Noelle Swan

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Save Our Cities

In Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 at 4:55 pm

The San Francisco Bay area prides itself on its aggressive implementation of environmental policies. Surprisingly, David Weintraub reports in his December 26, 2009 NYT article Air Quality Guidelines Face Unexpected Critics that some Bay area environmentalists are opposing caps on green house gas emissions. As the region’s air quality regulators propose new guidelines, these environmentalists have become wary that increased regulations will drive builders to outlying areas, contributing to urban sprawl. While this specific issue is based on local zoning laws and loopholes, there is a discussion that is applicable to every metropolitan area.

We need development within our cities. People who live in cities put fewer miles on their cars. Heat that is lost through endless rows of suburban roofs rises up heating apartment after apartment in cities. Suburban supermarkets stock a large selection of perishables, resulting in a high throw away rate. For all of their faults, cities are places of efficiency.

Air pollution is a very real concern today for the majority of America’s cities. City Mayors.com cites an American Lung Association report, “Six out of ten Americans live in urban areas where air pollution can cause major health problems.” Statistics like this are evidence that while want to avoid pushing developers out of the cities, we need to prevent them from further contributing to the poor health of the city.

So the quandary of the century is, how can we motivate developers to invest in cities despite the rising costs of meeting new standards?

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification has brought recognition to the table as well a set of measurement standards. Those developers of LEED buildings wear their certification as a badge of honor. Yet, so far, this designation means little to the majority of the population. It is only when lessees begin seeking out LEED certification on a large-scale that developers will feel the pressure to pursue certification.

What is called for is an aggressive public relations campaign bringing the term LEED to dinner tables and water coolers near you.

Sources:

http://www.citymayors.com/environment/polluted_uscities.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27sfpolitics.html?_r=1

http://www.usgbc.org

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To Swordfish or Not To Swordfish

In Uncategorized on December 28, 2009 at 6:38 pm

Perusing the menu at Pomodoro’s in Brookline Village, my eyes locked on “Grilled Atlantic swordfish on Sardinian couscous risotto.” My lips met in the beginnings of an “Mmmmmm,” just as my stepmother chimed in “does anybody know if swordfish is still a faux-pas?”

“I thought I heard that wasn’t true anymore,” I replied in preemptive defense. She gave me one of those skeptical looks that parents reserve for their children and proceeded to order the zucchini flowers instead.

Feeling a bit guilty, I realized that I had no idea what the status of the swordfish population really was. Sure, “I thought I’d heard” but I also “thought I’d heard” that green M&Ms were an aphrodisiac and pop rocks and coke killed Little Mikey. I decided it was time to try out this environmental journalism thing and get the skinny on swordfish.

In the 1980s, the “Give the Swordfish a Break” campaign popularized the plight of the dwindling North Atlantic swordfish. This campaign successfully coordinated boycotts of restaurants serving swordfish in the northeast resulting in what the National Marine Fisheries Service describes as “recovery that has surpassed expectation.”

Despite the rebound of the swordfish population, the discerning diner must ask one critical question before ordering, “how was the swordfish caught?” If the answer is through longline fishing, then it’s time to find something else on the menu.

Longline fishing is a method of increasing yields of large fish such as swordfish and tuna. This method utilizes mainlines tens of miles long. At varying intervals, a line dangles down bearing hand-baited hooks every few feet. These lines bring in a tremendous harvest of fish, but also of sea birds, sea turtles, marine mammals, sharks and other less desirable fish that are discarded as incidental waste.

If instead, you hear harpoon or handline, you know that this fish was caught with sustainable and responsible fishing methods. If specific fishing methods are unavailable, the chef should at least be able to tell you where it was caught. The Monterrey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood WATCH considers all domestically caught swordfish acceptable. It is highly recommended that you avoid imported swordfish.

If your server simply gives you a blank stare, I’d move on.

Sources:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/speciesid/fish_page/fish46a.html