epi@earthpolicy.org Copyright EPI 2013 2013-05-14T15:07:57+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2013/update113 When New York City opened registration for its much anticipated public bike-sharing program on April 15, 2013, more than 5,000 people signed up within 30 hours. Eager for access to a fleet of thousands of bicycles, they became Citi Bike members weeks before bikes were expected to be available. Such pent-up demand for more cycling options is on display in cities across the United States—from Buffalo to Boulder, Omaha to Oklahoma City, and Long Beach in New York to Long Beach in California—where shared bicycle programs are taking root. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-05-14T14:07:57+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2013/update112 Politicians, lobbyists, and tourists alike can ride bicycles along a specially marked lane between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, part of the 115 miles of bicycle lanes and paths that now crisscross Washington, DC. In Copenhagen, commuters can ride to work following a “green wave” of signal lights timed for bikers. Residents in China’s “happiest city,” Hangzhou, can move easily from public transit onto physically separated bike tracks that have been carved out of the vast majority of roadways. Welcome to the era of the Bike Share. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-04-25T16:44:57+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/indicators/C49/wind_power_2013 Even amid policy uncertainty in major wind power markets, wind developers still managed to set a new record for installations in 2012, with 44,000 megawatts of new wind capacity worldwide. With total capacity exceeding 280,000 megawatts, wind farms generate carbon-free electricity in more than 80 countries, 24 of which have at least 1,000 megawatts. At the European level of consumption, the world's operating wind turbines could satisfy the residential electricity needs of 450 million people. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-04-02T18:36:20+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2013 Freeing America from its dependence on oil from unstable parts of the world is an admirable goal, but many of the proposed solutions—including the push for more home-grown biofuels and for the construction of the new Keystone XL pipeline to transport Canadian tar sands oil to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast—are harmful and simply unnecessary. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-03-28T19:00:06+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2013 Defying conventional wisdom about the limits of wind power, in 2012 both Iowa and South Dakota generated close to one quarter of their electricity from wind farms. Wind power accounted for at least 10 percent of electricity generation in seven other states. Across the United States, wind power continues to strengthen its case as a serious energy source. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-03-14T12:30:10+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/indicators/C50/ice_melt_2013 As the earth warms, glaciers and ice sheets are melting and seas are rising. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-03-07T11:40:45+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2013 The energy game is rigged in favor of fossil fuels because we omit the environmental and health costs of burning coal, oil, and natural gas from their prices. Subsidies manipulate the game even further. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-02-27T19:00:57+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2013 Wind has overtaken nuclear as an electricity source in China. In 2012, wind farms generated 2 percent more electricity than nuclear power plants did, a gap that will likely widen dramatically over the next few years as wind surges ahead. Since 2007, nuclear power generation has risen by 10 percent annually, compared with wind’s explosive growth of 80 percent per year. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-02-19T15:55:14+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/indicators/C51/temperature_2013 In recent years weather events have whiplashed between the extremes of heat and cold, flooding and drought. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases—largely from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas—have loaded up in the atmosphere, heating the planet and pushing humanity onto a climatic seesaw of weather irregularities. High-temperature records in many places are already being broken with startling frequency, and hotter temperatures are in store. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-02-13T13:37:10+00:00 http://www.earth-policy.org/book_bytes/2013/fpepch1 The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food. Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold. For full report, visit the EPI website. 2013-02-07T11:50:28+00:00