Newsroom

Mar 28, 2011

As Census 2010 data is incrementally released and incrementally analyzed demography has been getting more than its usual share of attention over the past few months. Many of the trends that the data are highlighting are not surprising however in metro Washington or around the nation. The increasing concentration of America’s population and economic strength in its metro areas the spread of racial diversity from central cities to the suburbs and the growth of racial minorities overall ar

Mar 25, 2011

Three years ago British Columbia Canada’s westernmost province passed a tax on carbon which costs approximately $21 per ton of carbon dioxide-equivalent (equaling less than 20 cents per gallon of gas). The main goal of the tax was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a secondary goal was to raise revenues.

Mar 24, 2011

We know that we need to diversify our sources of energy. Whether or not you think that climate change is a problem shrinking fuel supplies political turbulence in oil-rich areas and natural and man-made disasters make it clear that reliance on fossil fuels is not sustainable environmentally or otherwise. The array of renewable energy sources – wind solar tides and geothermal heat – provide cleaner greener energy and allow nations or regions to choose a mix that is most efficient and effective

Mar 23, 2011

Jennifer Bradley at Brookings had an interesting piece yesterday on the role that U.S. states should play in the 21 st century. Bradley argues that states which acted as stalwarts against federal encroachment in the 19 th century and as areas for policy experimentation in the 20 th should redefine their roles to become “enablers and supporters of metropolitan economies” in the 21 st century.

Mar 22, 2011

Yesterday we wrote that income inequality in metro Washington is too high . Today we’re glad to say that there’s some happier news to report. Gallup recently released findings on “wellbeing” showing that among regions with a population of more than one million Washington area residents have the highest wellbeing . The index takes into account residents’ life evaluation emotional and physical health and work environment among other factors.

Mar 21, 2011

A lot of the economic discussion regarding metro Washington over the past few years has focused on how well the region’s economy performed relative to other parts of the country. Largely due to the steady presence of the federal government we consistently had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. That’s great but a new report shows a much less impressive reality: as a region we have some of the largest gaps in income between our richest and poorest residents. And it’s getting

Mar 17, 2011

Florida’s Governor has said “no thanks” to federal funding for a high-speed rail line there. In response Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley has said he’d be glad for his state to get some of the funds being passed up by the Sunshine State . O’Malley understands the economic and environmental benefits that high-speed rail will bring to his state (about which Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently blogged ). Now would be a great time to launch a regional effort aimed at connecting metr

Mar 16, 2011

The nuclear crisis following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has revived the debate on whether we should or shouldn’t build more nuclear power plants. To meet Region Forward’s Sustainability targets we definitely need to adopt carbon-free sources of energy however before expanding nuclear (which emits no greenhouse gases but has a toxic by-product and immense safety risks) it is necessary to ask ourselves what trade-offs we are willing to accept.

Mar 15, 2011

There are many signs that people are generally ready to make a significant departure from the status quo when it comes to transportation. Similar to how the appeal of large-lot exurban McMansions dwindled when the housing bubble burst any appeal of driving to accomplish every task in life is diminished when gas prices increase substantially. As The Washington Post reported recently the rapid rise in gas prices is also taking a toll on the region’s economy.

Mar 10, 2011

We need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions if we want to avoid the worst effects of climate change. That’s fairly straight forward and is a tangible measurable target in Region Forward. The current constraints on our nation’s and our region’s energy production however means that we’ll still be relying on fossil fuels for a large (but hopefully declining) portion of our energy for quite some time. With that said how do we mitigate the effects of our consumption?