| Metro Organizer December 18, 2009 |
To submit an item to the next Metro Organizer, please contact Tracy Babler Event I From Bean Town to Green Town 4 - 5:30 In December of 2006, the city of Boston emerged as a national leader in green buildings and the first major U.S. city to require private developers to build green. Boston’s Green Building Zoning regulations are transforming practice on a large scale; annually more than 6 million square feet of new development must meet the U.S. Green Building Council LEED Rating System requirements. From being the largest municipal purchaser of green power in New England to clean vehicle and fuel policies for municipal vehicles to green growth districts, Boston’s comprehensive approach to sustainability has produced impressive outcomes ingraining green buildings into the development DNA of the city.
Please join John Dalzell, leader of sustainability and green building efforts for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, at the Urban Land Institute's From Bean Town to Green Town event. Additionally, a panel of local experts will share exciting new initiatives that are taking shape in area cities. Event I Governor Candidate Forum on Land Use, Transit and Environment 5:30: Music, registration and voting on candidate questions It's now 2010, and in less than a year Minnesota will elect a new governor! This January, the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability and partner organizations will host the first-ever candidate forum on transportation, land use and the environment. We want to make sure that whoever is elected as Minnesota's new governor knows how important these issues are for the health and well being of our state. All major party candidates have been invited, and eight are confirmed so far (four from each of the major parties). With your help, we can demonstrate to these candidates that Minnesota voters care about transportation, land use and environmental issues. Please join us! Register online now so we know to expect you. Event I 2010 Housing Policy Showcase 9 am - noon Join the Minnesota Housing Partnership for its 2010 Housing Policy Showcase. Highlights will include legislative perspectives on what to expect in 2010; policy agendas and priorities from housing leaders; and a report on Minnesota housing trends. Resource I Rail~Volution Conference Presentations Online Now Even if you couldn't attend the 2009 Rail~Volution Conference in Boston, you can still learn from the presenters! Rail~Volution has posted all of the presentations from the conference online. Enjoy! Resource I Organizer Roundtable Resource: Leveraging Community Benefits from Transitway Development On December 16, organizers came together at an Alliance Organizer Roundtable to discuss efforts to convene community residents to identify solutions to long-standing community concerns about the Central Corridor LRT and create a process to secure community benefits from the development of the line. This paper (PDF) provides resources to help plan for the future of transit development in the Twin Cities and lessons from the Central Corridor that can be applied in other communities. Article I House Jobs Bill Calls for Investments in Highways and Transit “If the goal is to create jobs, invest in buses and rail rather than highways,” said the Boston-based US Public Interest Research Group’s Phineas Baxandall, commenting on the new $154-billion job stimulus bill. The bill takes $75 billion in leftover money from the bank-bailout fund to provide another $48 billion for “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects that could put workers on the job by April, $26.7 billion to help states and localities avoid public worker layoffs, and $79.4 billion to expand or extend several programs for the poor and unemployed. Read more from Smart Growth America. Article I What You Need to Know Following the Copenhagen Climate Summit The international negotiations on climate change wrapped up Dec. 19 in Copenhagen. The conference achieved an interim agreement, known as the Copenhagen Accord, which could put the major polluting nations on a pathway to reducing global warming pollution, and it continues to set the expectation for U.S. domestic action on climate change. Much work remains, but there were also numerous notable achievements and meaningful insights into how the United States can gain from leading the world toward a new international clean-energy agreement. Read about them in Grist. Article I Ellison Proposes End to Cost Effectiveness Index New Starts, the main federal method for funding big-ticket transit projects, is considered sorely in need of a makeover by many in the capital. Two House Democrats, including Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, attempted to start fixing the problem by offering a bill to end a much-criticized cost-effectiveness standard established by the Bush-era Federal Transit Administration. Read more from Streetsblog Capitol Hill. Job Opportunity I 2010 Living Green Expo Coordinator - Minnesota Environmental Partnership The Minnesota Environmental Partnership seeks a qualified candidate to oversee management and production of 2010 Living Green Expo on May 1 - 2, 2010. Duties of the Living Green Expo coordinator will include working with and possibly recruiting sponsors, and facilitating member involvement in expo planning. Application review will begin January 4, but the position will remain open until filled. Job Opportunity I Home Energy Squad Program Administrator- Neighborhood Energy Connection The Home Energy Squad program administrator (PDF) will manage a new program that installs simple energy-efficiency measures in customers’ homes. The program generates community interest in energy efficiency, demonstrates measurable energy savings and encourages people to take additional conservation actions after the visits. Like the Metro Organizer? Donate to the Alliance. Get this from a friend? Subscribe to the Metro Organizer. Alliance for Metropolitan Stability I 2525 Franklin Ave E, Suite 200 I Minneapolis, MN 55406 I 612-332-4471 | |
