The Sunday Diigo Links Post (weekly)

by Yule Heibel on July 1, 2012

  • So true:
    QUOTE
    I have long maintained that creating policy around emissions gets the problem backward, by focusing on what comes out of the tailpipe instead of what goes into the engine. We should be incentivizing solutions, not penalizing emissions, because carrots harness human desire and ingenuity, while sticks merely arouse resistance. Further, it makes no sense to simply clamp down on fossil-fuel emissions without replacing the displaced energy. This is why I have advocated a feed-in tariff as the best policy approach, over alternatives like cap-and-trade.

    Now that some 50,000 people have flown home in disgust (generating an estimated 300 tons of CO2 in the process) after the Rio summit, perhaps we can put an end to this futile search to get a world of 6.8 billion people to agree on a single target. Perhaps we can finally start focusing our attentions on solutions that work, right now, at home.
    UNQUOTE

    tags: environment green chris_nelder smartplanet energy conservation

  • Makes sense:
    QUOTE
    The research suggests that a more substantial network of slower, narrower streets would benefit areas with high concentrations of older adults. And though this would mean more intersections – shown in the report to slightly increase the amount of crashes – the safety improvement would “greatly outweigh” any disadvantages, according to the authors.

    It’s expected that nearly 50 million people will be aged 75 or older in the U.S. by mid-century. Urban designers may want to start un-designing strip malls, big boxes and super fast streets now before the crush. The reduction of these types of urban design elements may help to prevent the premature death of seniors, today and in the future.
    UNQUOTE

    tags: atlantic_cities pedestrians stripmalls malls infrastructure seniors safety traffic_safety

  • This is really inspiring. I can think of a community (mine!) where I’d love to see something like this happen…
    QUOTE
    In 2011, [Iso Rabins] started making plans to open the Forage Kitchen, an all-in-one space for food entrepreneurs—in effect, the first coworking space for food.

    Like the Underground Market, the Forage Kitchen will be an incubator for small businesses—a place where entrepreneurs can produce their products legally and affordably, get advice and support from other business owners, and find new markets for their goods.
    UNQUOTE

    tags: iso_rabins forage foodies entrepreneurship incubator food startups

  • Amy Hoy excerpted passages from “Henry Ford: My Life and Work” – must read. So much of what Ford says could be applied directly to startup and VC “culture,” but I also found this statement about the nature of money so wise:
    QUOTE
    Money is not worth a particular amount. As money it is not worth anything, for it will do nothing of itself. The only use of money is to buy tools to work with or the product of tools. Therefore money is worth what it will help you to produce or buy and no more.
    UNQUOTE

    tags: henry_ford amy_hoy money finance startups capital

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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