Posts tagged with air quality
As the hub for NE Georgia, Athens is a major employment, education, health and entertainment center growing in popularity and population. A steady stream of new residents and a burgeoning daytime population brings increased challenges related to demand for energy, transportation infrastructure, and increasing air quality degradation.
According to the EPD, 62% of smog-forming emissions in Athens-Clarke County come from tailpipes of cars and trucks. This represents a significant problem for our air quality, particularly with respect to ground-level ozone. Indeed, Athens-Clarke County stands on the verge of failing to meet federal air quality standards designed to protect the public's health. With tighter standards likely to come later this year, non-attainment status could lead to stricter permitting requirements in the county, more regulatory controls, depressed economic growth, and a generally negative stigma about the quality of life in Athens.
But, with stricter regulatory and volunteer actions, Athens can face this challenge head on! By working together, every local employer, commuter, and resident can make a huge difference in improving and protecting Athens' air quality. This is one of the reasons why Athens-Clarke County partnered with the Clean Air Campaign and created Travel Smart Week as a way to showcase how choosing alternatives to driving alone can help improve the air we breathe.
Thanks to an expanding network of transportation alternatives, including Athens Transit, sidewalks, and bike lanes, individuals can travel with increasingly less dependency on their cars. Everyone is encouraged to get out of their cars, enjoy the fresh air, get some exercise and Travel Smart!
Heidi Davison is the mayor of Athens-Clarke County and serves on the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center Board. Through their use of commute options programs in the past year, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government employees have kept more than 8,000 pounds of pollution out of the air we breathe.
MARTA's Five Points station was the site of a rally Tuesday evening that brought together union officials, MARTA leadership, patrons and even the Rev. Jesse Jackson to raise awareness of the funding constraints that exist between maintaining existing operations and expanding service.
Against a backdrop of transit union workers donning t-shirts that read "Save Our Ride" -- and some wearing dust masks to decry the region's air quality issues, which would become worse without transit -- speakers made the case for greater control over transit dollars.
Facing reductions in service that could begin as soon as July 1 because of funding shortfalls, MARTA is asking for more flexibility in how it spends its money.
"It makes no sense," said Warren George, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, about the funding requirements. "It makes no sense to take a bus off the road and put 40 cars on the road."
"Public transit protects our environment," echoed Harry Lombardo, executive vice president of the Transit Workers Union of America. "A train or bus is the cleanest, greenest way to get from Point A to Point B."
Jesse Jackson offered up a good analogy: Atlanta has five major arteries (Cobb, Clayton, Dekalb, Fulton, Gwinnett). MARTA is the heart of metro ATL transit, but only two of the arteries have been working (Dekalb, Fulton), referring to the penny sales tax in those counties that subsidizes MARTA.
A grassroots virtual petition supporting transit nationwide, "Save Our Ride,"offers MARTA patrons a way to express their support for transit.
Transit union workers wore t-shirts at the MARTA rally to make the case for increased transit support.
Transit union workers and their families donned dust masks to call attention to the negative air quality impacts of reduced transit service.
Dr. Beverly Scott speaks at the Five Points MARTA station during last Tuesday's rally.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson took the podium to deliver an impassioned message about the vital role transit plays in Atlanta.
Attendees at the rally wore buttons encouraging support for transit by sending a text message.
Think earning cash and winning prizes for choosing to carpool, vanpool, ride transit, telework, bicycle and walk to work is great? Well, now we have even more in store for you! Start clean commuting this summer, and you could:
- MINImize your impact on the air we breathe for the chance to win a 2010 Mini Cooper
- win a clean air cruise for two to Alaska
- get up to $1,000 in free gas when you use alternatives to driving alone
- score great seats for an Atlanta Braves game
- join Clark Howard in giving your car the day off to save money on commute costs
- win a year of free car washes
- rock out to a hit artist at the Clean Air Concert
If you’re already using alternatives to driving alone, consider this a big “thanks” for all that you do to help keep the air we breathe clean! If you haven’t started yet, there are even more reasons now to make the switch to a cleaner commute.
Visit the “Other Contests and Promotions” page to get the scoop on our latest contests and prizes. Tell your friends about it, and check back throughout the summer for updated contest information.
It's incredible to think that Earth Day turns 40 today. But as we blow out the candles, it's certain that Earth Day is far from being "over the hill." The movement toward environmental sustainability is celebrated every day in Georgia by employers, commuters and schools to the tune of 800 tons of pollution kept out of the air we breathe.
In some ways, Earth Day transcends many of the important days on our calendars:
It's like New Year's Day, when we resolve to make changes that make us better stewards of the place we call home.
Earth Day is like the Super Bowl, when champions are crowned for their accomplishments.
Telemanager of the Quarter Connie Hickey, Director of Information Services at ADP (L), with Clean Air Campaign Alternative Work Arrangement Specialist Erin Clark (R).
It's like President's Week, too, with an eye toward the big decisions and the key figures that make history.
It can even bear similarities to Tax Day, when fiscal responsibility is top of mind.
It's like a wedding anniversary, commemorating the start of something special and the journey toward something extraordinary.
Another way to look at it is like Labor Day, in that we've still got a lot of work to do to achieve our shared goals.
Earth Day can also resemble Halloween sometimes, when we discover the scary facts about neglecting our home state.
And it's also like Thanksgiving, when we get together and express our gratitude for all that has been done in Georgia by 1,600 employers, tens of thousands of Georgia commuters, hundreds of schools and dozens of partners to improve our quality of life.
Earth Day is every day. And when more Georgia employers, commuters and schools choose to think in these terms, the place we call home is made better … for us to enjoy today and for future generations to enjoy tomorrow.
The Clean Air Campaign and Governor Perdue got together last Thursday for the signing of a special proclamation to go with Georgia’s Air Quality Awareness Week, which takes place the week of April 26 to 30. BAIR, the Better Air Bear, made a guest appearance.
From left to right: Kevin Green, Ronny Just, BAIR, Maris Green, Governor Perdue, Mia Green, Renay Blumenthal, Hannah Bowles, Mike Bradley, Marlin Gottschalk
Even though smog season does not officially begin until May 1, Athens, GA and Columbus, GA already experienced Code Orange smog days this past Friday when ground-level ozone pollution reached unhealthy levels. Get prepared for smog season by signing up for Smog Alerts.
Much has changed since that first Earth Day in 1970 when Senator Nelson led the first Earth Day demonstration. That first Earth Day led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA and laws and regulations that came in the following years made business accountable for polluting, harming human health and the environment, by handing businesses the bill. Businesses now had to comply to avoid huge fines and penalties.
As we mark Earth Day of 2010, the shift to sustainability in business is based on a different premise. Thought leaders and innovators in business today are taking the route of responsible capitalism, becoming accountable not to government, not to shareholders, but to the larger community of stakeholders in the business or corporation. The consumer pull or demand for responsibility is leading the charge. It is no accident that branding and PR are at the forefront. On a national level, Conferences like Sustainable Brands are more popular than ever with almost every major US corporations attending. Locally, companies like Coke, Cox, Interface and others are making huge efforts for their sustainability initiatives to be seen and heard.
Recognizing the importance of telling your green story and leading by example, the Green Chamber of the South gives companies the opportunity to do this regularly. On April 14 we will hold a seminar on Social Media and how to leverage it in the context of sustainability and green business, and in May we will hold a seminar on finding and telling your green story, all that in addition to our regular Green Wednesdays networking lunches, programs with local chambers TAG and many more. Please check our website for more details.
Ofra Tessler is president and co-founder of The Green Chamber of the South, serving green businesses throughout the Southeast. The Chamber connects green businesses, clean technology companies and corporations with sustainability programs to share best practices learn and grow. It offers businesses exposure, networking opportunities, projects, workshops and seminars. The Green Chamber of the South provides sustainable businesses in the Southeast with a strong organization, guidance, and ample opportunities for collaboration and growth. For more information: www.greencs.org or info@greencs.org
Earth Day is observed on April 22, 2010.
There's no doubt that where we choose to live, work and play all contribute to our individual perceptions of quality of life. Land use influences our mobility and dictates how we spend our time and money, among other things. And in a growing region like ours, there has never been a more important time to get smart about managing growth.
Urban planning is one discipline that seeks to improve the way the built environment and the natural environment work together. But much of the resulting work from urban planning - zoning ordinances, building codes, buffer areas and the like - has not yet reached the conscious (or the conscience) of the general public.
How do we get more people to care and take ownership of the issues our region faces with respect to sprawl, traffic congestion, pollution and consumption of natural resources? Sing about it.
Melanie Hammet, metro ATL resident since 1985, combined her talents as a local artist and elected official serving the City of Pine Lake to merge ordinance and art. Her new album, "Edifice Complex and Other Urban Plans," debuts April 10, exploring land use concepts and delivering thought-provoking observations to which we can all relate. One particular song of interest to The Clean Air Campaign about traffic features cameo appearances by a trio of vehicles.
We caught up with Melanie to find out more about "Edifice Complex:"
Q: What changes have you observed over time with respect to land use, mobility, expansion?
A: The biggest change has been in my self-education. Thanks to the Atlanta Regional Commission, Southface, the Livable Communities Coalition - to shortlist a few - there are great resources for learning about land use, and land misuse.
Q: What made you choose to make Pine Lake your home?
A: I was attracted to Pine Lake because the tree-land-house-car-people ratios seemed reasonable and sane. I was attracted to taking a leadership role in the City to help maintain those ratios.
Q: What motivated you to create "Edifice Complex?"
A: I was part of a volunteer effort to guide the re-writing of our zoning code. We’d hired an urban planner through Dekalb County and we had lots and lots of public input.
During this two-year period, I saw the challenge of translating zoning language and city planning into real, high-impact conversations. The results of bad land design are profoundly personal and the code that creates it is exactly that: code.
Q: How was the album put together?
A: In 2008 I applied for an artist residency at Seaside, a planned community in Florida. Although Seaside is a model development for land-use practices, my application was to the arts branch of their Institute. It just so happened that my project was to compose songs that reflected land-use/urban planning concepts. I was accepted into the program and had a month to focus on reading - James Howard Kunstler; Allan Jacobs; Jane Jacobs - walking all over the streets and pathways of Seaside and the surrounding areas; and writing the music that became “Edifice Complex.”
Q: What challenges do you see in getting individuals to take action on these issues?
A: As a community leader, I feel the challenge is to find direct, actionable tasks with direct, achievable results and then to enlist individuals in participating and feeling successful. Otherwise the issues are too large and too defeating.
Q: What motivated you to explore and write "Car Tune?"
A: I never realized how pampered the automobile was in our planning culture until we started dissecting zoning code. It’s almost comical. We make sure the sightlines of our streets and signs are good for "The Vehicle," that we have lots and lots of pavement for "The Vehicle," on and on it goes! It’s so obvious we don’t even notice the extent of it.
Q: How did you create the sounds for "Car Tune?"
A: I decided that my car wasn’t going to sit idly by while I was in the studio laboring over recording the song. Ben Holst (the engineer), and I dragged microphones into the driveway and put my Ford, his Chevy, and a nearby Toyota to work. "Car Tune’s" instrumentation is provided entirely by the trio.
Q: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for improved mobility in the region?
A: Geez, that’s the million-dollar question! Here’s my thought: when I lived in Manhattan, I spent a long Saturday walking from the northernmost tip of the island to the southernmost. I did it because I COULD do it. Can you imagine the Atlanta equivalent? The biggest opportunity is to make walking sexy. In our culture, driving is sexy. If we could flip that relationship, people would clamor for sidewalks and human-size cool stuff to look at and trees that shaded the paths.
Release Party
"Edifice Complex" will have its concert at The Clubhouse in Pine Lake, an eclectic community near Stone Mountain, on April 10th at 8pm. Tickets, directions, and info are at http://edificecomplex.net/
Greetings and happy spring! We've put on our gardening gloves and dug deep for this edition of Merging Lanes with one goal: to plant thoughts of sustainable transportation in your mind. So, what's going in Georgia? Lots:
HB 1218 - Transportation Funding in Georgia
It came in like a lion. Will it go out like a lamb? The state transportation funding bill (HB 1218) that was introduced early in the legislative session has reached a critical point in the calendar, where it must move from the House to the Senate or be put on the shelf. The Transportation Investment Act of 2010 still has many details that need to be worked out, such as whether counties can opt out of the "regional" arrangement and how projects will be approved. In 2008, a different version of a transportation funding bill missed by three votes at the end of the session. In 2009, competing versions of transportation planning and funding bills could not be reconciled before the session ended. What are the odds that another legislative session will come and go without action on transportation funding? And for Georgia commuters and employers, what is the cost of another year of status quo?
Lane ends 2000 feet.
Friday is Ride MARTA Day
A grassroots movement is gaining momentum to build citizen support for MARTA as the transit agency comes to grips with a funding shortfall that is likely to result in service cuts by the start of summer that could affect thousands of patrons. "Ride MARTA Day" is coming up this Friday. If you can hop on a bus or ride the train to work this Friday, consider showing your support for MARTA.
Lane ends 1000 feet.
Actions Speak Loud
It's an understatement to say he leads by example in his role at The Clean Air Campaign. Hats off to Mark Telling, The Clean Air Campaign's Director of Finance since 2002, who just earned recognition as a Clean Air Commuter Champion.
He makes it look easy. Because it is. Preferred commuting modes? GRTA Xpress and telework. When asked why he does it, the predicted answer we thought we'd get from the seasoned finance professional would be savings on commute costs. But Mark says his motivation is simply to avoid the stress of driving alone in traffic. Mark's efforts at clean commuting have kept 25,000 pounds of pollution out of the air we breathe. Congrats!
Lane ends 500 feet.
Bumper Sticker Moment of Zen
When you're languishing in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the least the driver in front of you can do is give you something to ponder.
Thanks, biodiesel guy, for doing your part. Got any good pics of bumper stickers with traffic or sustainability messages that gave you a chuckle, or maybe sparked an epiphany? Send them our way and we'll share them in this space.
Merge
Hats off to Harold Reheis, a founding father of The Clean Air Campaign and former chairman, who yesterday officially rolled off The Clean Air Campaign's Board of Directors after some 15 years of service.
Before the mission became a movement centered on less traffic and cleaner air, Reheis remembers working in the mid-90s "just to understand how Atlanta could meet tighter standards" for ground-level ozone. "We focused on wringing everything we could out of stationary sources," he explained, referring to the emissions that come from fixed objects like smokestacks. "We realized we had to work at everything in order to reach the goal."
According to Reheis, the best experiment to show how vehicle traffic and air quality are so closely linked happened when the Olympics came to metro Atlanta in the summer of 1996. It was during this two-week stretch that two important situations were recorded:
1. The Georgia DOT found traffic congestion was held at bay by area employers who led the charge to help their employees remain productive without having to drive in to worksites at rush hour
2. The Georgia EPD found that air quality was noticeably improved during this window, with no violations of the ground-level ozone standard while the Olympic torch was lit
Harold Reheis, a founding member of The Clean Air Campaign and former chairman of the Board of Directors, receives a plaque commemorating his 15 years of service.
In his role as both a regulator with the Georgia EPD and an architect of The Clean Air Campaign, Reheis expressed to his colleagues on the Board of Directors the significance of creating a non-regulatory organization, focused on voluntary actions, to cause change. "The balance of regulatory controls and voluntary commute options programs showed that a plan could be drafted and acted on to meet air quality standards," Reheis said. "I'm excited about where we've been and what we've achieved. We need to keep working to identify more ways to solve the problem."
On behalf of the entire organization and all the people you've influenced in your work for less traffic and cleaner air, thanks, Harold, for the passion and the vision you brought to improve our quality of life.
Major developments on the air quality front have been a hot topic over the past week, as the US Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed new revisions to a federal air quality standard designed to protect the public from excessive exposure to ground-level ozone. The review, which is part of the Clean Air Act, is happening more than a year ahead of schedule. So, how should we take this news in Georgia, where roughly one in five counties fails to meet the current standard?
First, there are many things going right in Georgia with respect to ground-level ozone and air quality. Last year, metro Atlanta registered no Code Red days (unhealthy for all) during what was an uncharacteristically mild smog season. And we have not seen a Code Purple day (hazardous) in several years. A combination of factors have driven this positive change in our state, like scrubbers at coal-fired power plants, special blend gasoline that emits less pollution, commute options programs like the ones offered by The Clean Air Campaign and its partners, more efficient vehicles, etc.
Second, what is clear is that the more research that becomes available from the health and science communities, the stronger the connection between exposure to even small amounts of ground-level ozone and serious public health hazards. The EPA reviewed some 1,700 scientific studies prior to introducing the most recent standard change in March 2008, which ratcheted the threshold down. Today, the discussion around the latest proposed revision is that even more stringent regulations are needed to protect public health.
While it's too soon in the process to know precisely where the new threshold will fall, what is certain is that more Georgia employers, municipalities, commuters and schools will be called upon to help through voluntary actions (driving less and reducing unnecessary idling, for example). There are no quick fixes to meet the current standard, let alone a more stringent standard down the road -- especially in a state where population growth continues to place heavy demand on energy and transportation output. But Georgia is in better position than many other states that will face the challenge of meeting stricter standards because we have programs, incentives and support -- unique to Georgia and already up and running in major metropolitan areas -- that can point us in the right direction.
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