Monthly Archives: February 2008

Green workforce housing coming to Northfield

An exciting new green workforce housing project will be planned in Northfield this year, with construction expected to begin in the spring of 2009. Northfield Housing Manager Michele “Mitch” Merxbauer spoke at length about the project with host Ross Currier on yesterday’s Locally Grown podcast.
I’ve had some connection with this project since the late Don [...]

Roundabouts redux

I was pleased to read in today’s Strib that transportation experts are advocating roundabouts as safety, traffic calming, and traffic (Neighbors worry, but experts back roundabout for Savage). I was recently driving on Highway 19 through our neighboring community, New Prague, and was astonished to drive through not one, but TWO new roundabouts approaching town [...]

Going on a low-carbon diet

The scientific consensus is clear and unambiguous: the world is heating up, human activity (fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, industrial agriculture, etc.) is responsible for most of the warming, and the result could be a radically changed planet significantly less hospitable to human societies by the end of this century. Action is needed at all levels, [...]

Back on the trails

I was thrilled to be back on my cross country skis this weekend for the first time since I broke my ankle skiing in a freak accident in the lower arb on December 4. The conditions were lovely on Saturday, and I just had to get out yesterday in spite of the ferociously low wind [...]

Peak oil expert talks to legislators

Peak oil authority Matthew Simmons spoke yesterday afternoon before a joint committee meeting of the Minnesota House Energy Finance & Policy Division and Senate Energy, Utilities, Technology, & Communications Committee. Simmons, Chairman of Simmons & Company International, a Houston-based specialized energy investment banking firm that has completed approximately 600 investment banking projects for [...]