Emily Gertz’s Posts

• Revealing the mysteries of Pittsburgh

  Pa. Rep. Doyle on getting blue-collar support for a climate bill 0

  Posted 1 month, 3 weeks agoHow does a blue-collar guy from a Pittsburgh steelworking family end up supporting a climate bill in Congress? Rep. Mike Doyle explains how he came to believe that climate legislation is good for his manufacturing-heavy district and the whole country.

• G20, your resolution sounds terrific

  G20 cans fossil-fuel subsidies, but fails to make other climate-conserving moves 7

  Posted 1 month, 3 weeks agoAt the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, world leaders announced an agreement to phase out fossil-fuel subsidies. It was the only climate-specific policy directive to come out of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, and it fell far short in the view of climate activists.

• G20 climate fail?

  Climate protesters hit the streets in Pittsburgh during G20 meeting 2

  Posted 1 month, 3 weeks agoYoung activists from the Avaaz Action Factory joined the mass "People's March" into downtown Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon, not far from the site of the G20 Summit. Their Twitter-friendly slogan: "G20 Climate FAIL."

• I will SurvivaBall!

  SurvivaBall: Your individual climate-change adaptation strategy 3

  Posted 1 month, 3 weeks agoThe world's most upstanding corporate citizens, like Halliburton, Monsanto, and ExxonMobil, take climate change seriously. It's a serious opportunity for profit. That's why, in addition to spending millions to perpetuate the energy, environmental, and subsidy policies that sustain their ongoing operations, they've created this "gated community for one" -- the SurvivaBall.

• A Djimon in the rough

  Actor Djimon Hounsou wants to show the human costs of climate change 1

  Posted 1 month, 3 weeks agoActor Djimon Hounsou is just as snacky in real life as he was on the big screen in Blood Diamond, The Island, and Gladiator. Better yet, he's also a climate activist and humanitarian. As a global ambassador for the aid and development group Oxfam, Hounsou has traveled in sub-Saharan Africa and seen the direct links between climate change and human suffering.

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Emily Gertz’s Recent Comments

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  Greene is the New Black

  Great catch, Sarah!  

  Next film, we'll see James throwing his empty bottles of Dom Perignon and Scottish whiskey into the recycling.

  Emily Gertz Journalist & Editor emily AT change DOT org http://globalwarming.change.org

  On James Bond a not-so-secret green agent posted 1 year ago 9 Responses

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  Cute but ineffectual.

  
  I enjoy me a good street art protest action, but this one fails to communicate to all but the already-informed, already converted.

  Here's what this video says: people act funny and weird when they encounter something unexpected on the sidewalk.  And then the cleanup crew comes and carts it away.

  Emily Gertz Journalist & Editor egertz AT oneatlantic DOT net http://www.apartmentecology.com/

  On Homeless polar bears in Washington, D.C.? posted 1 year, 2 months ago 1 Response

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  Chairs and tables...

  ...are definitely present on that patio, caniscadia -- I saw them at the opening. I'm guessing NYRP features the picture you refer to emphasize the geometrics of the design (Midler's still recruiting designers for the gardens!).

  There really is a lot of lawn at the garden, too -- that photo foreshortens the space considerably.

  As to how much patio there is, I think that reflects the needs of the neighborhood for a nice outdoor sitting space, for otherwise homebound seniors for instance, in a neighborhood without a ton of such spaces or services. People told me they expected it to be a great space for seniors and children to spend time together, too.

   In my experience here in NYC, people have really divergent ideas of what a "nice" or "useful" park is for.  I am very fortunate to live by Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and during summer weekends the outer edge of the park is full of people having day-long barbeques.  This is not my idea of what people ought to be doing in this big chunk 'o green -- but hey, I'm not the only type of person living here, and the park has to serve all of us. (I never ever saw a cookout in a park during my five years in Portland, Oregon -- maybe they happened somewhere, but it also reflects a really different ethos about the uses parkland -- as well as the fact that there are a lot more backyards in PDX.)

  While I did not dig deeply into the ongoing financial arrangements for maintaining this garden, I can say from my general knowledge of NYRP's activities that it remains involved with its gardens and will support the block association in its management of these spaces -- NYRP owns the land in trust for the neighborhood, after all.

  At the party, Ellie Cullman told me that she expected to remain involved as well; she said clients tend to become "clients for life" and she didn't make a distinction between the residents of this block of Hancock Ave. and her firm's clients.  Also, she seems to have a very strong emotional attachment to the space, since it is in her "home town" of Brooklyn, and dedicated to the memory of her late (and much-missed) business partner, Hedi Kravis.

  I love your story, Frankie -- and envy you the future outdoor dining room!  (Maybe I should go have a cookout in the park once in a while. ;)On Eco-celebrity, design, and social justice coalesce in a new Brooklyn green space posted 1 year, 5 months ago 3 Responses

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  Zipcar's great here in NYC...

  ...and I boggle that anyone can argue with $8 an hour for a car -- a late model, fuel-efficient, clean and ever-ready car -- when it includes gasoline, insurance, maintenance and repairs.

  Journalist and Editor egertz AT oneatlantic DOT net emily AT worldchanging DOT com

  On Has the east coast car-sharing company screwed up the west coast car-sharing company? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 7 Responses

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  Garsh...

  ...it's a hardship, but someone's got to do it.

  Journalist and Editor egertz AT oneatlantic DOT net emily AT worldchanging DOT com

  On Blog Action Day posted 2 years, 1 month ago 1 Response