Center for Neighborhood Technology has been conducting research and developing and testing innovative programs to use urban resources more efficiently for almost 30 years. These efforts inevitably relate to the growing concerns about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global warming.
CNT’s research has shown that cities can be the most efficient places to live, with their lower per capita greenhouse gas emissions due to efficient land use and transportation alternatives. Because urban areas are compact and have extensive mass transit and communication networks, they offer the greatest opportunities to help solve the climate crisis by expanding and enhancing their existing strategies for reducing carbon emissions.
Learn more about our research and steps you can take to help improve the environment by checking out our current projects at right.
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 7:00 am
At first glance, cities may appear to be a big source of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. But new research by CNT, which compares greenhouse gas emissions of city and suburban households, yields some surprising results.
CNT looked at emissions of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the U.S. When measured on a per household basis, it found that the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be nearly 70% less than those living in suburbs. See how this compares in your region at our newly redesigned Housing + Transportation Affordability Index site.
Read the full Press Release or try out the new site.
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Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Scott Bernstein, President of CNT, was invited to participate in a public announcement of President Barack Obama’s national high-speed rail (HSR) master plan. The President, joined by Vice President Joe Biden, who has commuted to D.C. on rail every day for his national elected career, thanked the select group of leaders who have been working tirelessly on bringing high-speed rail to the United States. President Obama presented a vision that challenges Americans to imagine traveling at 100 mph or more by train, then making local connections by walking or transit. “The Obama administration is moving quickly to advance high-speed rail as the most sustainable and cost-efficient mode of innercity transit,” said Bernstein. “By investing in high-speed rail, the Obama administration is not only addressing transportation issues but also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The announcement started with a briefing by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), who stated that the program would focus on corridors of 100 to 600 miles, where intermodal connections could be the ’sweet spot’. When Bernstein asked them to expand on that point they explained that the program offers an opportunity to support the President’s priorities on transit and livable communities in an urban policy context, reducing greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions, and saving scarce airport space for longer distance travel.
The FRA report on HSR and the announcement by President Obama cite the 2006 report by CNT and the Center for Clean Air Policy, “High Speed Rail and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S.”, where we calculate a total emissions savings of 6 billion pounds of CO2/year if all HSR projects are built.
Secretary Ray LaHood likened the program to the transcontinental railroad program in the 19th century, saying that the common sense was that it could not be done in their lifetime but it got built in 7 years - when the Golden Spike was driven the telegrapher simply sent out one word, “Done”.
President Obama expanded on the vision, saying that the plan is intended to be the next level after the Interstate highway program, pointing out that second generation systems are already in place around the world, like Tokyo and Osaka, where the system will run at speeds over 300 mph, and Spain, where their new HSR corridor system has a higher mode share than aviation.
More information:
Background of CNT’s work:
Scott co-founded the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership (STPP) in 1990, a national coalition which shifted federal policy toward greater local control, and currently serves as Chairman. Scott served on the Steering Committee of the Presidential Climate Action Project, bringing CNT’s research and expertise in transportation, land use, and climate change to the plan’s transportation agenda.
In 2006, CNT partnered with the Center for Clean Air Policy to release a study of the feasibility of high-speed rail service between major urban transit corridors in the United States, concluding that a full network of high-speed trains could save as much as 6 billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide per year. Download “High Speed Rail and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S.” here.
(Photo by Scott Bernstein)
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Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
CNT CEO, Kathryn Tholin, joined U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Max Muller, Program Director for Environment Illinois, in outlining how President Obama’s budget “means a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous future for Illinois.” Tholin applauded the commitment to a clean energy future reflected in the President’s budget, and helped outline Environment Illinois new report, “Vision 2010: President Obama’s Budget, Clean Energy and the Environment”, released today at a press conference at CNT.
Environment Illinois presented a map highlighting locations of clean energy industries that could benefit from the $150 billion over 10 years that the proposed budget would invest nationally in renewable energy such as wind and solar. The budget sets the stage for a new energy plan for America that caps global warming pollution and drives the transformation to a clean energy economy. The report illustrated the budget benefits for Illinois.
Rep. Schakowsky said that there is “change in direction” for clean energy and addressing global warming in Washington. Jan serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee which is holding hearings on the budget mark-ups during the month of May. “We are working quickly – the timeline is now and we hope to have a bill by May recess. We are rolling up our selves and working on this environmental crisis that affects our planet. We need all hands on deck for the environment.”
President Obama’s budget builds on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), to invest in a green economy that will create green jobs, protect the environment and stop global warming. In her remarks, Tholin pointed out that, “the President’s budget not only takes on the traditional sources of pollution and global warming gases, it starts to reward the solutions.”
Read the full press release and report, “Vision 2010: President Obama’s Budget, Clean Energy, & the Environment”.
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