Bob Wise China Projects Highlighted in Scholar’s Blog

Bob Wise’s career of projects in Greater China including major city, regional and national plans is featured in an article by Jenny Ryan Starr, a China Scholar and blogger.  Key to Bob’s success has been a deep interest in and appreciation of China’s magnificent culture including the unusual roles played by Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, and Socialist thought in city and regional planning.  See:  http://jrstarr.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/strengthening-chinas-urban-form/

Elaine Cogan to contribute as regular columnist for PlannersWeb

COC is delighted to announce that founding principal and long-time Planning Commissioners Journal contributing writer, Elaine Cogan, has joined the PlannersWeb as a regular columnist. Read more here.

COC Intern Develops Sustainable Transportation Strategies for PSU

COC Climate Economy graduate intern Derek Dauphin was recently featured in the Portland State University (PSU) Vanguard newspaper for work he and a group of fellow graduate students are doing to improve access to affordable transportation at PSU. TriMet is set to increase fares and eliminate the Free Rail Zone at the same time that PSU’s subsidy for the current student transit pass is being redirected to parking structure maintenance. This will lead to much more expensive transportation costs for students.

The group was awarded a Solutions Generator Grant from the Institute for Sustainable Solutions in February, and has since worked with TriMet, PSU administration, and student groups to develop a new transportation program. They also are establishing a student transportation committee that will redefine how the university addresses this vital component of life at PSU. With the student senate picking up the project, further funding is being sought to ensure the success of the program. Read the article here.

Save money, make money, reduce emissions: What’s not to like?

Oregon is blessed. Just not with fossil fuels.

In his third article on import substitution, Bob Wise discusses opportunities and strategies to use energy conservation and renewable energy sources to meet future energy needs in lieu of fossil fuels.

From the article: According to the recently released Oregon Energy Task Force’s “Oregon Energy Action Plan” we import 100 percent of the oil, coal and natural gas we burn. This means that we send away roughly 85 percent of the $14 billion we spend to places like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Texas. This represents a debilitating outflow of capital that can be better deployed for Oregon’s benefit.

Bob describes strategies for energy savings and clean, renewable energy sources. The strategy illustrated in detail in the “Climate 2030 Plan” of the Union of Concerned Scientists suggests that efficiency and clean energy sources can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and at least 80 percent by 2050.  In the article, Bob details two strategies that show benefits of applying a similar approach in Oregon, increasing energy efficiency and investing in renewable sources. They may even be greater than UCS estimates because of the extent of Oregon’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Read the entire blog, including details of his strategies, on the Sustainable Business Oregon website.