US - NorthEast

August 29, 2014 by Linda Hardesty

New York is hosting a $40 million NY Prize Competition to inspire a new generation of local power by challenging New York businesses, entrepreneurs, and electric utilities to design and implement community-based microgrids.

The competition aims to inspire new plans for protecting and strengthening the electrical system in the face of major storms.

http://www.energymanagertoday.com/ny-spends-40m-microgrid-contest-0104504/

CLICK HERE - Newsletter - August 2014

PlaNYC is the sustainability and resiliency blueprint for New York City. Together with our collaborators – the agencies, organizations, and New Yorkers who make this plan a reality – we have made significant progress in just a few years:

• The cleanest air in 50 years
• 865,000 trees and five million square feet of reflective rooftop added to our urban landscape
• Building codes upgraded to prepare for floods, wind, and extreme weather
• 19% reduction in carbon emissions since 2005, well ahead of our goal to reach 30% reduction by 2030

A changing climate, a growing population, aging infrastructure, and an evolving economy with increasing inequality pose challenges to our city’s success and quality of life. Recognizing that we determine New York's future by how we shape our response to these challenges, PlaNYC includes actions to mitigate climate change while also preparing for the risks it presents, ensuring quality of life for generations of New Yorkers to come.

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.

ncfpd.umn.edu - April 4, 2014

Webinar - Community Resilience and Impacts of Interdependent Infrastructure Disruptions as Experienced from Hurricane Sandy (One hour long)

Presented By: 
Michael D. McDonald, Dr.P.H.
Chairman, Global Resilience Inititatives
Executive Director, Health Initiatives Foundation, Inc. 

Facilitated By:
John T. Hoffman, Col., USA, Ret.
Senior Research Fellow, National Center for Food Protection and Defense

Under the dynamic conditions of rapid climate change and broader global changes, resilience and sustainability are not being achieved through traditional emergency management and humanitarian approaches alone. While community-based resilience networks are now beginning to emerge in a race to stabilize New York City's coastal communities significantly impacted by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, many impacted neighborhoods are still trending toward greater vulnerability plaguing recovery and preparedness for the next wave of potentially larger storms.