Boston, June 27, 2014, –Some Boston area parks will be piloting a 21st Century bench upgrade through a partnership with the MIT Media Lab spin-off firm, Changing Environments. “Soofa,” as the bench is termed, is a solar-powered outdoor charging station that also collects and shares location-based information like air quality and noise level data. The high-tech benches will be deployed in green spaces in Boston over the next week, including in Titus Sparrow Park in the South End, the Boston Common, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Soofa debuted last week at the White House Maker Faire in Washington, D.C., where select innovators and entrepreneurs gathered to encourage robust development of new American ideas.
Sandra Richter(left) and Mayor Walsh talk about the Solar Bench.
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Tag: Env
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Solar Bench Charging Station Coming to Boston Parks
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Wu Dengming, A Green Fighter/ “绿林好汉”吴登明
Wu Dengming, environmental activist, died on July 19, 2013 at age 73.
吴登明，环保运动者，7月19日逝世，享年73岁。IN THE main room of the small, old-fashioned house, stacked full of books, an old fan scarcely moved the stuffy air around. Wu Dengming’s daughter kept pleading for air-conditioning. Elsewhere in Chongqing, China’s fastest-growing inland city, where 10m people lived in a battery of skyscrapers, almost everyone had it. Mr Wu would not hear of it. It was expensive, and was not green. He had a dream of making everyone in the city turn their coolers to 26ºC, and no lower. Why not? He had managed to organise Chongqing’s first no-car day, in 2006, and as a result—perhaps—you could sometimes glimpse blue sky through the smog that blanketed the place.
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Bobcat Was Pictured in Boston Suburb
Sharon, Mass., June 7, 2014, –This morning on Billings Street there was an animal seen that is believed to be a bobcat. Please read below for some tips on how to best deal with this.
The picture above was taken by a Sharon resident in her backyard.
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Invitation Letter to UV 2014 @MIT
By UV2014 Organization Committee
I am writing to invite you to attend International Conference on Universal Village (UV2014) which will be held at MIT on June 16-17, 2014.
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Third National Climate Assessment Report Calls for Acton from Americans
By Dr. John P. Holdren, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House
Washington, D.C., May 6, 2014, — Today, we released the third National Climate Assessment report, by far the most comprehensive look ever at climate change impacts in the United States.
Based on four years of work by hundreds of experts from government, academia, corporations, and public-interest organizations, the Assessment confirms abundant data and examples that climate change isn’t some distant threat — it’s affecting us now.
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Han River Pollution Affects 300,000 People in Wuhan
(from ecns.cn)Residents queue up to receive drinking water in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, April 24, 2014. Two major water suppliers in Wuhan, the Baihezui and Yushidun water plants, suspended water production on Wednesday, after tests showed that the Wuhan section of the Han River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, contained excessive amount of ammonia and nitrogen.
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Solar Roof Revolution Comes to Lexington
Lexington, Mass., March 6, 2014, — State and federal incentive programs have made installation of solar panels on residential, commercial and municipal buildings economically favorable. How can you join the Solar Revolution and put your rooftop to work? Are solar panel installations available to all? What other changes in the building codes can lead to even greater energy savings?
Solar roof at Al Gore’s home (from treehugger.com)
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Boston Homeowners Embrace Solar Power
Boston, Feb. 28, 2014, — Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced 106 Boston homeowners have signed contracts to install solar power through the 2013 Renew Boston Solarize program, a community bulk pricing program. A high rate of participation helped Renew Boston Solarize achieve its goal of 500 kilowatts (kW) of solar power and qualify for the lowest costs in the tiered pricing structure.
Cold and snowy winter in Boston demands more energy use.
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Kerry’s Speech Highlights the Threat of Climate Change
February 16, 2014
Jakarta, IndonesiaSECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Robert. Thank you very, very much. I don’t know. I think some of you were cheering twice for the same university. I don’t know. (Laughter.) It seemed to come from the same place anyway.
What a pleasure to be here at America, where we are looking at all of the air conditioning pipes running right through here. I love it. The spirit and feel of this place is very special and it’s wonderful to see our friends up here from Kalimantan and also everybody from Sumatra. Thank you very much for being with us. Can you hear me? Yeah! Wave! (Laughter.) Do a few selfies, everybody will – (laughter.) Anyway, it’s really a pleasure to be here. I see a lot of iPads up in the air sort of flashing away.
Secretory of the State John Kerry served as US Senator from Mass.(file photo).
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Top Ten Natural Disasters of 2013 and Most Beautiful Places Around the World
Feb. 4, 2013, — Comparing with the previous year, 2013 was a mild year in natural disasters until Typhoon Haiyan touched down in the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Drought in Africa, earthquakes and floods in Asian made up a large portion of the top ten natual disaster list of 2013.
Seatlite image of Haiyan of its peak strength on Nov. 7, 2013.
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