In this episode, Lennon Richardson chats with professor and writer Lloyd Alter about why people need to market the environmental and sustainability movements in a new and different way. They chat about why transportation and our dependence on the car is one of the biggest problems facing North America today, and how vertical cities would help with green space and urban density issues.
Listen in for a fascinating discussion about the history of city design in America and the future that the next generations of Americans will encounter.
Listen in for a fascinating discussion about the history of city design in America and the future that the next generations of Americans will encounter.
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"When cars get more efficient - they get bigger. This is a fundamental problem." - Lloyd Alter
Show Notes:
- Why we need to rebrand the energy movement
- How to sell environmental energy savings features in our homes
- How we feel hot or cold and why people don’t understand the science behind it
- Why most people think of their own interests first
- How we are using more energy per capita than ever before
- About the big energy crisis of the 1970s and the conservation measures
- How conservation became politicized
- Why the gas tax should be be raised
- The importance of investing in alternative transportation systems like biking and public transit
- Why cars continue to be so popular
"The majority of people in North America believe that roads are for cars and public transportation is for the poor and old people. It’s a struggle to change the mindset." - Lloyd Alter
- The subsidies that are favoring car commuters and making it harder for governments to put public transportation systems in place
- The history of city design in America
- How to get people out of their cars by building denser communities
- The advantages to the green space built into a Vertical City
- About the last mile problem
- How to integrate food production into cities
- Why it makes sense to have agriculture green belts surround our cities
- What the passive house system is
- The net-zero system vs the passive house system
- Why our biggest problem is the transportation problem
Links Mentioned:
- Learn more about Passive Houses
- Lloyd Alter on TreeHugger
- Connect with Lloyd Alter: Website | Twitter | Facebook
"We have to design our communities to be walkable communities like they were 100 years ago." - Lloyd Alter