Michael
@michaelfriedman.bsky.social
environmental scientist • urbanist
interested in conservation, sustainable land use/housing/transportation, local issues
interested in conservation, sustainable land use/housing/transportation, local issues
Reposted by Michael
Reposted by Michael
Our Madison Common Council endorsements are out. Make sure to vote by April 1st!
March 15, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Our Madison Common Council endorsements are out. Make sure to vote by April 1st!
Reposted by Michael
As US farmers grapple with soaring debt and slumping incomes, some crop producers are trading their tractors for flocks of sheep, and starting up solar grazing businesses to help make ends meet reut.rs/3QFJCEC
US farmers switch to renting out sheep as lawn mowers for solar sites
For the first time in four generations, the Raines family didn't plant a single cotton seed last year. Chad Raines parked his tractor and rented out most of his Texas farmland to a neighbor.
reut.rs
March 3, 2025 at 6:47 PM
As US farmers grapple with soaring debt and slumping incomes, some crop producers are trading their tractors for flocks of sheep, and starting up solar grazing businesses to help make ends meet reut.rs/3QFJCEC
Reposted by Michael
ICONIC: Yosemite National Park workers just hung an upside-down American flag—THOUSANDS of feet up on El Capitan. That’s not decoration. That’s a distress signal. They’re telling us the country is in danger. Are you paying attention?
www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/art...
www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/art...
February 23, 2025 at 7:37 AM
ICONIC: Yosemite National Park workers just hung an upside-down American flag—THOUSANDS of feet up on El Capitan. That’s not decoration. That’s a distress signal. They’re telling us the country is in danger. Are you paying attention?
www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/art...
www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/art...
Reposted by Michael
These streets will be narrower, slower, safer, and greener. The perfect place for a Shared Street where pedestrians come first and the speed limit is 10 mph. www.theurbanist.org/2025/02/22/o...
Op-Ed: Convert Street Parking to Trees to Hit Seattle Canopy Goals Sooner - The Urbanist
# Seattle could meet its 30% tree canopy goal much quicker by converting a quarter of its 500,000 on-street parking spaces. The paving to planting conversion would convey many benefits, cooling neighb...
www.theurbanist.org
February 23, 2025 at 3:11 AM
These streets will be narrower, slower, safer, and greener. The perfect place for a Shared Street where pedestrians come first and the speed limit is 10 mph. www.theurbanist.org/2025/02/22/o...
Reposted by Michael
what do you do when crucial federal permitting offices won’t even talk to renewables developers?
welcome to our new reality, according to a leaked industry memo i reported last night for @heatmap.news
heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
welcome to our new reality, according to a leaked industry memo i reported last night for @heatmap.news
heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
Trump Has Paralyzed Renewables Permitting, Leaked Memo Reveals
The American Clean Power Association wrote to its members about federal guidance that has been “widely variable and changing quickly.”
heatmap.news
February 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
what do you do when crucial federal permitting offices won’t even talk to renewables developers?
welcome to our new reality, according to a leaked industry memo i reported last night for @heatmap.news
heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
welcome to our new reality, according to a leaked industry memo i reported last night for @heatmap.news
heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
Reposted by Michael
NEW: Trump’s anti-wind order does *not* just apply to offshore wind.
That’s because all wind projects need federal permits, even if they’re not on federal property.
Lobbyists believe that Trump’s order could hit “more than half” of wind farms now under development. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
That’s because all wind projects need federal permits, even if they’re not on federal property.
Lobbyists believe that Trump’s order could hit “more than half” of wind farms now under development. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
Trump’s Wind Order Could Hit ‘More Than Half’ of New Projects
The American wind industry faces a potentially existential threat.
heatmap.news
January 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
NEW: Trump’s anti-wind order does *not* just apply to offshore wind.
That’s because all wind projects need federal permits, even if they’re not on federal property.
Lobbyists believe that Trump’s order could hit “more than half” of wind farms now under development. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
That’s because all wind projects need federal permits, even if they’re not on federal property.
Lobbyists believe that Trump’s order could hit “more than half” of wind farms now under development. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
Reposted by Michael
Imagine if we made infill like this legal to build everywhere in America.
Nothing says freedom quite like a neo art-deco single-stair apartment building! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Nothing says freedom quite like a neo art-deco single-stair apartment building! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
January 22, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Imagine if we made infill like this legal to build everywhere in America.
Nothing says freedom quite like a neo art-deco single-stair apartment building! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Nothing says freedom quite like a neo art-deco single-stair apartment building! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Reposted by Michael
When you move around primarily or exclusively by car, you may not see the evidence of car crashes around you:
smashed fences & retaining walls
bent sign posts
broken car pieces
broken windshield glass, etc.
For those who travel by 🚶🏻, 🚲,🦽 & 🚌 these reminders are everywhere on sidewalks & streets.
smashed fences & retaining walls
bent sign posts
broken car pieces
broken windshield glass, etc.
For those who travel by 🚶🏻, 🚲,🦽 & 🚌 these reminders are everywhere on sidewalks & streets.
January 20, 2025 at 8:29 PM
When you move around primarily or exclusively by car, you may not see the evidence of car crashes around you:
smashed fences & retaining walls
bent sign posts
broken car pieces
broken windshield glass, etc.
For those who travel by 🚶🏻, 🚲,🦽 & 🚌 these reminders are everywhere on sidewalks & streets.
smashed fences & retaining walls
bent sign posts
broken car pieces
broken windshield glass, etc.
For those who travel by 🚶🏻, 🚲,🦽 & 🚌 these reminders are everywhere on sidewalks & streets.
Reposted by Michael
Thanks and farewell to an incredible Secretary of Transportation.
January 18, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Thanks and farewell to an incredible Secretary of Transportation.
Reposted by Michael
With the incoming administration, there's going to be a lot of bullshit and misinformation about offshore wind floating around. Here is a well-documented summary of the best scientific information on the subject:
oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/u...
oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/u...
oceanconservancy.org
January 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
With the incoming administration, there's going to be a lot of bullshit and misinformation about offshore wind floating around. Here is a well-documented summary of the best scientific information on the subject:
oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/u...
oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/u...
Today I wished my coworker a safe bike ride home and in return they wished me a safe bus ride, qualifying it with how “dangerous” the bus is. I replied, “the bus is not dangerous at all!”, and they let me know it was! they saw a story about someone getting attacked on a bus in a diff *country*
Wow.
Wow.
January 17, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Today I wished my coworker a safe bike ride home and in return they wished me a safe bus ride, qualifying it with how “dangerous” the bus is. I replied, “the bus is not dangerous at all!”, and they let me know it was! they saw a story about someone getting attacked on a bus in a diff *country*
Wow.
Wow.
Reposted by Michael
Cool job alert: Madison, WI is hiring a new Director of Transportation: www.governmentjobs.com/careers/madi...
A unique chance to shape transportation policy in a burgeoning city that just installed its first BRT -- while working alongside innovative mayor @satyaformadison.bsky.social
A unique chance to shape transportation policy in a burgeoning city that just installed its first BRT -- while working alongside innovative mayor @satyaformadison.bsky.social
January 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Cool job alert: Madison, WI is hiring a new Director of Transportation: www.governmentjobs.com/careers/madi...
A unique chance to shape transportation policy in a burgeoning city that just installed its first BRT -- while working alongside innovative mayor @satyaformadison.bsky.social
A unique chance to shape transportation policy in a burgeoning city that just installed its first BRT -- while working alongside innovative mayor @satyaformadison.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael
NEW: 2024 has just been confirmed as the warmest year on record, and the first to breach the 1.5C threshold.
We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940.
2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C.
We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940.
2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C.
January 10, 2025 at 8:04 AM
NEW: 2024 has just been confirmed as the warmest year on record, and the first to breach the 1.5C threshold.
We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940.
2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C.
We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940.
2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C.
Reposted by Michael
So many replies like this
January 3, 2025 at 11:42 PM
So many replies like this
great day for a leisurely froggy ride 🐸😶🌫️
December 15, 2024 at 9:21 PM
great day for a leisurely froggy ride 🐸😶🌫️
Reposted by Michael
every commenter on the internet who complains about bike lanes once saw a cyclist pedal through a red light and now uses it as justification for why they should be allowed to run over anyone else on the road
December 5, 2024 at 10:21 PM
every commenter on the internet who complains about bike lanes once saw a cyclist pedal through a red light and now uses it as justification for why they should be allowed to run over anyone else on the road
Reposted by Michael
before coffee: I hate everything
after coffee: I hate everything but nervouser
after coffee: I hate everything but nervouser
December 4, 2024 at 1:10 PM
before coffee: I hate everything
after coffee: I hate everything but nervouser
after coffee: I hate everything but nervouser
Reposted by Michael
Really good newsletter today from @amywestervelt.bsky.social that ties together a LOT of things in a very short text.
My takeaway: fossil fuel companies are more vulnerable and more dependent on taxpayer money, meaning they'll be even more desperate to influence politics.
My takeaway: fossil fuel companies are more vulnerable and more dependent on taxpayer money, meaning they'll be even more desperate to influence politics.
What's Coming: Peak Oil, Maximum LNG and Ethanol, State Violence, the CCS Boom, and a Lot More Climate Litigation
I haven't sent out a newsletter for a couple of weeks, partly because I'm working on a book that's due in February, which is keeping me even busier than usual, but also because I didn't want to write ...
drilled.ghost.io
December 3, 2024 at 12:45 PM
Really good newsletter today from @amywestervelt.bsky.social that ties together a LOT of things in a very short text.
My takeaway: fossil fuel companies are more vulnerable and more dependent on taxpayer money, meaning they'll be even more desperate to influence politics.
My takeaway: fossil fuel companies are more vulnerable and more dependent on taxpayer money, meaning they'll be even more desperate to influence politics.
Trees do so much to make our cities livable yet are often either 1) completely overlooked in the development process or 2) weaponized against sustainable housing and transportation projects.
Did you know that a “kissing canopy” is when trees above a street or sidewalk grow to touch overhead, creating a cool, shaded place? Despite it being colder and darker these days, let’s remember the beauty and value that #StreetTrees add to our cities, IF we design for them. #KissingCanopies
November 30, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Trees do so much to make our cities livable yet are often either 1) completely overlooked in the development process or 2) weaponized against sustainable housing and transportation projects.
But sure, let’s focus on the plastic straws! The automobile blind spot is literally killing us, and our environment.
"Every year, billions of vehicles worldwide shed an estimated 6 million tonnes of tire fragments. These tiny flakes of plastic, generated by the wear and tear of normal driving, [account] for 28% of microplastics entering the environment globally."
theconversation.com/car-tyres-sh...
theconversation.com/car-tyres-sh...
Car tyres shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment – urgent action is needed
Tiny flakes of plastic, generated by the wear and tear of normal driving, eventually accumulate in the soil, in rivers and lakes, and even in our food.
theconversation.com
November 30, 2024 at 3:11 PM
But sure, let’s focus on the plastic straws! The automobile blind spot is literally killing us, and our environment.
Reposted by Michael
What an absolute waste. We all bear the cost of this.
#BlackFridayParking Every excess retail parking space is a failure for land use policy, the climate, wildlife, the economy, municipal finances, and public health. Black Friday reveals how big retailers build too much parking. Let's end parking minimums and retrofit suburbia.
November 29, 2024 at 7:48 PM
What an absolute waste. We all bear the cost of this.
Rode to the grocery store for thanksgiving supplies, see celery strapped on top! I need bigger panniers, but still no need to use a car :)
November 28, 2024 at 2:19 AM
Rode to the grocery store for thanksgiving supplies, see celery strapped on top! I need bigger panniers, but still no need to use a car :)
Public commenter against a demolition permit for a new “high rise” housing project - because said high rise is “bad for the environment”
This is my biggest gripe - the cooption of care for the environment against more sustainable development.
This is my biggest gripe - the cooption of care for the environment against more sustainable development.
November 27, 2024 at 1:12 AM
Public commenter against a demolition permit for a new “high rise” housing project - because said high rise is “bad for the environment”
This is my biggest gripe - the cooption of care for the environment against more sustainable development.
This is my biggest gripe - the cooption of care for the environment against more sustainable development.