A Juniata College student enjoys the bike share program

Georgia Institute of Technology offers a Campus Bike Suitability Map, which classifies local roads as low, medium or high difficulty for travel via bicycle, based on the presence or absence of bike lanes, the width of the road’s shoulder and typical traffic volume. The map even calls attention to long or steep uphills for those who prefer a flatter ride!

In March 2012, the League of American Bicyclists produced a list of the top 25 Bicycle Friendly Universities, with Stanford University in California earning the top spot.  That school offers an extensive collection of online resources and there is even a bike shop on campus!

So you’ve figured out the best routes for biking around campus, but what about finding a place to lock your bike?  This is almost definitely easier than parking a car, but to help out, City College of San Francisco indicated designated bicycle parking areas on their campus map.

And if your campus lacks a bike-friendly infrastructure, you can at least produce electricity on indoor exercise equipment at California State University Chico campus, or at Oregon State University.

Check out other sustainable ways to get around campus in the “Transportation” section of the NWF Generation E guide!

Other on-campus bicycling resources:

• University of Cincinnati Bearcat Bike Share
• NYU Bike Share as a model for Manhattan
• Long-term bike rentals at the University of Mississippi

Georgia Institute of Technology - 2011 Case Study on Game Day Recycling

• Sharing campus efforts with colleges and universities nationwide;
• Published case studies will be shared with NWF’s campus contact list of more than 25,000 students, faculty and staff, plus our social media networks;
• Our database is a great resource to help campuses document their efforts; the database is searchable by topic, state, year and school and has more than 650 case studies!
• National press release promoting the 2012 case studies.

Each year NWF’s Campus Ecology program publishes case studies contributed by its members and partners showcasing their campus sustainability practices and global warming solutions for the past school year (2011-2012). NWF will release these illustrated reports in Fall 2012 in our online, searchable case study database, one of our most popular resources. Colleges and universities throughout the U.S. have made great strides toward addressing global warming and protecting wildlife and habitat. We invite you to share your success stories and let other campuses learn from you!

Click here to review the case study guidelines and use our template to get started.

Schools are welcome to submit more than one case study on multiple projects in different areas of sustainability and green workforce development. Case studies can focus on completed projects/programs or projects still in development.

Contact Campus Ecology with any questions:
campus@nwf.org
703-438-6000
www.CampusEcology.org

Transportation bill watchers are wondering just how far Speaker Boehner is willing to go to force a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

For the oil industry’s chief champion in the House, Speaker John Boehner, it’s one more chance to do the bidding of special interests by trying to force lawmakers to accept a highly controversial amendment requiring the pipeline be built. The question is – how far in this game of chicken is he willing to go?  Might he scuttle one million jobs that will be created by the transportation bill so oil companies can reap profits by building the dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. NWF’s Jeremy Symons said it well a few months ago and it still applies,

“Speaker Boehner is willing to put jobs at risk once again by hijacking the transportation bill.”

Here at NWF, we worked up a chart to check the spin of Keystone XL backers who are pondering scuttling the transportation bill.  Those big long bars on the right represent jobs that would be created or supported by the transportation bill.  Those little slivers on the left represent the industry’s own job projections by building Keystone XL. It’s below.

You can help stop the Keystone XL pipeline and tell Congress to protect wildlife instead of Big Oil profits.  Click here to take action.

Is this the message Congress is sending to kids? (flickr | annshi)

Also on the chopping block is the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program, which includes federally funded projects that improve communities’ transportation options.

So, why should we save these programs?

According to the Alliance for Biking and Walking, bike commuting increased 57 percent between 2000 and 2009. Furthermore, the case for TE and SRTS highlights another way our nation’s health and safety are being threatened. Safe, accessible trails perform a wide range of useful functions, including:

• Connecting kids to nature, something most kids don’t do on a regular basis
  

• Keeping visitors safe on paths through sensitive areas

• Generating revenue for local economies dependent on visitors and tourism

• Preserving green spaces in urban areas
  

My Two Cents

Near my Ohio hometown, even the newest subdivisions are showing signs of neglect as the region faces a weak housing market. For those who live here, car-free living is not an option. Whether it’s going to the grocery store half a mile away, or to school across the highway, everybody is dependent on their car for a safe and convenient trip. Such is sprawl.

More disturbing is the number of kids dashing across busy streets – many lacking sidewalks or crosswalks – on their way to school. I should know, as a kid whose “commute” included, at times, scaling a fence and crossing private property to avoid the busy road. My mom was able to help sometimes, dropping me off at the bus stop, but most other kids don’t have that option. The government has spent billions making sure our cars are safer, but pedestrian deaths, including children, are increasing.

The Health Case

At a time in our history when the current generation of youngsters may not live as long as their parents did due to obesity-related diseased like Type-II Diabetes and heart disease, we cannot afford to make it even more difficult for kids to get  moving outdoors! Walking to school safely should not be a privilege reserved for those lucky enough to live in green neighborhoods. Too many children, our nation’s future innovators, job creators and parents, are in danger during what could be the only time of day they are getting outside.

Rather than strengthening our cities and keeping children safe, this bill is yet another example of the cut-all-but-the-reelection-funders attitude prevailing in the House. The bill extols dirty fossil fuels, saying that sprawl and more drilling for oil and gas is in America’s best interest. Cleaner, efficient transportation is largely ignored or cut. Why would we want a sixty-year-old approach to our 21st century transportation needs?  Not for the good of the kids, that much is clear.

Contact your Representative and tell them keep funding for Safe Routes to School.

Colleges and universities across the country struggle with issues related to campus transportation, from bus fleets to

Appalachian State University

parking spaces. Now campuses are stepping up their efforts to tackle some of these challenges in a sustainable way.

Appalachian State University (NC) is implementing an alternative transportation system, with a goal of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. The new system has successfully reduced the number of vehicles on campus by offering various modes of alternative transportation such as car-sharing, ride-sharing, increased bicycle accessibility and an improved public bus system. Learn more about this project.

University of Chicago, credit Tom McGrath

Launched in Fall 2009, the University of Chicago’s bike share program, “recycles,” provides bikes for students, faculty and staff to borrow for a day free of charge. Recycles has multiple benefits including decreasing waste and pollution, improving the landscape, encouraging healthy living and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the use of single-occupancy vehicles. Managed by UC’s Office of Sustainability, recycles partners with a local nonprofit, Blackstone Bicycle Works, which provides refurbished bikes for their low-tech program. Within the first year, recycles had nearly 1,000 registered users and currently boasts an average of over 100 bike rentals each week. Learn more about this project.

University of Mass Amherst, credit Sarah Zuraw

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is studying the feasibility of converting the buses of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus system, the main public transportation system in the area surrounding the University, to biodiesel. The study will help determine the availability of biodiesel fuel in the Pioneer Valley, as well as the costs that would be involved in converting the buses. Learn more about this project.

Bad Ballast Water Bill Threatens America’s Waters and Wildlife

Nov. 15, 2011 – The House of Representatives voted to undermine America’s waters and wildlife by including weak and ineffective ballast water discharge standards in the Coast Guard Reauthorization bill. This legislation rolls out the welcome mat for destructive, invasive species to infiltrate our waters.

“In horror movies, strange creatures invade our waters and threaten people and wildlife. But, the real horror is that this scenario happens every day in the U.S., and this bad ballast water bill makes it easier for invasive species to take over our water bodies,” said Josh Saks, senior legislative representative for water resources campaigns for the National Wildlife Federation.

New Report Explores Hazards of Natural Gas Production on Air, Water and Wildlife Habitats

Nov. 16, 2011 – Natural gas is a part of America’s energy future, but it does not have to become part of this country’s energy failures when it comes to protecting air, water and wildlife habitat. A new National Wildlife Federation report, No More Drilling in the Dark: Exposing the Hazards of Natural Gas Production and Protecting America’s Drinking Water and Wildlife Habitats, delves into the challenges and potential solutions surrounding the unconventional drilling practice known as fracking.

 “Transparency, sensible oversight and reliable safeguards for air, water and wildlife are just commonsense when it comes to drilling for natural gas,” said Todd Keller, senior manager for public lands campaigns for the National Wildlife Federation. “What should be best practices for the industry are also what is best for local communities and wildlife habitat.”

SAFE Act Critical to Confronting Climate Impacts

Nov. 16, 2011 – The Safeguarding America’s Future and Environment (SAFE) Act, requiring federal and state governments to plan for the impacts of climate change by protecting our natural resources, was introduced in the U.S. Senate today. Co-sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the SAFE Act would take critical steps towards protecting communities and wildlife from climate impacts.

“Climate change is the defining conservation issue of our generation, already forcing our communities and wildlife to confront more frequent and severe droughts, floods, and wildfires,” said Bruce Stein, director of climate change adaptation for the National Wildlife Federation. “The SAFE Act is commonsense legislation that will help us prepare for climate impacts while protecting and enhancing our natural resources.”

(Photo by Brett Weinstein)

Nov. 17, 2011- The Obama administration has unveiled new fuel economy and emissions rules for light duty vehicles. The Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidelines cover model years 2017-2025 and begin the formal rule-making process of the agreement in principle announced in July. The standard will be open for additional public comment for 60 days.

“Americans can breathe easier. The win-win car and light truck standards proposed by the Administration today mean cleaner air and better protection for wildlife and America’s natural resource heritage, while taking major steps forward for America’s energy and economic security,” said Joe Mendelson, director of global warming policy for the National Wildlife Federation.

National Wildlife Federation and National Aquarium Formally Join Forces

Nov. 17, 2011 – The National Aquarium and the National Wildlife Federation have joined forces to protect wildlife and water resources for future generations. Approved by unanimous vote at the most recent Board of Directors meeting, the National Aquarium has been selected as the National Wildlife Federation’s Maryland affiliate. This partnership will link conservation efforts from Appalachia, to the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to align the efforts of this nation’s aquarium with one of its most effective conservation organizations,” said John Racanelli, CEO of the National Aquarium.

And here are a few highlights from NWF in the News:

• Ammoland.com: Sportsmen Criticize Senate Measure Weakening Clean Water Act
• The Sacramento Bee: Jobs for the Future Brings NASA Resources to Community College Green Curricula 
• UPI: NWF pro gas but wants safeguards
• Publicnewsservice.org: Report Questions Environmental Price PA Pays for Fracking

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News

A new report was released last week which outlined how obesity threatens America’s future. The report revealed that obesity rates climbed over the past year in 16 states, and not a single state reported a decline in the proportion of excessively overweight residents. Over 2 million children in America are obese and more than 30 % of people in more than 12 states are obese. In only four years, ELEVEN states joined that startling statistic. This dramatic shift over just a few years is frightening, so I couldn’t help but wonder, what is causing this striking change?

While iPads, 3D TV’s, video games, and computer games are all glamorous accomplishments by modern technology, time spent outdoors playing, biking, hiking, walking, etc. has progressively taken a back seat. Children ages three to twelve spend 1 % of their time outdoors, and 27 % of their time just watching TV. Incredibly, children are now actually GAINING weight over summer break! A time once spent solely on outdoor activities like swimming, hiking,and just being outside, is now putting American children’s health at risk.

Granted, childhood obesity is certainly a complex multi-faceted problem, which needs to be tackled from a variety of angles. However, a very easily-identifiable starting point is increasing the amount of time we spend outdoors, whether it’s playing, sightseeing, or even something as routine as commuting to work or school. So how do we address these issues in a meaningful way as a nation?

Luckily, Michelle Obama has made this issue a priority and launched the Let’s Move Outside campaign in a fight to address and end the childhood obesity epidemic. The First Lady rightly points out,

“Today, children experience a very different lifestyle. Walks to and from school have been replaced by car and bus rides. Eight to eighteen year old adolescents are spending an average of 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media instead of going outside.”

While the First Lady has brought the sweeping obesity epidemic to our nation’s attention, key Congressional leaders are taking steps to cut off dedicated federal funding for bicycling and walking; a cut that impacts both recreation but also safety.

House Transportation Chairman John Mica (R-FL) announced today that his transportation bill will eliminate dedicated funding for bicycling and walking, including Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails Program. This will discourage states from choosing to spend their dollars on these activities that are “not in the federal interest.”

Not in the federal interest? Funding for biking and walking projects only accounts for 1.5% of the federal transportation budget and yet make up 12 percent of all trips in the US. The spending by our government shows us very clearly that they’re not interested in investing in fun and low-cost ways for people to work towards a healthy lifestyle by only allowing us funding to support more than 4 billion bicycle trips and 40 billion walking trips a year, including trips to work, school, shopping and for recreation and tourism.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), the lead Republican negotiator on the transportation bill, declared that one of his TOP THREE priorities for the transportation bill is to eliminate ‘frivolous spending for bike trails.’

Frivolous? In the past 6 months, TWO of my fellow co-workers were badly injured while riding their bikes to work because of the lack of safe biking trails in Washington, DC. Need more numbers? Two-thirds of all pedestrian deaths are on federally funded highways. One-third of children’s traffic deaths happen when children are walking or bicycling and are struck by cars. Bicycling and walking programs build sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways—improving accessibility and saving lives. Any transportation cuts that affect the safety of children who opt to work/bike to school instead of taking the bus or car, should be targeted as negligent, short sighted and costly in the long run.

Cutting the funding to these programs not only makes it more difficult to encourage youth to get outside and walk or bike safely but it ultimately limits transportation alternatives, leaving no choice but to jump in a car. When obesity-associated annual hospital costs for children and youth are tripling over just a decade, we have a problem. If we expect people to adjust their lifestyles, they need clean, safe places to go outdoors and safe routes to get there.

What could be more of a federal priority than the health and well being of our children? Is cutting a that incredibly small figure of 1.5% of the federal transportation budget showing us how little the government cares about the health and wellness of our future workforce? Does the cost of bike trails really compare to the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of obesity associated hospital cost for children and youth? How short sighted is Congress to think that it is OK to spend millions/billions of dollars on health care costs for children and adults for obesity-related illnesses while not spending even a fraction of this cost for recreation improvements that would serve as preventative measure and limit obesity related disease?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a statistic, so I’m going to grab my bike and hit the trails before the feds take them away!

Join me, and take action: Contact your Members of Congress!

Join in the mission to advocate for and promote safe bicycling and walking to and from schools and in everyday life throughout the United States.

Learn more about the Be Out There movement to get kids outside. Find outdoor games, activities, and health tips for your children this summer!

photo credit: Fang Guo via flickr.com

Last week, the global price of oil rose above $105 per barrel and the national average price of gasoline hit $3.55 per gallon– the highest ever for this time of year.  However, if you could plug your car into an electrical outlet tonight instead of stopping at a gas station, you would be paying the equivalent of about 75 cents per gallon to drive it instead of the fluctuating $3, $4 or more at the pump.

Consumers are already taking action to drive cars without gasoline. The U.S. waitlists are growing for the all-electric Nissan Leaf (with more than 20,000 orders) and the plug-in electric hybrid Chevrolet Volt (with more than 50,000 signed up in support).

Rapidly growing global demand for oil means ongoing, high and volatile gas prices. Electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and other new efficient cars and trucks provide real choices for us to cut the money we spend on fuel. Replacing gas-powered cars with electric cars over time will also improve our environment. Even accounting for the electricity, EVs are amongst the cleanest cars on the road—with the potential to become true zero emission vehicles.

Read the PDF below to learn more about the myths and facts of electric vehicles.

Transportation options are an important part of smart growth (photo credit: Flickr/faceless b)

The 10th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference (www.newpartners.org) held in Charlotte in February was a testament to the importance and urgency of placing equity and inclusion at the center of the movement to create sustainable communities. This was evidenced by the commitments made by numerous federal officials, the range of issues discussed in conference sessions, and the greater diversity among the more than 1,300 participants compared to previous conferences. Participants flocked to 110 concurrent sessions to learn from experts and each other about building sustainable communities – communities that are safe, healthy, and livable.

There was a day-long pre-conference workshop to discuss equitable development at the intersection of environmental justice and smart growth. Environmental justice advocacy is a response to the disproportionate impacts of not only pollution but also development patterns on low-income people and people of color. Participants examined transportation, housing, brownfield remediation, community health and other issue areas to see how future development strategies could overcome— rather than exacerbate— these differences.   This session focused on capacity building within neighborhood and community-based organizations to engage on growth and development issues in their neighborhoods, communities and regions.  Participants learned about federal, state, local and tribal tools and programs that support equitable development; heard from community leaders who have forged successful partnerships; learned about opportunities for collaboration between smart growth, equitable development and environmental justice; explored why integrating these efforts is critical and necessary to right past wrongs, could revitalize America’s disadvantaged communities, grow the economy, and create healthy and sustainable urban, suburban, rural and tribal communities; and finally learned about tools and strategies to help finance equitable development.

This year’s conference placed increased emphasis on Environmental and Social Justice, with both a conference track dedicated to “Equitable Development” and incorporation of those issues into many of the conference’s other sessions. Catchy buzz words and intriguing topic names abounded in the conference program:  “Equity Toolkit”, “Just and Smart Growth”, “Ports, Goods Movement, and Environmental Justice”, “Climate Justice”, “Inclusive Engagement”, and “Degrees of Disadvantage”.

Degrees of Disadvantage (“DoD”) is the term coined by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission for the index they use to compare individual census tracts’ concentration of transportation-disadvantaged populations with the regional average.  The index includes eight such disadvantaged populations:  the elderly (75+), the physically-disabled, car-less households, low-income households, female head-of-households with children, limited English-proficiency persons, Hispanic/Latino persons, and non-Hispanic minorities.  The Commission uses DoD maps to evaluate proposed transportation projects’ contribution to improving mobility and transportation access for these populations. The Local Government Commission is currently working on converting all of the PowerPoint presentations to pdf files, which will be posted on the conference website in two weeks.

Talk of energy cost savings and greenhouse gas reduction was everywhere, from LEED and other green building approaches, to energy performance audits conducted by volunteer retired engineers.

For the conference-goers it seemed that smart growth and sustainable communities are not  novel theories: they have moved into the mainstream of accepted “best practices.”  No longer is the dialogue about the merits of the ideas. In today’s day and age, the bedrock of the discussion is how to more effectively implement them, refine their techniques, and evaluate their impacts.

For more information about the NWF’s work to promote fair and equitable solutions to climate change, visit the Fair Climate Project page on our website.

High school student Brandon Ford was invited by the first lady because he is a member of the West Philly Hybrid X Team which competed late last year in the Progressive Automotive X Prize, a $10 Million competition for developing the best 100 mile per gallon-equivalent car.  The high school team represents the next generation of automotive engineering in the US.

We caught up with the team at the X Prize competition late last year and heard their message loud and clear that they believe in and are working towards a future of made-in-America advanced vehicles.  President Obama couldn’t agree more.  He has said time and again the he wants to see EVs and advanced batteries “made right here in America, by American businesses and American workers.”

Click here to listen to an NPR interview with another member of the West Philly Hybrid X Team who proudly watched his teammate on TV sitting with Michelle Obama.