Charlotte "CATS" Receives More Funding & Opens New Transportation Center (Clean Air Project)

RENOVATED NORTH DAVIDSON BUS FACILITY REOPENS ITS DOORS
Charlotte, N.C., July 26, 2011 — Construction is almost complete and you are invited to come take a look inside the Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) North DavidsonBus Facility Renovation and Expansion Project on Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m. at 901 North Davidson Street.

Join Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, CATS CEO Carolyn Flowers, District 1 City Council Member Patsy Kinsey and Director of the Governor’s Piedmont Regional Office Bud Berro to see the refurbished facility that will improve the efficiency of bus operations and maintenance for up to 200 buses. Attendees can park in CATS Bus Lots 5 and 6 on McGill Garden Way. Signs will be posted.

The renovation and expansion project is the recipient of $20.7 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds through the Transit Capital Assistance Urbanized Program.

“CATS ridership has increased 100 percent within the past decade; this facility will be key in sustaining operations now and well into the future,” Mayor Anthony Foxx said. “This project was a bright spot during a time when we needed it most, it has helped put Charlotte businesses and citizens to work. Approximately 150 jobs were created throughout the last two years at this facility.

There are currently 21 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) contracts in the amount of over $1.4 million awarded as part of this project, which is extremely important for the sustainability of small businesses in our city,” said Foxx.

The renovations allow operational and maintenance improvements for up to 200 transit buses. Updated facility conditions include mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems as well as bus maintenance equipment. CATS Special Transportation Service, which operates 83 vehicles, will move its administration and operations to the North Davidson campus to provide more consolidated operations. A new, multi-level parking garage will provide ample space for employees working out of this facility.

“We are very excited to provide transit employees a more efficient building with added environmental benefits such as passive lighting and dual bus usage,” said Carolyn Flowers, CATS CEO. “The exterior changes also allow the buildings to better blend into the fabric of the nearby communities. None of this would have been possible at this time without the support and assistance received by this stimulus grant through the Federal Transit Administration.”

Exterior panels on the buildings, designed by North Carolina artist Jimmy O’Neal, depict the visual translations of actual sounds recorded at the facility. The maintenance building includes images from the sound of a bus operator’s announcement to passengers, a worker’s tool, the message heard by CATS bus operators when they start up a bus and the sound of bus brakes. The administration building images are from the sounds of a bus horn and wheel.

The CATS North Davidson Bus Facility is expected to resume full operations in late summer 2011. The facility was originally constructed in 1981 and includes a two-story administration/operations building, a three-level maintenance building and a fuel and wash facility.

To learn more about CATS and its services, please call 704-336-7433 or visit us on the web at www.ridetransit.org.

Jean Leier (704) 432-0496



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Sources: CATS, Charmeck.org, WCNC, Google Maps

Celebrate Earth! "The Bay vs. The Bag" & Green Jobs (Videos)

"I'm not an Environmentalist. I'm an Earth warrior". ~Darryl Cherney, quoted in Smithsonian, April 1990







What Is Earth Day?


Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment.

It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in held on April 22, 1970.

Earth Day is celebrated in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

Many communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.

The first Earth Week originated in Philadelphia in 1970 (starting April 16 and culminating on Earth Day, April 22.)

Earth Day Network, a group that wishes to become the coordinator of Earth Day globally, asserts that Earth Day is now observed on April 22 on virtually every country on Earth.

World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5 in a different nation every year, is the principal United Nations environmental observance.


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Sources: Earth Day Network, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Pres. Obama Urges U.S. Senate To Pass Climate Bill Now...Green Jobs Included In Bill

MSNBC----


Bill Basics:

— Reduce greenhouse gases by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050 through a cap-and-trade program.

— Limit emissions from major industrial sources. Emissions from agriculture would be excluded from the cap.

— Control carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and limiting six other greenhouse gases.

— Allow companies to meet emission-limiting targets by investing in offset projects such as tree planting and forest protection.

— Require electric utilities to produce at least 12 percent of their power from renewable sources such wind and solar energy by 2020, and require as much as 8 percent in energy efficiency savings.

— Impose tighter performance standards on new coal-fired power plants and provide $1 billion a year in development money for capturing carbon dioxide from such plants.
— Establish standards that require new buildings be 30 percent more energy efficient by 2012 and 50 percent more efficient by 2016.

— Protect consumers from rising energy costs by giving rebates and credits to low-income households.

WASHINGTON - Hours after the House passed landmark legislation meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions and create an energy-efficient economy, President Barack Obama on Saturday urged senators to show courage and follow suit.

The sharply debated bill's fate is unclear in the Senate, and Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to ratchet up pressure on the 100-seat chamber.

"My call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this," he said. "We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past. Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth."

Obama said the bill would create jobs, make renewable energy profitable and decrease America's dependence on foreign oil.

"It will spur the development of low-carbon sources of energy — everything from wind, solar and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal," he said.

House Democratic leaders said the bill helped accomplish one of Obama's campaign promises and would make the U.S. a leader in international efforts to address climate change when negotiations take place in Copenhagen later this year.

"We passed transformational legislation, which will take us into the future," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after the 219-212 vote.

"For some it was a very difficult vote because the entrenched agents of the status quo were out there full force, jamming the lines in their districts and here, and they withstood that," Pelosi said.

Landmark legislation
The vote marked the first time either house of Congress has passed legislation to curb global warming gases. The legislation, totaling about 1,200 pages, would require the U.S. to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 percent by mid-century.

Success will be tougher in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid says he wants to take up the legislation by the fall. Sixty 60 votes will be needed to overcome any Republican filibuster.

The "razor-thin vote in the House spells doom in the Senate," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the top Republican on the Senate's environment panel.

Reid, D-Nev., was more optimistic.

"The bill is not perfect, but it is a good product for the Senate," Reid said. "Working with the president and his team, I am hopeful that the Senate will be able to debate and pass bipartisan and comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation this fall."

Disagreement over impact on consumers
Supporters and opponents agreed that the legislation would lead to higher energy costs. But they disagreed on the impact on consumers.

Democrats pointed to two reports — one from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the other from the Environmental Protection Agency — that suggested average increases would be limited after tax credits and rebates were taken into account. The CBO estimated the bill would cost an average household $175 a year, the EPA $80 to $110 a year. But Republicans and industry groups say the real figure would much higher.

The White House and congressional Democrats argued the bill would create millions of green jobs as the nation shifts to greater reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar and development of more fuel-efficient vehicles — and away from use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

It will "make our nation the world leader on clean energy jobs and technology," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who negotiated deals with dozens of lawmakers in recent weeks to broaden the bill's support.

Republicans saw it differently.

This "amounts to the largest tax increase in American history under the guise of climate change," declared Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.

In the Republicans' weekly radio and Internet address, House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio said, "By imposing a tax on every American who drives a car or flips on a light switch, this plan will drive up the prices for food, gasoline and electricity."

But Obama said the measure would cost the average American about the price of a postage stamp per day.

"It is paid for by the polluters who currently emit dangerous carbon emissions," the president said. "It provides assistance to businesses and families as they make the gradual transition to clean energy technologies."

In California alone, Obama said, 3,000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1,000 permanent jobs.

Sources: MSNBC

Happy Green Earth Day!

Sources: Upssystems.uk.com