April 24, 2008 by Ben.

This past week YERT headed into the Big Apple for some big-time green fun. Julie had four days of rehearsals at NYU (she absolutely LIVES for performing in their musical theater grad-student theses and we’re all for nourishing one’s soul, so Mark and I were on our own for most of the week).

We started off our time in NYC right by visiting Bob Fox, principal of Cook+Fox, an architecture firm responsible for one of the most groundbreaking environmental buildings ever - the world’s first LEED Platinum skyscraper…the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park near Times Square. This building is going to set the standard for skyscrapers - complete with motion-controlled, personally tailored temperature zones to maximize AC and heating efficiency and a giant block of ice made by off-peak solar electricity to help keep the building cool. Cutting edge stuff. Bob also revealed all kinds of green features of the Cook+Fox office (bamboo shelving, innovative daylighting design, Cradle to Cradle carpets, water reclamation, etc.) including a wonderful green roof with one of the best views in Manhattan.

After the interview, Bob was kind enough to “grease the skids” for us at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) across the street, so we headed on over for a sit-down with the NRDC’s Air and Energy Program Director, Ashok Gupta, and one of the organization’s energy attorneys, Luis Martinez, at the NRDC’s headquarters - a building that not-coincidentally paved the way for green office buildings back in 1989. Needless to say, Mother Nature has quite the crack team of lawyers and environmental policy gurus working for her - and boy does she need it!

By 3pm, we were exhausted and hungry, so we shlepped over to Bonobo’s on 23rd and Madison Ave. It’s an awesome raw-food vegetarian joint that packs a super-nutritious punch. Best of all, they’ve always got some funky nut/date desert ball of goodness near the cash register - delicious. Luckily, the staff totally “got” the no-trash experiment and we totally got fed.

Friday we headed up to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies to speak with Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig about the effect of climate change on crops and the world’s food supply. This was especially interesting timing given the recent headlines regarding food shortages around the globe. Cynthia said that while increased CO2 may have mixed results initially yielding short-term crop increases in some areas, the long-term prognosis is not good at all, particularly if things continue on as they are. Makes me even more resolute about learning to farm organically once this trip is done.

After her interview, Cynthia sent us over to speak with Nilda Mesa, Columbia University’s first Director of Environmental Stewardship (and knitter extraordinaire). Having not eaten all day, Mark and I were starving by this point and, going way above the call of duty, Nilda and her office bent over backwards to share with us whatever packaging-free food they had lying around - part of a “brick” of cheese, some rice snacks, a banana. Then she took us up onto her office’s green roof and, along with the very knowledgeable Cathy Resler, Manager of Recycling and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs, over to the main campus for the dime tour of some of the green stuff going on at Columbia including a cool program developed by a Columbia grad called RecycleBank that pays students (or anyone, really) for recycling by rewarding them with “points” that are redeemable for discounts at stores all over the city (or country). Cathy then gave us the low down on all things recyclable on campus (we even rescued a nearly fully functional camcorder from the electronics recycling bin - Cathy was determined to try to resuscitate it). Finally, we spoke with Hannah Lee (a student delegate to the climate summit in Bali who runs Columbia’s Eco-Representatives program and is one of the university’s brightest eco-stars) to get the student perspective on how the campus is going green. Things sound like they’re heading in the right direction around Columbia…and New York.

Next time NYC Part 2…

Posted in Travelog, Issues, Ben | 1 Comment »

April 22, 2008 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

We hit the streets of Times Square to find out if Earth Day was on the minds of New Yorkers. Problem is, as any New Yorker can tell you, almost no one in Times Square is actually from New York. Still we did learn a lot about Tuesday and soon found ourselves drawn to Central Park in search of some real Earth Day celebrations. We were not disappointed.

We also have a few exciting announcements to share– the first is that we have re-launched our website! We hope you’ll spend hours browsing around (http://www.yert.com), where you’ll find a handy trip dashboard that lets you check out my mood, Julie’s "preg-o-meter," and Ben’s shower tracker. We’ll be updating the site daily, so you can get the very latest scoop on (y)our journey.

Our second bit of happy news is that we were recently featured on Voice of America! We were contacted by Rosanne Skirble at VOA, who spent an afternoon with us while we spoke to people walking along the Mall in Washington DC. We had a blast with the interviews in every direction, and we think you will, too. She also highlighted a few folks/groups/ideas that we had covered in some of our videos: The Intervale in Vermont (from YERTpod10), Scott Brusaw at Solar Roadways (YERT Conversation 19.1), our Melting Arctic (from Bear Necessities), and bike commuters in Oregon (YERTpod22). We’ve seen text and audio versions of the interview so far. Fingers crossed for the video version coming soon…

That’s all from NYC– next state: OHIO!

YEaRThfully Yours,
Mark, Ben, and Julie

Your YERT Team (team@yert.com)

P.S. For more ideas about Earth Day in New York, check out these websites.

• Central Park Conservancy
• milliontreesnyc.org
• Earth Day NYC
• Official Earth Day 2008 Action Center

Posted in Events, Video, Ben, Mark | 1 Comment »

April 20, 2008 by Ben.

Yesterday, Julie and I enjoyed a wonderful baby shower thrown by our dear friends Erin, Hunter, and Phill. We were truly blown away by how low-impact the event was (way to go Erin and company!) and everyone’s creativity in creating eco-conscious gifts. Among the many wonderful gifts were a wooden chest constructed out of house repair lumber leftovers and filled with all kinds of baby hand-me-downs and used books, a gorgeous homemade quilt, a hand-knit baby blanket and soaker, all manner of used books and baby onesies, and even a spectacular live 3-part a cappella performance of a personally arranged song. It was such a loving experience made that much more personal by the extreme care and inspired creativity of every guest present. If you want a wonderful baby shower, ask the people you love to make it a “clean” and “green” one and you won’t be disappointed. Thank you to everyone involved in the celebration - we love you dearly!

Posted in Travelog, Ben | 1 Comment »

April 19, 2008 by Ben.

Today, Saturday April 19th, will be a momentous occasion as Julie enjoys a shower in Brooklyn with 30 of her closest friends. Baby shower, that is. And we’re trying to make it as environmentally friendly as we can - a “clean” shower. Julie’s requested no packaging of any kind on the gifts; no plastic gifts; all-natural and environmentally friendly products, materials, and ingredients; and free, homemade, or second-hand gifts whenever possible. It’s going to be an interesting time to say the least - we’ll certainly let you know what people come up with. For now, here are three interesting eco-baby shower sites I found online.

All Natural Baby

Eco Parti

Crystal Baby Organics

I sure am glad at least one of us is showering today.

And now, a poem:

When you’re loving the planet
As you grow a little “bean”
Nothing feels better
Than a shower that’s clean

peace,
Ben

Posted in Events, Travelog, Ben | 1 Comment »

April 17, 2008 by Ben.

The “green” movement has been steadily gaining momentum for the last decade or so, and exponentially so in the past two years. Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” and a more environmentally sensitive Congress in 2006 helped America really start to turn a corner that it had been sitting behind for quite some time. Since then, “going green” has become a sort of national mantra - recited even by corporations. There are “green” cars, “green” clothes, “green” buildings, “green” makeup, “green” literature, a host of new “green” TV channels, “green” hotels, even “green” adult toys. Apparently, it’s also always very important to put “green” in quotes when using the word this way so as to clarify that, for instance, the “green” makeup isn’t actually green (unless you’re playing Elphaba in “Wicked,” in which case it actually is).

But with each new “green” product or service, we as a society move ever closer to “over-greenification” - that dangerous backlash that happens when a word ceases to mean what it once meant, when we start to build up a sort of social immunity to the very movement that’s trying to save us. We begin to get suspicious of the integrity of the “movement” (and rightfully so) when oil companies start touting their “green” credentials in TV commercials and car companies like GM start advertizing “green” cars that don’t yet exist (Volt) or “green” hybrid SUVs that that get a whole 20mpg rather than the 19mpg of their non-green counterparts (Tahoe). These kinds of quantum leaps by industry are WAY to radical - I’m not sure the country is ready just yet for something as mind-blowing as an SUV that’s almost as efficient as a backhoe. We have to be careful here. Sure “green” means “go”, but it’s time to add a little caution to the mix - a little “yellow” into the “green” movement, if you will. Time to slow this bad boy down just a bit before it loses all real meaning, before it peaks and then slides away into oblivion. We need a new color that’s as “yellowy green” as corn-ethanol. A color like…”chartreuse.”

Ah, “chartreuse” - that wonderful color exactly half way between yellow and green (much like the color palette of this blog). And isn’t that really what we’re talking about here anyway? I mean, let’s call a spade a spade: a 20mpg SUV isn’t green - it’s “chartreuse”, baby! An awesomely cautious dip of the toe into the vastly expanding pool of what qualifies as “green”. It’s a fabulously slow move in the green direction - a “yellow” green if you will. After all, “yellow” represents that moment in heavy traffic when you decide either to deny good sense and “run” what you know will probably be a red light or to pretend that you’re still in “green” territory - it’s a wonderfully delusional color - the perfect addition to the “green” movement in our newly-minted “‘clean’ coal” world. But mere “yellow-green” doesn’t cut it. No, it has to have the cache of “chartreuse.”

Yeah…”the chartreuse movement” - rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Think about it for a second. It’s so very French. So exotic. Tres chic, no? And talk about a colorful history, chartreuse is a liquor, a Catholic monastery, even an official uniform color of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. It also happens to be the most visible color to the human eye. Eye candy, if you will - just like a 20mpg Tahoe, corn ethanol, “clean” coal, or a 25,000 square foot “green” mansion. Eye candy that tells us that we really can buy our way to sustainability - we just need the “market” to show us the best way to consume the planet into restoration. Sounds like a winning plan.

And “chartreuse” is defined, yet malleable - so intriguingly descriptive. Heck, “chartreuse” itself underwent a sort of re-invention in the 1990’s when it gained a web-presence and became delineated into “web-color chartreuse” and “traditional chartreuse.” It’s an internet-savvy 21st century color for an internet-savvy 21st century movement. Best of all “chartreuse” doesn’t require quotes the way “green” does becau…um…I mean, chartreuse doesn’t require quotes the way “green” does because no one will think your makeup is actually chartreuse - they’ll just know it describes an awesomely hip new movement that values the backwards energy balance and land-use nightmare of corn-ethanol just as much as the mountaintop removal and groundwater pollution that gives us our “clean” coal that hasn’t been invented yet.

Oh, some people also call chartreuse “puke green.” But, they’re probably just jealous of my new Tahoe.

Posted in Issues, Ben | 2 Comments »

April 1, 2008 by Ben.

Today in DC we had the rare privilege of sitting down with Ilene Tuderyte, one of President Bush’s senior energy policy advisers, to discuss the nation’s energy future and whether President Bush is still even able to affect US environmental policy this late in his second term. We were surprised and encouraged to find that what we thought was a lame-duck presidency, still has a bold vision of what is possible, and Bush recently appears truly to have turned a corner in his environmental and energy positions. Ms. Tuderyte assured us that the president has a very strong desire to help the country wean itself off of foreign oil - and oil altogether, for that matter. Kudos to him. When we pressed her for specific initiatives, she unveiled one of the most groundbreaking ideas we’ve heard all year.

The following are excerpts from an internal Department Of Energy memorandum she shared with us:

“As a nation, we are seeing increasing rates of obesity across all age groups. Nearly 65% of all Americans are now considered obese - a 50% rise in obesity in the last 30 years - and the rate of childhood obesity is rising three times a fast as it is for adults. When it comes to body fat - the U.S. is the world leader. This incredible surplus of cellulite stored in the bodies of our citizens represents one of the most underutilized natural resources we have - a truly renewable energy source that is INCREASING at nearly 3% annually. Oil prices have recently eclipsed $110 dollars/barrel and will likely surpass $170 dollars/barrel by the end of 2008. As the world’s largest consumer of petroleum, we will soon be facing a shortage in our oil supply while enjoying a record surplus of cellulite - our most plentiful home-grown bio-fuel resource. In the next two weeks, we will be making recommendations to Congress to legislate strong financial incentives for domestic auto manufacturers to increase basic research into the development of a cellulite-powered car engine capable of a minimum of 35 miles per pound of human body fat.

With a sharp increase in the number of elective liposuction procedures during recent years, the future of American body fat as an alternative fuel is indeed strong. On a per capita basis, the average American is 58.3 pounds over weight. With 302 million people in the U.S. this translates to nearly 17.6 billion pounds of excess fat. With current national stores of excess body fat at 17.6 billion pounds and projected to rise to 20 billion by 2010, assuming an average fuel economy of 35 miles per pound, human cellulite has the potential to meet all of our national automotive fuel needs by the end of the decade. Several preliminary joint studies conducted by GM and several liposuction labs in Los Angeles and Miami confirm that efficiencies as high as 40 miles per pound are theoretically possible with more energy dense fat from the buttocks and thighs, while belly and underarm fat yield between 23-31 miles per pound, depending on the individual’s diet. An additional fuel efficiency benefit may come from a decrease in mean passenger weight as individuals’ fat is increasingly used to power their cars. However, it should be noted that this may happen at the expense of domestic fat supplies, in which case restrictions will be required and a national fast food subsidy program may need to be implemented to maintain sufficient national fat supplies.

Given that effective public relations management of this unorthodox proposal is essential during the coming months, the DOE will be working closely with American car manufacturers on initial product marketing and positioning. Several preliminary campaigns are:

“Having trouble burning off those extra pounds…FORD’s here to help. The new FORD Fatster.”

“A Lean, Mean, Lard-Driving Machine…the 2009 Chevy Cellulite.”

“Dodge Dimple - Now you can ride on the most durable spare tire of all…yours.”

“Drive your way to thin with a Lincoln Lipid SX.”

“Not a car, not a truck, not an SUV - It’s a Blubber. The Blubber B3 - a vehicle as big as you are.”

“People used to call me Porky, now they call me an environmentalist. - Come check out the all new 6-cylinder Mazda Muffintop.”

“Get it off your butt and into your car - Fat makes America run.”

In short, we believe that a strong national energy policy begins and ends with a triple cheeseburger, milkshake, and side of extra large fries - it’s time we recognized our national obesity “problem” for the energy independence answer it is. And it’s time we replaced high prices at the pump, with live humans hooked up to the pump. We have the need, we have the supply, and we have the technology - liposuction/filling station hybridization. It’s time to get off of oil - and onto cellulite. Time to declare our energy independence. America’s Energy Future Is Fat and Free.”

Oh, and…
HAPPY APRIL FOSSIL FOOLS’ DAY!

Posted in Events, Travelog, Issues, Ben | 3 Comments »

March 30, 2008 by Ben.

Monday, Jan 14th, we drove our way from Arkansas to Texas stopping by a very suspicious looking buffet at a Western Sizzlin’ in Oklahoma for what might qualify as food in some parts of the world, but was terrifying to us - suffice it to say a lot of iceberg lettuce, mashed potatoes, and creepy mac and cheese was consumed in the name of dodging the four-day-old “everything else at the salad bar.” Thankfully we made it safe and sound to our fine hosts in Dallas, Tom and Joy, who had agreed to take us in on spectacularly short notice.

We spent Tuesday playing catch up and running errands - as we must on occasion - enjoying an enthusiastic conversation about YERT and the art of quitting smoking with the manager of a local Chipotle franchise over burritos served on pizza pie tins. It’s always nice to see the no-trash rule bringing people together. That evening, based on a photo of the facade and a quick glance at the menu online, I suggested that we take a chance on a little vegetarian Dallas eatery called the Cosmic Cafe. None of us was prepared for what an absolutely wonderful dining experience this was to be. As we travel, one of the most comforting things for me to find in any town is a local haunt where you know you can find reasonably-priced, freshly prepared, creative, delicious food (preferably vegetarian) served with care in an eclectic and friendly environment. Most city’s worth their salt have at least one and the Cosmic Cafe simply blew us away by almost every criteria - ten seconds poring over the menu at the table and the three of us knew we had hit the jackpot. Generally when we find a place like this, we make repeat visits, and sure enough, the next night saw us back once again for their delectable vegetarian fare - complete with a live accordion concert this time.

Wednesday, we headed to the Fort Worth Stockades for a little Western culture to see the running of the bulls, or, as it turns out in Texas, the walking of the steers. The whole gang there really rolled out the red carpet for us and we had a heck of a time learning all about one of the lone star state’s original “low emissions vehicles” - the Texas longhorn steer. Julie even found herself sitting on top of one for a second.

Then we headed into downtown Fort Worth for an interview with one of our key Texas liaisons and a one-woman eco-dynamo, Haily Summerford, Public Education Specialist for the City of Fort Worth’s Environmental Management Department. Haily taught us all about Fort Worth’s “incredible shrinking garbage” and even introduced us to a real-live cardboard cartoon super hero - Captain Crud (he gave a riveting interview) - who’s helped increase Fort Worth’s recycling diversion rate from 6% to 20%. Haily is truly doing yeoman’s work in North Central Texas.

After Crudding about, we hustled over to the EPA’s Region 6 headquarters in Dallas for a sit-down with three of their experts to find out all about the Sustainable Skylines initiative to improve air quality in the Dallas metro area, a team effort between the City of Dallas, the EPA, and the North Texas Council of Governments. Apparently, Dallas was selected from a pool of several cities as the first in the nation to test-drive this innovative program made up of a number 3-year projects which could serve as a model for programs in other cities. This sounds like good news and bad news - the good news is that it finally looks like there’s a program starting up that might help address some of Dallas’ air quality problems, the bad news is that those air quality problems are so severe in Dallas as to warrant starting the program there first. Oh well, better late than never. And of course, so as to leave no stone unturned in this quest for clean air in North Texas, Thursday morning we had an even larger roundtable discussion with the North Texas Council of Governments’ crack-team of air-quality policy peeps in Arlington, TX to get the skinny on Big D’s dirty air and to probe even further into the Sustainable Skylines initiative.

Then, just for good measure we headed just down the road to tour the AbitibiBowater recycling facility - one of the world’s largest newspaper recyclers - where we watched giant machines do all sorts of cool stuff with all things recyclable - shred, sort, compact, cube, tie. In a word it was…neato. By Thursday afternoon, though we’d already seen a lot in Dallas, we were just getting started in Texas and headed west in search of wind…

Stay tuned for more Texas in the next installment (what can I say, it’s a big state and I’m sleepy).

Posted in Travelog, Issues, Ben | 1 Comment »

March 19, 2008 by Ben.

THIS
MUST
END.

It’s the phrase that’s been going through my head all weekend in West Virginia. We’ve been “digging into” mountain top removal (MTR) coal mining out here - unbelievably tragic stuff and arguably the most environmentally destructive process that mankind engages in.

Saturday morning, we took a small plane up over southern WV - there’s a great little operation out of Asheville, NC called Southwings where pilots volunteer their time and money to take people up in the air to show them the MTR that’s happening out here. Our wonderful pilot, Susan Lapis, has given tours to everyone from Robert Kennedy Jr. to Woody Harrelson and was an unbelievable guide and pilot. There’s really no substitute for seeing this problem from the air. Evidently, everyone who takes the flight has the same initial response to seeing the devastation - “I had no idea!” We were certainly no exception.

Then we visited with a man named Larry Gibson, a mountain-loving native of Appalachia who lives in a humble cabin perched on the last remaining sliver of Kayford Mountain in a sea of MTR coal mining. His cabin used to be one of the low points in the area and now it’s one of the highest. He’s a one-man army taking on big coal and speaking around the country about MTR. Fighting to protect his “family’s mountain,” he was emboldened even further after the coal companies blew up one of his family’s grave yards in the course of destroying a neighboring mountain to get at the coal underneath. Though of small stature, Larry is truly a giant among men - just the warmest, most colorful, caring activist. We first spoke to him in his cabin on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and then returned to him on Sunday for a grand tour of his little “island” in the sea of “big coal,” complete with an enormous mining operation right in his back yard. Having been threatened, shot at, and had his cabin torched, he’s fighting the big-coal monster, and willing to lay down his life to do it. A true hero.

Finally, on Monday, we traveled into a hollow (a valley hamlet, pronounced “holler” if your local) and spoke with Bobby Mitchell and Maria Lambert. Maria lives in one of many hollows that have been ravaged by water pollution from MTR mining, where the incidents of certain cancers and diseases are off the charts - in one hollow, nearly every person has had to have their gall bladder removed. The things that come out of Maria’s tap look like a toxic science experiment gone awry, and the seemingly innocuous creek running in front of her house is untouchable - she won’t even let her granddaughter stick her foot in it. Bobby is helping to organize and empower local citizens like Maria to unite around these issues, get their water tested, and start raising some hell about these life-threatening problems. More often than not people like Bobby and Maria are given the run-around by local agencies and governments, but they continue to persevere. It’s a daunting and thankless process, but there’s nothing like having your life and health on the line to motivate you.

Pictures can not begin to do this MTR issue justice - the amount of devastation going on in Appalachia in the name of cheap energy is just mind-blowing. In Wyoming, coal seams are, in many cases, just under the surface so companies can essentially “scoop” it out rather than burrowing underground like in traditional mining. This kind of strip mining is cheaper and requires fewer workers than traditional underground mining, so in order to stay competitive with cheap Wyoming coal and to make an extra buck, companies that mine in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky are increasingly relying on MTR coal mining. Huge mountains are simply gone and the “overburden” is dumped into the valleys, polluting waterways and ecosystems. Over 1200 miles of streams and rivers in WV have been effectively buried or poisoned from MTR - there are all kinds of heavy metals and chemicals that leach into the surface and groundwater when coal and rocks that were never meant to see the light of day are suddenly and violently exposed (not to mention the witches brew of toxic chemicals used to “clean” and process the coal before it is shipped off). So much illegal is going on in these mountains it’s hard to know where to begin - one mining operation was committing an average of 26 violations per day, every day for 6 years! Of course, all of this has been getting dramatically worse under the current administration.

Many people are finding every color of water coming out of their tap (black, brown, red, orange, green) and are either dying or suffering a long list of ailments from contaminated drinking water. Much of this news never sees the light of day, and the state and local governments seem to be completely in bed with the big coal companies. This is why, despite the current rhetoric on TV to the contrary, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL. Carbon sequestration is such a small tip of such an enormous ice berg. If our excursion into coal country has taught us anything, it is that coal simply needs to stay in the ground, and more people need to hear about what is really going on behind the hills next to the highway. The things that are kept out of sight from the general population out here (and in many other places around the country) would break the hardest heart. Check out a documentary called “Kilowatt Ours” for more about MTR coal mining and what each of us can do about it.

Finally, the next time any of us turns on a light switch or fires up an appliance, we would be wise to remember people like Maria, Larry, and Bobby - because, odds are, somewhere out in Appalachia, a piece of mountain just disappeared and real people suffering as a result.

Posted in Travelog, Issues, Ben | 1 Comment »

February 22, 2008 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

We’re back! During the last couple of weeks each one of us managed to get knocked around by the flu or a serious cold or both. We used up our cloth hankies like they were paper! We made garbage by purchasing a bottle of chewable vitamin C tablets! We slept more than we’ve slept in months! We wondered why we couldn’t just detach our aching, stuffy heads and replace them with new ones! Perhaps it was a sign. Perhaps we had run ourselves ragged. Perhaps there’s just something in the air here in the South. Whatever the cause of our suffering, the video schedule suffered along with us – but now we’re all happily back to health with a brand new YERTpod!

This week we take a close look at Oregon. For those of you familiar with Vermont, we think you’ll find that Oregon is like Vermont except wetter, warmer, and with fewer secessionists. And, dare we say, better public transportation?

We explored public transportation in Portland and Eugene, and we’re now convinced that Oregonians are literally moving the right way – moving towards efficient transport that, in turn, moves them around sustainably. It’s all very moving.

Whenever we arrive in a city that’s doing all the right green things—bike paths, speedy public transportation, beautiful public spaces, and pervasive recycling—we begin to look for one thing: the 20 year city plan. Back in the 1970’s Portland had an opportunity to expand its highway system along its riverfront. Instead it chose the road less traveled— in fact, the road not traveled at all. Rather than build another monstrous road, the people of Portland elected to create more urban open space, light rail, an urban boundary, and legislation to help fund and build a comprehensive network of bicycle paths in and around the Portland area. According to TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch "someone was smart a long time ago, and we’re reaping the benefits."

Not to be outdone by its big brother to the north, the city of Eugene recently borrowed a page from Curitiba, Brazil’s acclaimed urban planning handbook and took a quantum leap forward in its public transportation by building the United States‘ first Bus Rapid Transit (EmX) system that runs on specially designed diesel-electric hybrid buses with dedicated right of way. Somewhere a city planner is cheering in Portuguese.

Meanwhile, we’re cheering the city planners in Oregon.

Cheeriously,

Ben, Julie, and Mark (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

P.S. And now for Breadcrumbs! If you want to learn more about the topics in this video, check out these resources:

1. EmX. Essentially, the coolest bus system we’ve seen all year, handily explained by Andy Vobora, Marketing and Communications Director at the Lane Transit District. That said, we haven’t been to Curitaba, Brazil, and you can compare the two for yourself– there is an interesting film about the brilliant public transportation system (busses included) created in South America, and we highly recommend that you watch the trailer here.

2. Bicycle Transportation Alliance. According to their website, the BTA is "working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and SW Washington." We spoke to Executive Director Scott Bricker at the BTA about all things bikes – possibly the most efficient form of transportation! By the way, he’s not the only Scott Bricker leading bicycle advocacy for a major American city – check this out. What are the odds?

3. TriMet. This is a municipal corporation responsible for most of the public transporation in Portland’s metro area. We spoke to Mary Fetsch, Communications Director for TriMet, and you can find all sorts of cool facts about this organization here. Facts like this one: "TriMet carries more people than any other U.S. transit system its size."

YERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERT

Posted in Video, Ben, Mark | 3 Comments »

February 6, 2008 by Ben.

Ahhh…Mississippi. It seems strangely appropriate to be in the most obese state in the nation on Fat Tuesday AND Super Tuesday for what can only be described as - Super Fat Tuesday. Unfortunately, for our little YERT krewe here, today was best characterized as Super Sick Tuesday. Both Mark and Julie are laid up in bed with fevers and coughs and all manner of nastiness. Somehow I have avoided the bug - maybe I hadn’t been breathing in that Louisiana air quite as deeply this past week (I knew there was a good reason I’d been putting off exercising). So, we have spent the last two days recouping and regrouping at the Best Western in Biloxi - that is, Mark has been hibernating, Julie has been blogging and coughing, and I have been editing and making food runs…and I’m still waiting to see a part of Mississippi that isn’t the inside of this hotel room or the inside of the Ruby Tuesday’s down the street.

Today I had my chance. Around 1:30, having just finished putting together the latest Bag Monster video, I was commissioned by Julie, who has recently taken the mantle of “sickest YERT member” from Mark, to go on a food run for something “soupish”. Mark, whose fever has finally dipped below 100 in the last day or so, ventured out with me for some grub and a side of fresh air. As we walked out of the hotel we were greeted with, among other things, 40mph gusts of unseasonably warm fog and a giant parade of floats with people flinging pounds of flying plastic necklaces. Driving was not an option. Apparently our little Best Western sits nicely in the path of one of the largest Mardi Gras parades on the Gulf Coast. Too bad none of us felt like partying.

After wading through the masses and dodging flying necklaces for half an hour, we finally managed to hunt down the only open food option in town - Waffle House. Happy Super Fat Tuesday! I got some soup for Julie (which took me twenty minutes to deliver to her and another twenty to return) and then enjoyed slightly suspicious eggs and hashbrowns as Mark polished off his chicken noodle soup. We left Waffle House not long after they had started charging the throngs of increasingly inebriated revelers a dollar to use the bathroom - we could see where this was headed and were eager to get back to the relative sanity of our respective rooms.

As I fought my way through a sea of delirious revelers and witnessed the tons (literally tons) of brightly painted beads being gleefully flung through the air into the thousands of outstretched arms, I couldn’t help but see it for the giant redistribution of plastic detritus that it really was. For how long would any of these people keep their beads? A day? A week? A year? A decade? And then what? Undoubtedly into some landfill somewhere for most of eternity. Or better yet, the ocean where it kills all sorts of sea life - that would be a “sea” of plastic becoming a literal sea of plastic. And what was in the paint on these beads that, in most cases, had been fabricated in China and shipped over here? Surely not lead. Right? I could only hope as I saw a small child struggling to carry a neck full of beads that weighed more than she did. It was a truly surreal experience. I’m all for celebrating life and the spirit of Mardi Gras, especially here in an area that’s been so devastated by hurricanes (and, more specifically, am totally in love with much of New Orleans at this point - it truly is the soul of our country), but throwing around thousands of pounds of pointless plastic in a beer-induced frenzy from atop enormous floats tethered to giant diesel big rigs - that’s a petroleum party, not a celebration of life. Sometimes, it certainly seems like we’ve got a long road ahead of us before we even begin to sniff anything like a sustainable existence. Which brings me to the weather.

Oh the weather. I spent most of this evening watching Anderson Cooper covering Super Tuesday on CNN and then flipping over to Jim Cantore covering Tornado Tuesday on the Weather Channel, beside himself with disbelief at the army of warm weather destruction marching as far north as the Ohio river valley in the dead of winter. It’s weirdly funny and alarming to see such a respected weather man with his proverbial jaw on the floor. Thankfully we are slightly south of the “action” down here in Biloxi, but northern parts of Mississippi are getting hammered. February 5th. Tornadoes. Tennessee. Kentucky. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Julie’s mom says when she was a child 50 years ago they used to ice skate all winter long on the ponds near her house in Louisville. Now they have to worry about tornadoes in February. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong. This planet is changing…rapidly. And don’t even get me started about Arkansas. This is the second rash of tornadoes they’ve had in as many months - we were in the area when they got hit in early January. Winter tornadoes ALL winter? DUDE! Excuse me but WTF!?!? I grew up in Kansas and I know from tornadoes. You’re not even supposed to have to think about that stuff until April.

So here we are in America’s Super Fattest state, Mississippi, on Super Fat Tornado Tuesday returning from Mississippi’s petroleum party outside to watch more global warming-induced natural disasters hit Mississippi and wondering all the time if this state (and the rest of the country) will ever elect a president who can really help us deal with all of it. Hmmm. Here’s hoping this country starts connecting the dots.

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