work; how a diversified corrective course-of-action plan can

There are two primary reasons for emissions reduction: through means coming from without such as through regulation and enforcement or employing a market-based mechanism like cap-and-trade; and due to voluntary (internally motivated) action. I have arrived at the conclusion that there is no one best approach to emissions mitigation. Adopting a multi-lateral strategy to fix … Read more

Hydrogen-powered train to hit the rails running in 2018

Fuel cells have been around for a while now. So, it would make perfect sense that fuel-cell technology would eventually find application in the railway domain. And, now it has. Alstom, the French company, is one manufacturer getting into the game. “The Coradia iLint is the first low floor passenger train worldwide powered by a … Read more

‘Cities100’ resource: Treasure trove of econ.-, environ.-, health- co-benefit info.

There are resources and then there are resources – such that prompt sitting up and taking note. “Cities100: 100 solutions for climate action in cities,” a Sustainia, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and Realdania collaboration, now this is a resource! “Cities100” is a document that, in very clear terms and concise and structured form, provides … Read more

The thing about Valley smog, the ‘muck’ stops here

Oppressive is how San Joaquin Valley, California summertime heat can be. Temps of 104, 105, 106, 107 and higher aren’t uncommon. Heat as high as that becomes more than a bit uncomfortable and gets old rather fast the longer those triple-digit temperatures hang around. When that happens, talk about such in these here parts seems … Read more

Message to fellow Americans, earthlings: Stay the course on emissions-reduction, please!

This year, the American Lung Association in its 2017 “State of the Air” report was clear: four-in-10 Americans live in counties with unhealthy air. That’s not too, too bad considering six-in-10 don’t. When you think problematic air, there are a whole slew of so-called “hot spots.” The more familiar ones are such cities as Beijing, Delhi, … Read more

World transport emissions on the rise; putting the trend in reverse

A growing population means increased mobility; no ifs, ands or buts about it. It’s a given. Mobility – or more precisely, locomotion – is nothing more than place-to-place moving. And, mobility, at its most fundamental level, is no more complicated than putting one foot in front of the other. But there is more to mobility … Read more

NWP Rail is back: Stronger, better and greener than ever – Part 1

Amazing, incredible, miraculous is how one could characterize the resilient, successful and unrelenting rail enterprise that the Northwestern Pacific Railroad is. At the same time, it’s about as uncharacteristic a railroad-development story as there is. That said, in going from near-ruin to getting re-railed so to speak, it has been an arduous uphill climb and … Read more

Air conditioning refresher: Proper system operation – key

Air conditioning: an ingenious invention – an almost indispensable addition to the home, that is, where appliances are concerned. Whether inside or outside the domicile (and automobile too, if you want to get real about this), being able to take air and “condition” it so as to provide one a level of comfort, most especially … Read more

California’s improved economy comes as greenhouse gases fall

Fantastic is reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. More fantastic is fewer GHGs and an economy growing simultaneously, and, such is precisely the case in California. Speaking to this, the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (ARB) declared: “Demonstrating California’s progress toward a clean-energy economy, the California Air Resources Board today [Jun. 7, 2017] released … Read more

Emissions-correcting efforts underway on some VW vehicles with 2.0 liter diesel engines

Back in Sept. 2015 in “What navigating the VW diesel vehicle recall road ahead may look like,” in getting right to the point, I wrote: “Vehicle-emissions testing has lately been in the spotlight on account of the controversy surrounding diesel-vehicle-exhaust-emissions rigging in the 11 million Volkswagen diesel-powered motor vehicles affected worldwide, which the company has … Read more