portal.hud.gov

HUD No. 14-076 Patrick Rodenbush (202) 708-0685 http://www.hud.gov/news/index.cfm

FOR RELEASE Wednesday June 18, 2014

HUD RELEASES PROGRESS REPORT ON SANDY REBUILDING STRATEGY
Report Tracks Progress On Recommendations of Sandy Task Force

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Sandy Program Management Office (PMO) today issued its first report tracking progress on the Sandy Rebuilding Strategy. The report is now available online.

      

TIDES (Transformative Innovation for Development & Emergency Support) - July 9, 2014

Over a year and a half ago, on Monday, October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall near New Jersey.  It was the second costliest storm in United States history,responsible for 65 billion dollars in damage and 159 deathsacross the U.S., causing severe damage to New York City and New Jersey.  The damage from this catastrophic storm is still visible today and some fear that this type of storm will become the norm.

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submitted by Joe Browder

      

Offsetting carbon emissions by conserving ocean vegetation

thebluecarbonproject.com

What is Blue Carbon?

The problem: The growing emission of carbon dioxide from a wide range of human activities is causing unprecedented changes to the land and sea. Identifying effective, efficient and politically acceptable approaches to reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ is one of society’s most pressing goals.

General Electric's high-power gas tube switches. Credit: ARPA-E

submitted by Albert Gomez

sciencefriday.com - July 4, 2014
produced by Christopher Intagliata
guests - Cheryl Martin / Kate Burson

When Superstorm Sandy hit, neighborhoods all over New York City and Long Island lost power. In an effort to avoid lengthy blackouts in future storms, there was a lot of talk of a more distributed smart grid—a more resilient system. But how far have we come? Energy experts Kate Burson and Cheryl Martin discuss reinventing the grid through technological and regulatory fixes.

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

(CLICK HERE - INFORMATION ON HIGH-POWER GAS TUBE SWITCHES)

      

(Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

The charity is fighting our public records request for information on how it raised and spent money after the superstorm.

propublica.org - by Justin Elliott - June 26, 2014

Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy?

The charity has hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request we filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a "trade secret."

The Red Cross' "trade secret" argument has persuaded the state to redact some material, though it's not clear yet how much since the documents haven't yet been released.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

      

Hundreds of protestors shout 'Ban Fracking Now' at a rally outside Gov. Cuomo's Manhattan fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel on Monday. Also Monday, a top state court ruled that towns can ban the drilling practice even if the state allows it.  Nancy Siesel for new york daily news

nydailynews.com - by Kenneth Lovett - June 30, 2014

ALBANY — The state's top court on Monday ruled that local communities can ban the controversial drilling technique known as hydrofracking, whether or not the state agrees to allow the practice.

In its 5-2 decision, the Court of Appeals upheld local zoning ordinances passed by two central New York towns banning the drilling because of environmental concerns.

In her 28-page opinion, Judge Victoria Graffeo said the two towns “engaged in a reasonable exercise of their zoning authority.”

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submitted by Marielle Dubbeling  

      

The Farmery, slated to open this fall in an as-yet-undisclosed location, will be an 8,000-square-foot market that will grow its own mushrooms, greens and fruits. Photograph: Amy Edwards/Farmery

As the 'buy local' movement grows, social entrepreneurs find novel ways to make agriculture an integral part of urban life

theguardian.com - by Sarah Shemkus - July 2, 2014

Many shoppers like the idea of buying local. After all, it can mean fresher and healthier foods, stronger local economies, direct contact with food producers and in some cases — but not always — lower carbon emissions.

But most of us have only a few options for participating in the local food movement: visiting the farmers market or signing up for a community supported agriculture (CSA) subscription. As the movement continues to grow and evolve, however, social entrepreneurs are experimenting with novel ways to make local agriculture an integral part of urban life.

submitted by Samuel Bendett  

      

inhabitat.com - by Kevin Lee - June 24, 2014

NYC's Office of Emergency Management recently erected its first Urban Post-Disaster Housing Prototype in Brooklyn Heights. At first, we only got to see a glimpse of the emergency homes from the outside, but we recently took a grand tour of the space and have plenty of photos to share with you!

(CLICK HERE - PHOTOS - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

      

“The Big U,” one of the winners of the Rebuild by Design contest. Photo credit: THE BIG TEAM / Rebuild by Design

nextcity.org - by Graham T. Beck - June 2, 2014

The New York Metropolitan area will soon see a massive, $335 million berm along Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a $60 million living breakwater along Staten Island’s South Shore, a $20 million study of protecting the food distribution center in the Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point and a $125 million effort to protect north south waterways and the Mill River in Southern Nassau County.

usresilienceproject.org - October 31, 2011

U.S. Resilience Project (USRP) reports are designed to showcase how public policy can benefit from private-sector best practices in security, business continuity, risk management, and disaster preparedness.

Harness the Power of Intelligent Networks and Social Media

The focus for national preparedness should be on creating situational awareness, enhanced decision-making and rapid response; Platforms like the U.S. Resilience System, that are based upon distributed intelligent social networks and crowd-sourcing, can enable far more agility and adaptability than a highly structured, hierarchical capability with significantly better outcomes at far less cost. Exploiting U.S. leadership in this area has the potential to create significant engagement in preparedness, disaster response, and regional resilience building.

Prepared by the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute (HSSAI) for the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, September 30, 2013
homelandsecurity.org

CLICK HERE - The Resilient Social Network: @OccupySandy #SuperstormSandy (103 page .PDF report)

Acknowledgements

The Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute (HSSAI) would like to acknowledge the numerous individuals from government, the private sector, the not-for-profit sector, and the Occupy Sandy volunteers who generously granted time for interviews.

Particularly, HSSAI would like to thank Dr. Michael McDonald, Megan Fliegelman, Meghan Dunn, and Jill Cornell for providing points of contact and documentation. They greatly assisted the task team in the development of its research and analysis.

HSSAI would further like to acknowledge COL Terry Ebbert, USMC (Ret.), the former director of homeland security for the City of New Orleans and currently a distinguished visiting fellow at HSSAI, for providing a critical review of this case study.

      

Credit: Shutterstock

thinkprogress.org - by Jeff Spross - March 12, 2014

SolarCity and Best Buy have just announced a deal allowing customers to get low-cost and low-hassle solar power for their homes.

It’s what’s called a third party leasing agreement. Rather than purchasing a solar array outright, they lease the system from the provider — SolarCity, in this case.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Best Buy - SolarCity

Video: Some restaurants produce eight gallons of waste every hour. Thanks to a sustainability plan, Sandwich Me stretched that time...to two years.

 

 

ecowatch.com - Brandon Baker - June 3rd 2014

Quick—how much food, paper and plastic have you thrown in the garbage the past two years?

It’s a question you likely can’t answer, but whatever the amount,  it will certainly exceed the output of Justin Vrany and his Chicago café, Sandwich Me In.

Vrany estimates that an average restaurant dumps eight gallons of trash in a dumpster per hour.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Growing Economy, Falling Emissions

Economic growth has been stronger in nine Northeast states that have a current cap-and-trade program. Carbon emissions in those states have fallen much more quickly than in the rest of the country.

       

The New York Times
Sources: ENE; Energy Information Administration

nytimes.com - by Hannah Fairfield - June 6, 2014

Some critics of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new requirements for power plants argue that forcing emissions reduction will curtail economic growth. But the recent experience of states that already cap carbon emissions reveals that emissions and economic growth are no longer tightly tied together. . .

. . . The nine states already in the program — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — have substantially reduced their carbon emissions in recent years. At the same time, those states have had stronger economic growth than the rest of the country.

Cutting Emissions
At least 10 states cut emissions from power plants by 30 percent or more between 2005 and 2012.

      

By The New York Times
Source: Georgetown Climate Center

nytimes.com - by JUSTIN GILLIS and MICHAEL WINES - June 6, 2014

The cries of protest have been fierce, warning that President Obama’s plan to cut greenhouse gases from power plants will bring soaring electricity bills and even plunge the nation into blackouts. . .

. . . Yet cuts on the scale Mr. Obama is calling for — a 30 percent reduction in emissions from the nation’s electricity industry by 2030 — have already been accomplished in parts of the country.

At least 10 states cut their emissions by that amount or more between 2005 and 2012, and several other states were well on their way, almost two decades before Mr. Obama’s clock for the nation runs out.