Category: Environment
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And the Band Played On
By Peter Galuszka (Fourth of a series) FUKUSHIMA, Japan — About an hour and a half north of Tokyo by bullet train, the city of Fukushima is enjoying a fall festival. A brass band (see photo) belts out tunes while two young policewomen in sky blue uniforms have their pictures taken with children sitting atop…
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The Old Boy’s Still Around
By Peter Galuszka (first of a series) BEIJING, China — Red and gold emblems flap around Tiananmen Square in celebration of 62 years of the People’s Republic of China. This holiday, the sprawling square area is thronged with Chinese families of all ages on this warm and sunny fall afternoon. I am here on a…
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The Wonk Salon, October 8, 2011
Open Source IT Architecture in Houston James A. Baker Institute It’s time for Houston to move from expensive, proprietary IT platforms an open source architecture. Among other initiatives, the city should develop a wiki platform to capture institutional knowledge. Uh, Oh, Our Water Infrastructure Is Decaying, Too Economic Policy Institute Rebuilding America’s decaying water/waste water…
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The Wonk Salon, September 24, 2011
The Impact of Minimum Wage on Somoa, Marianas Government Accountability Office Increases in the minimum wage have devastated the tuna cannery industry in Somoa but has been less of a factor in the tourism-based economy of the Northern Mariana Islands. L.A. Gang Reduction Program Is Helping Urban Institute A drop in gang-related crime was evident…
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Back to the Future
By Peter Galuszka Virginia’s “no tax” governor is on his way to sticking the state’s motorists with a tax by another name. Robert F. McDonnell has won preliminary federal approval to stick drivers with a toll of from $2 to $4 on parts of Interstate 95 supposedly to help the cash-starved state fund “safety” improvements.…
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The Wonk Salon, September 18, 2011
Feds and State Must Cooperate to Save the Bay Government Accountability Office The federal government is basing its save-the-bay policy on The Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. State policy is based upon Chesapeake 2000 Agreement. Feds and states need to get on the same page. Denser Cities Mean More Concentrated Pollution…
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The Wonk Salon, September 16, 2011
Internal Migration Slowing in U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research Internal migration within the United States has diminished somewhat over the past three decades. The reasons remain elusive — but the “house lock” theory of low housing prices discouraging people from moving does not hold up. Right-to-Work Wrong Answer for Michigan Economic Policy Institute RTW…
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Common Sense or Delaying Tactic?
Opponents of the Charlottesville Bypass are calling for an update to the project’s 18-year-old environmental impact analysis.
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Ecologists Need Not Apply
By Peter Galuszka Stacking the deck seems to be the modus operandi of the administration of Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell. First, he annihilated nearly the entire board of the Virginia Ports Authority. And on Friday, he announced his new picks for the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission. It is a very important decision since…
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The Wonk Salon, September 9, 2011
Drugs in the Drinking Water Government Accountability Office Pharmaceuticals are being discovered in measurable quantities in the drinking water of some metropolitan areas. Federal agencies need to do a better job of monitoring the trend and reporting to the public. Which Comes First: Poverty or Decline in Marriage? Economic Policy Institute Hispanics and African-Americans aren’t…
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The Wonk Salon, September 8, 2011
Saving Southern Forests with Carbon Offsets World Resources Institute Forest carbon offsets can create a non-trivial incentive for southern woodland owners to engage retain or restore forests instead of selling out to real estate developers. Measuring Teacher Effectiveness: Ignore Credentials and Seniority Manhattan Institute Traditional criteria for evaluating teachers — certification, advanced degrees and seniority…
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The Over-Regulation Hoax
By Peter Galuszka “They’re coming out with multiple, onerous regulations,” says Mike Bucci, a small business owner in Richmond, according to a visual runby Chief Baconaut James A. Bacon Jr., as part of a blog posting titled”Paperwork, Solar Panels, and Job Creation.” Mr. Bucci complains that his small business, which comes up with business solutions,…
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The Ghost of June Allen
By Peter Galuszka The ghost of a classical piano player with a knack for penetrating huge engineering reports is watching over the latest problems at Dominion Virginia Power’s North Anna nuclear power station. Throughout the 1970s, June Allen, who headed the North Anna Environmental Coalition and died of breast cancer in 2010, fought Virginia Electric…
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Grumpy Old Men
By Peter Galuszka Here I was, sitting in a strip mall Panera, waiting for the next electric socket to open up. It was the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and I had been without electricity since 4:35 p.m. Saturday. I have a home office, so having no power can be deadly. Plenty of other people had…
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All Shook Up
By Peter Galuszka Today’s earthquake near Mineral should shake up a lot of thinking. All sorts of things happened about 10 minutes to 2 p.m. The Pentagon was evacuated. Airplanes up and down the East Coast were put on ground hold. A stairwell in Richmond is said to have collapsed. As for me, I was…