"Hot, Flat and Crowded": this interweb's not big enough for the two of us!

So, Thomas Friedman stole the the name of this blog for his new book to be published this September, "Hot, Flat and Crowded":

As in The World Is Flat, [Friedman] explains a new era—the Energy-Climate era—through an illuminating account of recent events.

Oh, well. I guess us little folk who have been plugging away on the blogs (in my case for a whole two weeks) need to blaze the trail for the big media personalities. Maybe at least he will bring some much needed mainstream-media attention the the severity of our climate challenge and also the great opportunities it provides us. Lord knows the debate in Washington right now is completely out of touch with reality.

Cambridge To-Do List

I am getting excited about new opportunities in the Boston/Cambridge Area. A list of things that I want to get involved in or learn more about:

• Cambridge Energy Alliance - Thanks to Kate Gordon of Apollo Alliance for pointing this great program out to me
  
• Harvard's green retrofitting program - Also learned about this from Kate Gordon but haven't been able to track down more info yet. Apparently Harvard figured out they could get a great return on investment (the rumor is around 30%!) for improving the energy efficiency of their buildings. Green makes cents!
  
• MIT Energy Initiative - A great technology effort that could use more focus on the policy and business implementation of existing technology NOW, especially efficiency.
• MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
  
• MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
  
• MIT Energy Club
  
• Sloan Energy & Environment Club - Maybe something that non-business students can participate in too?
  

I would be interested in any other suggestions that people have. I hope to update this with more ideas when I get them.

Development and climate policy need each other to succeed

Yesterday was my last day in the professional world for awhile.  

I just finished my job as an affordable housing policy advocate at the California Housing Consortium.  The next week I will spend enjoying the last of the Bay Area, prepping for school and packing.  Then I will be rambling across the country for a week or two before landing in Cambridge.  So, forgive me if some of my posts are a little MIT- or Cambridge-centric for at least the near future. I will be starting a Masters program at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and am trying to get the lay of the land.

I came across a DUSP sponsored forum, Sustaining Cities: Environment, Economic Development, and Empowerment, a few weeks ago and found it quite stimulating. In particular Adil Najam's presentation (starting at 1:01:45) has helped put things in a different and important context for me.  His main point, that sustainable development can only happen when climate change is addressed and vice versa, I see as more than just another roadblock but rather an opportunity to solve address multiple issues with the same finite resources. He argues that climate change requires a new kind of environmentalism because it is the poor who effected first and most while they contribute to the problem the least.  At the same time, and this is my point, many poor countries are developing quickly and how they develop will be one of the most important factors influencing the severity of climate change.

I want to explore the development/climate connection further.  In particular I hope to look at how financing (micro and otherwise) can create a business and regulatory environment that prioritizes green sustainable development for the poor and middle class in the developing world.  (There is great overlap in benefits in the area of green affordable housing in the US as only one example; I am sure such overlaps exist in other contexts as well.)  Likewise, I want to learn more about how climate change adaptation measures can be structured to have a multiplying positive effect on climate mitigation and economic development.