EPI Releases and Blog / [email protected] Copyright 2010 2010-07-06T12:45:47+00:00 July 06, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch06_ss4 Book Bytes - The Return of the Bicycle The bicycle has many attractions as a form of personal transportation. It alleviates congestion, lowers air pollution, reduces obesity, increases physical fitness, does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is priced within the reach of the billions of people who cannot afford a car. Bicycles increase mobility while reducing congestion and the area of land paved over. Six bicycles can typically fit into the road space used by one car. For parking, the advantage is even greater, with 20 bicycles occupying the space required to park a car. For full report visit the EPI website. June 29, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch07_ss1 Book Bytes - The Population-Poverty Connection The 21st century began on an inspiring note: the United Nations set a goal of reducing the share of the world’s population living in extreme poverty by half by 2015. By early 2007 the world looked to be on track to meet this goal, but as the economic crisis unfolds and the outlook darkens, the world will have to intensify its poverty reduction effort. For full report visit the EPI website. June 22, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch09_ss3 Book Bytes - Raising Water Productivity to Increase Food Security With water shortages constraining food production growth, the world needs an effort to raise water productivity similar to the one that nearly tripled land productivity over the last half-century. Since it takes 1,000 tons of water to produce 1 ton of grain, it is not surprising that 70 percent of world water use is devoted to irrigation. Thus, raising irrigation efficiency is central to raising water productivity overall. For full report visit the EPI website. June 16, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch04_ss2 Book Bytes - How Many Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs Does It Take to Close 705 Coal Plants? The lighting sector is on the edge of a spectacular revolution, a shift from the century-old, inefficient incandescent light bulb to far more efficient technologies. Perhaps the quickest, most profitable way to reduce electricity use worldwide—thus cutting carbon emissions—is simply to change light bulbs. For full report visit the EPI website. June 01, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch02_ss6 Book Bytes - Cars and People Compete for Grain At a time when excessive pressures on the earth’s land and water resources are of growing concern, there is a massive new demand emerging for cropland to produce fuel for cars—one that threatens world food security. Although this situation had been developing for a few decades, it was not until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when oil prices jumped above $60 a barrel and U.S. gasoline prices climbed to $3 a gallon, that the situation came into focus. Suddenly investments in U.S. corn-based ethanol distilleries became hugely profitable, unleashing an investment frenzy that will convert one fourth of the 2009 U.S. grain harvest into fuel for cars. For full report visit the EPI website. May 25, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch06_ss1and8 Book Bytes - Parking Lots to Parks: Designing Livable Cities

As I was being driven through Tel Aviv from my hotel to a conference center in 1998, I could not help but note the overwhelming presence of cars and parking lots. It was obvious that Tel Aviv, expanding from a small settlement a half-century ago to a city of some 3 million today, had evolved during the automobile era. It occurred to me that the ratio of parks to parking lots may be the best indicator of the livability of a city—an indication of whether the city is designed for people or for cars. For full report, please visit our website.

May 19, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch06_ss3 Book Bytes - Reclaiming the Streets May 12, 2010 /index.php?/press_room/C68/2010_datarelease11/ EPI Releases - Offshore Wind, Not Offshore Oil April 28, 2010 /index.php?/press_room/C68/2010_datarelease10/ EPI Releases - Reduce, Recycle, and Replant – Data Highlights on Restoring the World’s Forests April 22, 2010 /index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch10_ss8 Book Bytes - Saving Civilization is Not a Spectator Sport EPI Releases and Blog / [email protected] Copyright 2010 2010-07-06T12:45:47+00:00 /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_25/ EPI Blog - HONORS /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_24/ EPI Blog - ON THE ROAD - Italy and Romania /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_22/ EPI Blog - ON THE ROAD - Stockholm /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_21/ EPI Blog - ON THE ROAD - Berlin, Brussels, & Oslo /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_20/ EPI Blog - AVATAR AND LESTER BROWN /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_19/ EPI Blog - EARTH DAY /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_18/ EPI Blog - ENVIRONMENTAL MOMENTUM - SOUTH KOREA /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_17/ EPI Blog - LONG-TERM PUBLISHING RELATIONSHIPS /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_16/ EPI Blog - PLAN B & THE ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL /index.php?/blog/blog_entry_15/ EPI Blog - PLAN B AROUND THE WORLD - New Friends