Monday, August 31, 2009

NYC Leads Way in Developing Local Food Production and Distribution

by Paul McGinniss

“If we can have a fast food restaurant on almost every corner, then we can certainly have a garden."
NYC Council member, Bill de Blasio



The average New Yorker and visitor to New York City might not realize it, but NYC already has 87 farmers markets and 82 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs throughout the five boroughs. For a city of many millions of people, this might seem a drop in the farm bucket and not really that much urban agriculture. But, watch out all you doubting locavores, because with the citywide initiative called the NYC Foodprint Alliance, the Big Apple is poised to become a leader in developing urban agriculture, local food production and distribution.

The NYC Foodprint Alliance is a multi-organizational effort that includes the
New York City Community Gardens Coalition, New York Coalition for Healthy School Food, Sierra Club New York City, and Slow Food USA. The NYC Foodprint idea builds upon Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's 2006 Plan NYC which aims to reduce NYC's carbon footprint and create a more sustainable New York, but did not specifically address urban agriculture and local food production.

In June 2009, the NYC Foodprint Alliance helped introduce a resolution to the New York City Council called "Foodprint NYC" which calls for the immediate implementation of the recommendations in the report “Food in the Public Interest" by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. These initiatives address our city's "foodprint"—our food system's carbon footprint and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. In addition to addressing NYC’s food carbon footprint, the Foodprint Alliance and its resolution will foster greater access to local, fresh, healthy food, especially in low-income communities as well as city-run institutions.

The Foodprint NYC resolution, as of August 2009, had the support of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and 23 of the 50 NYC Council Members.

Do We Really Have to Worry About Our Food Carbon Footprint i.e. Foodprint?

It may seem somewhat of an eco overkill to worry about one's food carbon footprint i.e. "foodprint", but not when you know the facts. According to the "Agricultural Role on Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Report", conducted by the Pew Center on Climate Control, it is estimated that, globally, one-third of all green house gas (GHG) emissions comes from agriculture and land use changes. And, approximately 12% of the total GHG emissions per U.S. household result from growing, packing, preparing and shipping food nationwide.

New York Reaches Out to Rest of America

Foodprint NYC has reached out across America and started Foodprint USA which aims to be a resource network to create local urban food systems which simultaneously cut down on a city's carbon footprint and provide healthy, affordable locally grown produce. The goal of Foodprint USA is: "to reduce our climate "foodprints" ~ our food system's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change through the production, processing, packaging, shipping, storage and disposal of food."

Foodprint USA already includes the cities of Chicago and Birmingham. Anyone wanting to add a city or learn more should contact Nadia Johnson at Just Food in NYC. Just Food was one of the founding members of the NYC Foodprint Alliance.

For a small taste of what's to come in NYC's great buffet of urban agriculture, check out the video below by Mike Lieberman at The Urban Organic Gardener in Brooklyn, NYC.



Copyright 2009 Paul McGinniss

Monday, August 24, 2009

Water Under Attack: Some NYC Officials Have Drawn Their Guns to Stop Natural Gas Drilling Upstate. What Are Upstate Citizens Doing About It?

Part 1 of Continuing Report on the Josh Fox Film Rage of Nature about Natural Gas Drilling In the Marcellus Shale Region, which includes a large region of upstate New York

by Paul McGinniss

RAGE OF NATURE TRAILER from JOSHFOX on Vimeo.


Filmmaker Josh Fox must be related to Erin Brockovich who battled the mighty Pacific Gas and Electric company over its environmental crimes and became famous because of it. Like Erin, if Josh sees something happening he doesn't like, he takes action and does something about it. When New York City based Josh learned that unregulated natural gas drilling was coming to New York City’s watershed, as well as to his hometown in Milanville, PA, he got in his car with his camera and drove across the USA to find out about the damaging effects of the recent drilling boom out west.

Traveling to what he discovered were ravaged lands in Colorado, Wyoming & Texas, Josh interviewed people who lived near these drilling sites so he could tell people on the east coast what they said and what would happen if they let natural gas drilling into their region.

Josh found people who can light their tap water on fire, who can’t drink their well water, as well people in rural areas dealing with heavy levels of air pollution, who have stillborn livestock, and unexplained brain lesions.

The Marcellus Shale formation, which is spread over a wide area including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, is reported to contain a huge deposit of Natural Gas. Many are looking at this as a cash cow that could create billions of dollars of revenue for the states and overall region it encompasses.

The problem is gas in shale is really hard to get out of the ground. That was until recently, when oil and gas companies, ever in search for new carbon to burn, figured out a drilling process called "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing.

What is fracking? It involves injecting enormous amounts of water and chemicals deep into the ground to get to the natural gas that is trapped in the shale.

What kind of chemicals you may ask? The gas companies, eager to start trucking in equipment to drill thousands of wells, claim the specific chemicals used in fracking are "trade secrets".

Under President George W. Bush, the gas companies even managed to secure an exemption in the United States Safe Drinking Water Act to exclude this fracking process from oversight. The Environmental Protection Agency usually regulates anything that could affect underground drinking water supplies. But in 2005, the natural gas industry successfully lobbied for the exemption for fracking.

Luckily, there is a movement to stop this mad rush for natural gas that is largely lead, in part, by people in New York City. NYC Council Environmental Protection Committee Chair James F. Gennaro has been one of the most outspoken critics. Of foremost concern is the environmental threat to the upstate watershed region from which NYC obtains its water.

Several Congress people, including Congressman Maurice Hinchey from upstate New York, have also introduced the The FRAC ACT -- Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act which would close the loophole created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. The FRAC Act would also require the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals they use in their hydraulic fracturing processes. Currently, the oil and gas industry is the only industry granted an exemption from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

As recently reported by the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV): "New York state is conducting an environmental assessment of the impact of "fracking", and the Delaware River Basin Commission has also raised questions. This has, in effect, created a moratorium on gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, but this might not always be the case."

I spoke with Josh Fox today about his movie Rage of Nature. It was the first time we had spoken and I told him I wanted to do a series of reports about this issue and his film, this report being the first one.

I could tell from the get go that this is a man with a mission. He's not doing this film just to inform people. He's doing this film to get people to organize and say no to the plan to drill for natural gas in this region.

I asked Josh: "What is the likelihood that the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling as proposed will happen?"

Seeming almost annoyed at the possibility that there was any other answer to my question than a resounding no, he answered: "I have no idea. That question does not really serve my purpose. To answer that question, the likelihood is great if people do not get involved. But, people are getting involved. This really is in the hands of the population. What is possible, I do think,is that anything can be stopped."

Check out Josh's interview about this issue with upstate New York Congressman Maurice Hinchey:

NY State Congressman Hinchey interview about FRAC ACT from JOSHFOX on Vimeo.



Copyright 2009 Paul McGinniss

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Water Under Attack: Some NYC Officials Have Drawn Their Guns to Stop Natural Gas Drilling Upstate. What Are Upstate Citizens Doing About It?

Part 1 of Continuing Report on the Josh Fox Film Rage of Nature about Natural Gas Drilling In the Marcellus Shale Region, which includes a large region of upstate New York

by Paul McGinniss

Filmmaker Josh Fox must be related to Erin Brockovich who battled the mighty Pacific Gas and Electric company over its environmental crimes and became famous because of it. Like Erin, when Josh sees something happening he doesn't like, he takes action and does something about it. When New York City based Josh learned that unregulated natural gas drilling was coming to New York City’s watershed, as well as to his hometown in Milanville, PA, he got in his car with his camera and drove across the USA to find out about the damaging effects of the recent drilling boom out west.

Traveling to what he discovered were ravaged lands in Colorado, Wyoming & Texas, Josh interviewed people who lived near these drilling sites so he could tell people on the east coast what they said and what would happen if they let natural gas drilling into their region.

Josh found people who can light their tap water on fire, who can’t drink their well water, as well people in rural areas dealing with heavy levels of air pollution, who have stillborn livestock, and unexplained brain lesions.

The Marcellus Shale formation, which is spread over a wide area including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, is reported to contain a huge deposit of Natural Gas. Many are looking at this as a cash cow that could create billions of dollars of revenue for the states and overall region it encompasses.

The problem is gas in shale is really hard to get out of the ground. That was until recently, when oil and gas companies, ever in search for new carbon to burn, figured out a drilling process called "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing.

What is fracking? It involves injecting enormous amounts of water and chemicals deep into the ground to get to the natural gas that is trapped in the shale.

What kind of chemicals you may ask? The gas companies, eager to start trucking in equipment to drill thousands of wells, claim the specific chemicals used in fracking are "trade secrets".

Under President George W. Bush, the gas companies even managed to secure an exemption in the United States Safe Drinking Water Act to exclude this fracking process from oversight. The Environmental Protection Agency usually regulates anything that could affect underground drinking water supplies. But in 2005, the natural gas industry successfully lobbied for the exemption for fracking.

Luckily, there is a movement to stop this mad rush for natural gas that is largely lead, in part, by people in New York City. NYC Council Environmental Protection Committee Chair James F. Gennaro has been one of the most outspoken critics. Of foremost concern is the environmental threat to the upstate watershed region from which NYC obtains its water.

Several Congress people, including Congressman Maurice Hinchey from upstate New York, have also introduced the The FRAC ACT -- Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act which would close the loophole created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. The FRAC Act would also require the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals they use in their hydraulic fracturing processes. Currently, the oil and gas industry is the only industry granted an exemption from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

As recently reported by the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV): "New York state is conducting an environmental assessment of the impact of "fracking", and the Delaware River Basin Commission has also raised questions. This has, in effect, created a moratorium on gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, but this might not always be the case."

I spoke with Josh Fox today about his movie Rage of Nature. It was the first time we had spoken and I told him I wanted to do a series of reports about this issue and his film, this report being the first one.

I could tell from the get go that this is a man with a mission. He's not doing this film just to inform people. He's doing this film to get people to organize and say no to the plan to drill for natural gas in this region.

I asked Josh: "What is the likelihood that the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling as proposed will happen?"

Seeming almost annoyed at the possibility that there was any other answer to my question than a resounding no, he answered: "I have no idea. That question does not really serve my purpose. To answer that question, the likelihood is great if people do not get involved. But, people are getting involved. This really is in the hands of the population. What is possible,I do think,is that anything can be stopped."

Since this interview was done Josh Fox changed the name of his film to GASLAND. The film won the special jury prize for best documentary feature at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. Please see the trailer for GASLAND below.



Web Post Copyright 2009 Paul McGinniss

How Green Are My Billions: Can Countries That Make Most of Their Money Selling Oil and Gas Ever Be Green ?

Will the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Inspire Russia to Get Some Green Building Street Cred?

by Paul McGinniss


Photo: Picture of Proposed "Olympic Island" in Sochi by A.Asadov architectural studio in Russia

As one of the largest producers of oil and gas in the world, Russia has hardly made energy efficiency a goal. So, it's interesting to see some development concepts like the ones for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia by A Asadov coming out of the country. With the will of Mother Russia, they certainly could be done sustainably and include renewable energy in the mix. (If Abu Dhabi can build the carbon neutral green city Masdar, then Russia can do the same.)


Photo: Picture of Proposed "Catamaran" in Sochi for the Olympics, by A.Asadov architectural studio in Russia

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, "Russia holds the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. Russia is also the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest oil exporter and the third largest energy consumer."

If anything, the Russian Government has used its billions from the natural resources it sells as a means to consolidate power and use that power to solidify its position as a serious player on the world stage.

To put it lightly, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev are not exactly known as environmentalists.


Picture of Proposed "Catamaran" in Sochi for the Olympics, by A.Asadov architectural studio in Russia

Luckily the first Green Drinks chapter in all of Russia just opened in Moscow.

Our President Obama just shared a brewski with two citizens to discuss racial politics. Maybe Vladimir Putin will show up at the next Green Drinks in Moscow to talk about how to green the oil and gas industry that is generating billions of dollars and, despite the downturn, keeping the Russian economy afloat on a sea of hard currency.


Picture: Logo For Moscow Chapter of Green Drinks


Check more pics from A.Asadov architectural studio at:

EnglishRussa.com

and

this Russian Architectural Agency

Copyright Paul McGinniss 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Water World Here We Come: Are Floating Neighborhoods in New York City's Future?

by Paul McGinniss
Picture Above: NYC Sea Barrier Walls Being Discussed

No sooner have derelict 19th Century era urban waterfronts become revitalized that we confront global warming induced rising sea levels that could endanger our waterside developments. In the future, potentially catastrophic flooding could be a more regular occurrence in these gentrified waterfront areas.

A recent Study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado concludes that New York City and other areas in the North East of The United States "are directly in the path of the greatest rise" in sea level if Greenland continues to melt due to global warming.

Even at current sea levels, a Katrina like event has been clearly predicted for NYC. But even without a large hurricane, the combination of rising sea levels and increased storm surges is making many people in New York City, and living near the coast around the globe, plan for a watery future.

In the 1990s I saw a glimpse of what could come, while living in NYC. A building where I worked on Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan flooded quickly with several feet of water that had to be pumped out continuously during a heavy rain storm to prevent severe damage. And this flash flooding was just from rain, without a hurricane hitting the shore.

Picture: Waves Crashing Onto Manhattan During 1938 Hurricane.

Even more a glimpse of what could come, in 1821 a Hurricane that hit New York caused the entire city to flood below Canal Street when the tide surged 13 feet in one hour.

But, just like you can't fight progress, perhaps the best method to deal with rising sea levels and storm flooding is not just to fight the tides by building multi billion dollar sea barriers, but to go with the flow via clever ingenuity and engineering.

Klaus H. Jacob, a Columbia University climate-risk researcher said in a recent AP article that New Yorkers, instead of fighting the tide, could instead prepare to: "live with the water, rather than fight it", he said, "by taking such steps as making tunnel entrances sealable and moving buildings' electrical and other vital equipment from basements to higher floors."

Klaus Jacob is correct in his thinking. But what he didn't mention was the movement toward floating real estate developments.

Picture: Concept for Floating Dutch City "IJmeer" from Delft University, the Netherlands

With potential rising sea levels and regular flooding, building homes and communities on the coast that can float is a no brainer. Thankfully,the world's creative brains are already coming up with building methods that blow the lid off of the current concept of waterfront living.

In the Netherlands, for example,they've been building floating homes for hundreds of years. Today,visionary architects and designers are developing floating apartment complexes and neighborhoods, such as the Floating Dutch city IJmeer.

And, the Dutch are not alone. Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has designed a concept for self sustaining city islands of 50,000 people that can house populations who were displaced from flooding.

Photo: Architect Vincent Callebaut design called Lillypad, a floating ecopolis for climate refugees

Some of these concepts might seem far fetched, but they are not. While not as futuristic, yet, Seattle has the East Lake neighborhood where floating homes are not the exception but the norm.


Photo: Seattle East Lake Neighborhood courtesy
Courtney Cooper, an EcoBroker in Seattle.

Closer to home, a group of NYC artist activists have put together the concept called Waterpod, which is the model for a floating self sustaining community on a barge. As the picture below depicts, the initial Waterpod concept started kind of small in scale and seems a bit rough at the edges, especially compared to the grand schemes of floating cities and neighborhoods envisioned across the globe.


Photo: Waterpod Floating in NYC

But, the Waterpod's homegrown grass roots efforts are just a starting point. The model drawing below shows an expanded Waterpod prototype that could very well be floating in NYC's Green Future.

Photo: Advanced water pod concept prototypeWaterpod™, rendering by James Halverson of Lux Visual Effects.

The future of NYC means a changing coastline. Seaside living will require adapting naturally to higher sea levels and storm surges. As the coastline changes with storm surges, rising sea levels and tides, surely, New Yorkers will change with it.

Photo: Still from new documentary film "Incredible Journey: The Story Of West Hampton Dunes"



If we want to expand areas near the coast, communities should not be built on landfill, like Battery Park City in New York. Instead, whole floating neighborhoods can be planned.

We'll look back nostalgically at houseboats moored at docks on City Island in the Bronx or at the 79th Street Boat Basin. The future will bring floating neighborhoods, cities, self sustaining enclaves that come and go with the tide if they want to.

And island cities, like the Lillypad, could be designed that can come and dock in New York, much as Queen Elizabeth Cruise ships of the past,yet, this time, with passengers that happen to live there in zero net energy homes, and even have their own seaside garden.


Photo: Design for Floating Apartment Complex in Netherlands called Citadel in a project called New Water by Waterstudio


Surely, the chic Citadel project (picture above) in the Netherlands reminded someone in Southampton or East Hampton Long Island of the hurricane of 1938 when whole sections of the Hamptons coastline was lost forever. If we are wealthy enough to build on sand dunes that move or get wiped out because of mother nature, why can't we build floating neighborhoods that move at our command?

From the Hamptons to NYC, instead of just worrying about the "Weather Channel tragedy" to come, let's plan for a visionary New York and Long Island.

Let's envision new neighborhoods on the coast - like Float Hamptons, with some affordable units mixed in, of course. Or, how about Float Burg off the coast of Brooklyn?

Photo: Design for Actual Floating Dutch Houses in Netherlands by Waterstudio

You think Float Hamptons or Float Burg is far fetched? Look for a future post I'll do on another real Dutch treat being proposed in the Netherlands: A Floating Beach.

You can't make this stuff up. Seems like fiction. But it's going to happen.

Copyright Paul McGinniss 2009

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Paul's Product Pick: Sodastream Fountain Jet


Save Money and Reduce Waste By Bottling Your Own Sparkling Water, Carbonated Soda and Beverages

by Paul McGinniss








O.K., I admit it. I like Italian San Pellegrino water. It's my substitute for sipping sparkling mineral water with George Clooney at his villa on Lake Cuomo.

While visiting the former Soviet Union, I felt like Yuri Zhivago when I drank the "mineralni voda" - tasty mineral water from the Caucasus region in Central Asia. But, while in the Caucasus, I hardly thought it made sense to send the delicious, sparkling Central Asian water back home to NYC from Tbilisi, The Republic of Georgia.





Fiji water, well, don't get me started on the absurdity of that. Shipping water thousands of miles around the world and then having to truck the water all over the place to distribute it is so insane, especially considering the real priorities we face. (Like lack of potable water in so many countries.)




Don't get me wrong - I'm not a die hard locavore. I'm going to keep drinking foreign wine and eating cheese, fruit and other products from many countries. Not to mention buying imported products like flat screen TVs that suit my fancy.

I draw my locavore line with water. Water is easy to get here as opposed to having a vineyard, a bunch of goats on a hill in Tuscany or tropical weather to grow fruit.

If you want sparkling water you can make it yourself with Sodastream Fountain Jet. What's great about it is you can also make soda and infuse water with fruit essence, all without giving up quality or convenience.

It's actually much more convenient considering you do not have to lug packs of bottles or cans from the store and then deal with throwing out all of the waste.

Sodastream sells affordable, reusable glass carafes, BPA free plastic bottles and stainless steel bottles to put your beverage in. The gas carbonators are returnable and last for 60 litres of beverage.



In addition to reducing environmentally costly production of cans and bottles, most of which end up in a landfill, you save some money. With Sodastream, sparkling water costs about 20 cents per liter, and soda costs about 20 cents per can or about 50 cents per liter.

Sodastream offers several dozen soda flavors that do not use high fructose corn syrup. They also sell water essences like orange and berry to add to sparkling water.

Still Not Convinced. Read the Following:

*According to the Container Recycling Institute, about 70% of soda and water bottles do NOT get recycled. Most of the waste ends up in landfills or in the ocean.

*It is estimated that only 12% of plastic water bottles are recycled and only
30% of plastic soft drink bottles are recycled (2003 figures).

*If a couple uses the Sodastream system, they can save over 1,000 cans and bottles annually.

*A family of four saves over 2,000 soda cans and bottles in a year!

*It only takes 30 seconds to make your own soda and seltzer using Sodastream.