Climate Cities

A closer look at Siemens' green cities rankings

Attempts to measure, score, or rank things for greenness aren't perfect or foolproof, but they do get us talking about what's important.

The world’s first ass-powered outdoor concert

Here's an idea for a better way to harness the power of stationary bike workout: use the resultant energy to fuel the electricity-sucking equipment for a banging outdoor concert. Pedal Power NYC recruited 250 volunteers to pedal 16 bikes, which, hooked up to generators, provided the electricity for June's NYC Celebrates Water Festival.

Top 10 greenest cities in North America

It seems like we get a new list of greenest, most climate-change-prepared, most bike-friendly etc. cities every week or so. But we never really get tired of looking at these rankings, and checking them against each other to decide where we should fantasize about moving. Today, it's a list of the top greenest cities in North America from Siemens and the Economist Intelligence Unit. This ranking takes into account carbon emissions, land use, transportation, energy usage, buildings, water and air quality, waste, and environmental governance.

Drumroll please for the top 10:

Why Poughkeepsie is a great place to wait for the end of the world

Towns like Poughkeepsie, New York may appear charmless, but they could be ideal places to live in a post-peak oil world.

When it comes to green, what you buy matters more than where you live

Get off your high horse, New Yorkers! City dwellers might do some environmental good by driving less and living in smaller spaces. But living in a city doesn't affect a person's carbon footprint as much as the amount that he or she buys.

Remembrance of cities past: spectacular photos of the way we lived

Photographer Burton Holmes created gorgeous photographs that documented urban life before the rise of the automobile. Could they help us to recapture some of what we have lost?

Awesome idea: Bike repair vending machine

Did you get a flat, forget your snacks, or break a light while tooling down the Greenway in bike-friendly Minneapolis? No worries -- just stop by the Bike Fixtation, a one-stop bike-shopping outpost. You can buy a patch kit or some trail mix from the vending machine, pump up your tires with the air pump, and do minor repairs on the work stand. 

When eyes on the street record what they see

Thanks to camera phones, not only will the revolution be televised, so might any random stupid thing you do in public.

Car costs may make it harder to save

Keeping money in the bank isn't easy when you're sinking dollars into your four wheels.

The U.S. is building an interstate highway system for bikes

One day you'll be able to head out on the highway WITHOUT getting your motor running first. Take that, Steppenwolf! Last week the Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials breathed new life into a long-fallow plan to build an interstate bicycle system, approving new routes for the first time in more than 30 years.