2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure

2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure PDF Author: American Society of Civil Engineers
Publisher: ASCE Publications
ISBN: 9780784410370
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
Details the rationale behind grades in 15 categories as announced by ASCE. This book presents an analysis of each category, an assessment of your state's status, case studies of successful projects, suggestions for actions you can take and ways you can get involved, and more.

Upheaval

Upheaval PDF Author: Lou Dobbs
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476728852
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
"Lou Dobbs offers his illuminating views on some of our nation's most intractable problems"--

America's Environmental Report Card, second edition

America's Environmental Report Card, second edition PDF Author: Harvey Blatt
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262515911
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
An accessible overview of the most important environmental issues facing the United States, with new and updated material. Americans are concerned about the state of the environment, and yet polls show that many have lost faith in both scientists' and politicians' ability to solve environmental problems. In America's Environmental Report Card, Harvey Blatt sorts through the deluge of conflicting information about the environment and offers an accessible overview of the environmental issues that are most important to Americans today. Blatt has thoroughly updated this second edition, revising and adding new material. He looks at water supplies and new concerns about water purity; the dangers of floods (increased by widespread logging and abetted by glacial melting); infrastructure problems (in a new chapter devoted entirely to this subject); the leaching of garbage buried in landfills; soil, contaminated crops, and organic food; fossil fuels; alternative energy sources (in another new chapter); controversies over nuclear energy; the increasing pace of climate change; and air pollution. Along the way, he outlines ways to deal with these problems—workable and reasonable solutions that map the course to a sustainable future. America can lead the way to a better environment, Blatt argues. We are the richest nation in the world, and we can afford it—in fact, we can't afford not to.

Infrastructural Optimism

Infrastructural Optimism PDF Author: Linda C. Samuels
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351060252
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
Infrastructural Optimism investigates a new kind of twenty-first-century infrastructure, one that encourages a broader understanding of the interdependence of resources and agencies, recognizes a rightfully accelerated need for equitable access and distribution, and prioritizes rising environmental diligence across the design disciplines. Bringing together urban history, case studies, and speculative design propositions, the book explores and defines infrastructure as the basis for a new form of urbanism, emerging from the intersection of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. In defining this new infrastructure, the book introduces new dynamic and holistic performance metrics focused on "measuring what matters" over growth for the sake of growth and twelve criteria that define next generation infrastructure. By shifting the focus of infrastructure – our largest public realm – to environmental symbiosis and quality of life for all, design becomes a catalytic component in creating a more beautiful, productive, and optimistic future with Infrastructural Urbanism as its driver. Infrastructural Optimism will be invaluable to design, non-profit and agency professionals, and faculty and students in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, working in partnership with engineers, hydrologists, ecologists, urban planners, community members, and others who shape the built environment through the expanded field of infrastructure.

Safety, Reliability, Risk and Life-Cycle Performance of Structures and Infrastructures

Safety, Reliability, Risk and Life-Cycle Performance of Structures and Infrastructures PDF Author: George Deodatis
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1315884887
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 5732

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Book Description
Safety, Reliability, Risk and Life-Cycle Performance of Structures and Infrastructures contains the plenary lectures and papers presented at the 11th International Conference on STRUCTURAL SAFETY AND RELIABILITY (ICOSSAR2013, New York, NY, USA, 16-20 June 2013). This set of a book of abstracts and searchable, full paper USBdevice is must-have literature for researchers and practitioners involved with safety, reliability, risk and life-cycle performance of structures and infrastructures.

Saving Capitalism

Saving Capitalism PDF Author: Pat Choate
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 030747559X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
When the U.S. financial structure collapsed in fall 2008, it quickly became clear that our system of market capitalism was broken, endangered by decades of absolutist market dogma, shortsighted policies, and the abandonment of America's working people. Now, as the Obama administration seeks to repair the country's economy, one thing is clear: this crisis calls for drastic reforms. Regrettably, the government's response, so far, has been inadequate. In Saving Capitalism, economist and bestselling author Pat Choate offers six game-changing actions that can strengthen the U.S. economy now and stimulate long-term, self-sustaining, noninflationary economic growth that will create millions of better jobs. Here are proposals for: • Major tax reform • All-encompassing financial regulation • A strong social safety net • A major infrastructure program • Ways and means to balance U.S. trade with the rest of the world • The renewal of national innovation Urgent and provocative, Saving Capitalism is an accessible and informative dissection of the gravest threat our economy has faced since the Great Depression, and a bold and creative blueprint for the future.

Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change

Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309145910
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Across the United States, impacts of climate change are already evident. Heat waves have become more frequent and intense, cold extremes have become less frequent, and patterns of rainfall are likely changing. The proportion of precipitation that falls as rain rather than snow has increased across the western United States and Arctic sea ice has been reduced significantly. Sea level has been rising faster than at any time in recent history, threatening the natural and built environments on the coasts. Even if emissions of greenhouse gases were substantially reduced now, climate change and its resulting impacts would continue for some time to come. To date, decisions related to the management and protection of the nation's people, resources, and infrastructure have been based on records in the recent past, when climate was relatively stable. Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change, part of the congressionally requested America's Climate Choices suite of studies, calls for a new paradigm-one that considers a range of possible future climate conditions and impacts that may be well outside the realm of past experience. Adaptation requires actions from many decision makers in federal, state, tribal, and local governments; the private sector; non-governmental organizations; and community groups. However, current efforts are hampered by a lack of solid information about the benefits, costs, and effectiveness of various adaptation options; climate information on regional and local scales; and a lack of coordination. Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change calls for a national adaptation strategy that provides needed technical and scientific resources, incentives to begin adaptation planning, guidance across jurisdictions, shared lessons learned, and support of scientific research to expand knowledge of impacts and adaptation.

Sustainable Energy Landscapes

Sustainable Energy Landscapes PDF Author: Sven Stremke
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439894043
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 531

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Book Description
In the near future the appearance and spatial organization of urban and rural landscapes will be strongly influenced by the generation of renewable energy. One of the critical tasks will be the re-integration of these sustainable energy landscapes into the existing environment—which people value and want to preserve—in a socially fair, environmentally sound, and economically feasible manner. Accordingly, Sustainable Energy Landscapes: Designing, Planning, and Development focuses on the municipal and regional scale, where energy-conscious interventions are effective, and stakeholders can participate actively in the transition process. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge in the exciting new field of sustainable energy landscapes. It bridges the gap between theory and fundamental research on the one hand, and practice and education on the other. The chapters—written by experts in their fields—present a selection of interdisciplinary, cutting-edge projects from across the world, illustrating the inspiring challenge of developing sustainable energy landscapes. They include unique case studies from Germany, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Austria, Italy, and the United States. The editors and team of contributing authors aim to inspire readers, providing a comprehensive overview of sustainable energy landscapes, including principles, concepts, theories, and examples. The book describes various methods, such as energy potential mapping and heat mapping, multicriteria decision analysis, energy landscape visualization, and employing exergy and carbon models. It addresses how to quantify the impact of energy transition both on landscape quality and energy economy, issues of growing importance. The text infuses readers with enthusiasm to promote further research and action toward the important goal of building energy landscapes for a sustainable future.

The Co-evolution of Commodity Flows, Economic Geography, and Emissions

The Co-evolution of Commodity Flows, Economic Geography, and Emissions PDF Author: Kieran Donaghy
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030785556
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
This book presents extensions to current commodity-flow models to analyze the economic and environmental impacts of recent structural changes, such as fragmentation of production and lengthening supply chains. The extensions enable augmented commodity-flow models to analyze the vulnerability of supply chains and regions to climate change and extreme weather events. The models allow the explicit treatment of trade in intermediate goods; the so-called “new economic geography” behavioral foundations for production and inter-industry and interregional trade; endogenous determination of capital investment and employment; and changes in emissions associated with production, consumption and freight movement. Presenting a modeling framework and simulations that are based on a thirty-year, spatial time-series of inter-industry and interstate trade in the US, this unique book is a valuable resource for regional scientists, economic geographers and transportation modelers, as well as environmental and atmospheric scientists.

The Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning

The Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning PDF Author: Nancy Brooks
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195380622
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1027

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Book Description
This volume embodies a problem-driven and theoretically informed approach to bridging frontier research in urban economics and urban/regional planning. The authors focus on the interface between these two subdisciplines that have historically had an uneasy relationship. Although economists were among the early contributors to the literature on urban planning, many economists have been dismissive of a discipline whose leading scholars frequently favor regulations over market institutions, equity over efficiency, and normative prescriptions over positive analysis. Planners, meanwhile, even as they draw upon economic principles, often view the work of economists as abstract, not sensitive to institutional contexts, and communicated in a formal language spoken by few with decision making authority. Not surprisingly, papers in the leading economic journals rarely cite clearly pertinent papers in planning journals, and vice versa. Despite the historical divergence in perspectives and methods, urban economics and urban planning share an intense interest in many topic areas: the nature of cities, the prosperity of urban economies, the efficient provision of urban services, efficient systems of transportation, and the proper allocation of land between urban and environmental uses. In bridging this gap, the book highlights the best scholarship in planning and economics that address the most pressing urban problems of our day and stimulates further dialog between scholars in urban planning and urban economics.