Cited: Time
On August 29, 2005 hurricane Katrina flattened New Orleans and the city has now emerged as a symbol of global warming, the 1st American victim of climate change. The category 5 hurricane destroyed over 200,000 homes in its wake. New Orleans, in the process of rebuilding has taken on a new and unexpected role as a laboratory for green building. Various groups and celebrities determined to not just rebuild the city but to build it back green arrived on the scene. Sustainable development groups like global Green and celebrities like Brad Pitt descended on New Orleans to make it a green city. “It’s going to come back,” says Matt Petersen, the president of Global Green USA. “But we want to build it better than it was before.”
No organization is doing more to green New Orleans than Global Green USA, the American arm of the international environmental organization that was founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. That begins with the Holy Cross project, an entire sustainable village being built in the city’s flood-damaged Lower Ninth Ward, with the help of Home Depot’s corporate foundation. Eventually the village will include five sustainable homes, along with an 18-unit green apartment building and a community center. Three homes have been completed so far, including one that is serving as a de facto visitor’s center. The point of the project is not just to provide greener homes for New Orleans’s returning residents, but also to provide training for the local building community in green standards. “That’s one of the ways to make this kind of building more common and more affordable,” says Petersen.
That’s the same motivation behind Global Green’s sustainable schools program, which will both retrofit existing schools to make them more energy efficient, and build entirely new classrooms from the ground up. The new schools will have solar panels, wetland habitats (which can act as a buffer for future storms) and rainwater cisterns. At Gentilly Terrace Elementary School, which is getting an energy overhaul, power bills should fall some $22,000 a year. In a city that is struggling to get back on its feet, those energy savings make a difference — as does the fact that some research has shown that students actually learn better in greener schools. (It’s not exactly clear why that’s the case — one possibility is that absenteeism and sick days both decrease when the indoor environment is healthier.)
For those who want to keep their homes clean and healthy . . . With the best Virginia cleaning services you can expect the healthiest and most thorough professional carpet cleaning, kitchen cleaning, and bathroom cleaning services available. The Northern VA maid service offers deep cleaning services for weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly, monthly, move in, move out or just a special onetime deep cleaning. They provide deep cleaning services and house cleaning services for all residential types. Whether you require frequent deep cleaning services for your home, or maid services and apartment cleaners for apartment buildings these certified maids are fully vetted and follow a strict code of cleaning rules, and are highly trained to provide you with the absolute best-quality deep cleaning services possible.
Beyond model projects like the ones Global Green is implementing, there are broader policy-based actions that seek to green New Orleans from the top down. The city is receiving millions in federal stimulus funds, some of which will be going toward initiatives that will reestablish a citywide recycling program and improve mass transit. $1.1 million is being slated to help green five of the city’s libraries, and more will pay for the installation of solar-powered, ultra-efficient LED streetlights. The Department of Energy — with funds matched by Global Green — is underwriting new solar power projects in New Orleans as well, hoping to expand the tiny slice of the city’s electricity that comes from renewable sources. “The hope is that you can help create green jobs for the city in this way as well,” says Petersen. “There can be a silver lining to all of this, the creation of a more robust and vibrant community and economy.”
Of course, the work of greening New Orleans has been as complex and intermittent as other parts of the reconstruction process, with delays and bureaucratic obstacles. And there’s a legitimate question here: given the increased risk of hurricanes and rising oceans in a warmer future, should a city that exists under sea level be built back at all? Green or not, will New Orleans ever be safe from global warming?
No one is safe from global warming unless we change the way we are building our homes and businesses as well as the way we use the energy that we consume. New Orleans just happened at the right time and the result of a not so convenient hurricane and provides the opportunity to try to build green in the urban environment. Of course, New Orleans will not be the last city threatened by the rising seas that are caused by global warming. Cities from New York to London to Shanghai will be affected by rising seas. Ironically, most metropolitan areas are built next to the ocean, so it is only a matter of time before the next big storm hits. The idea is that if New Orleans can be built back in a way that is sustainable and resilient as well as capable of surviving another hurricane, then we might just be better prepared for the hot and unstable days to come.
__________________________________
My Take: I think it is great that New Orleans is going green. Although, the citizens may object to only green. They are such a colorful lot of people that Green may not be enough color for them. Seriously, I think it is a great idea, I just hope it works.
The only problem I can see is the people. If people do not start going green, making the city green is not going to make much of a difference. The human race needs to start going green first! If we don’t start thinking about what we are doing to our environment, our environment is going to get back at us. It’s like the old saying, “Don’t piss Mother Nature off!”
Mother Nature can get very angry at times. Moreover, the way the weather has been this year, we just might see another Katrina. According to the weather service, there have already been 2 hurricanes hit the East Coast. There will probably be at least one more this year.
__________________________________
Related Resources
New Home Entertainment
You can now enjoy instant access to unlimited movie downloads, with no download fees. Join the more than 3 million people already enjoying free movies, TV shows, music and games instantly downloaded to your computer. You also get online tutorials, technical support and more than $200 of free software and bonuses. All that and you get new movie downloads.