Financing energy retrofits has been a major focus of area leaders on the Council of Governments’ climate and energy committee since retrofit projects create jobs, increase energy efficiency, and fight .. Keep Reading
Diesel engines, especially older ones, generate a lot of pollutants. That black smoke you see pumping out of trucks, buses, and boats produces major negative effects on human health, the .. Keep Reading
As frustrating as Congress’ unwillingness to take serious action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may be, additional legislation may not even be necessary to achieve the country’s climate mitigation goals… Keep Reading
Laine Cidlowski, AICP, Urban Sustainability Planner, and Tanya Stern, Chief of Staff, DC Office of Planning
On February 20, Mayor Vincent C. Gray released what is being lauded .. Keep Reading
Nicole Steele, Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy
& Julia Allman, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
It’s long been said that the cleanest, cheapest energy is the .. Keep Reading
In 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said our region was not meeting its fine particle (PM 2.5) pollution standards. This meant pollution levels were too high and that area .. Keep Reading
Metropolitan Washington regularly finds itself at or near the top of a lot of lists. Some of these distinctions are good, such as being the most educated region in the .. Keep Reading
Although it currently lags behind early adopters on the West Coast, metro Washington holds great potential for widespread electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the future.
The Yardstick has covered a very diverse range of topics over the past few weeks, from bringing BRT to metro Washington to reducing child poverty to making the region’s economy .. Keep Reading
MWCOG’s regional progress report on climate and energy issues and a recent series of blogs on this site highlight progress being made by area governments in advancing renewable energy projects .. Keep Reading
Between 1987 and 2007 metro Washington’s agricultural land declined by 23%, according to the recently released Region Forward Baseline Progress Report.
Currently, the entire region has less agricultural land .. Keep Reading
Despite forecasts of slower-than-expected growth in population, employment, and driving in the Washington region through 2020 because of the economic downturn of the last few years, vehicle-related emissions of harmful .. Keep Reading
It’s been awhile since we’ve done a round-up of posts here at The Yardstick and since we’ve covered so many topics over the past couple of months, we thought we’d .. Keep Reading
Read the first and second round-up of Earth Month posts.
Region Forward’s third and final week of celebrating Earth Month 2012 featured a collection of green initiatives from some of .. Keep Reading
This March, Jeff King, a Principal Environmental Planner at MWCOG, and Rick Cole, City Manager at the City of Ventura, California, traveled to the cities of Beijing, Xi’an, and Chongqing .. Keep Reading