Thursday, December 11. 2008

Maryland "Greenprints" Ecologically Sensitive Areas

Putting it's money where its maps are, the state of Maryland produced a map of ecologically sensitive areas including protected lands and other areas. Governor O'Malley, who I interviewed in September about his use of GIS, unveiled the map to other Maryland officials (Source: The Capital). The map, while saving paper, hence the name "greenprint," is interactive in that you can click on a county and a bar and pie chart will reveal the acres of land "out of targeted ecological areas" and "protected and unprotected targeted ecological areas" respectively.

Posted by Joe Francica in Environment/Sustainable Development at 09:03 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, October 8. 2008

EPA GIO Seeks Ways to Communicate Directly with the Public

Speaking at MetaCarta's Public Sector User Group Meeting, Dr. Jerry Johnston, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Geographic Information Officer (GIO) said he envisions a day when the public will utilize EPA's data prior to a house-hunting trip. Johnston said he hopes that the public would ask:
"What’s nearby? Are there hazardous waste facilities nearby? What is the drinking water quality? What’s the air quality? What’ it like on a typical summer day? Where is the closest recycling facility? How do we move toward a seamless adoption of place as a keystone concept in providing ascess to relevant environmental information?"

I think the problem for EPA is that you just don't think of going to the EPA to find this kind of information. You may look to local government agencies to find this but not the Federal Government. Perhaps we should? Even Johnston himself mentioned that information on the EPA's website was hard to find. And that the EPA does not have a common operating picture, a common view within the agency. Johnston wants a data fusion center where people can begin to do things with EPA's data. Most of the data that EPA has is collected from other agencies and produces very little on their own. They are massive consumers of information so the agency is looking to do a better job of distributing what it collects.

EPA has just signed an agreement to acquire a license for Google Earth Enterprise and looks to create an EPA globe in an "Environmental Decision Support Center." EPA also utilizes Microsoft's Virtual Earth platform as well.

Posted by Joe Francica in Environment/Sustainable Development at 09:16 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, September 3. 2008

Geologic Mapping Payback for Canada

The Financial Post reports that Canada is about to invest $100 Million over five years to finish the geologic mapping of Canada begun 166 years ago. And the projected payback for mapping and understanding the resource potential could be enormous. According to the article, "A 1999 study found that a $1-million investment by government in expanding the geoscience knowledge base will lead to $5-million in private sector exploration. In turn, this will lead to the discovery of new resources worth $125-million. Keeping in mind that those are 1999 numbers and that today mineral resources are worth considerably more, we can all see that Ottawa’s new $100-million has a potentially huge economic payoff for all Canadians."

Posted by Joe Francica in Environment/Sustainable Development at 09:43 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tuesday, July 8. 2008

Sacramento Explores How It's "Smart to Be Dense"

In a fascinating article published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, the city of Sacramento, CA is profiled as a model for discovering the realities of $4 gasoline and planning for "clustering the places where people live more closely with the businesses where they work and shop," according to the article. Urban planner Mike McKeever is the architect that pushed through the "smart growth" strategies (light rail, bike paths, etc.) which wasn't easy when he started on the job back when gas was half its price. The article in print provides maps showing the increase in per capita expenditures on public transportation from 2000 to 2008. The online article provides a map showing projected conjestion from development with and without Mr. McKeever's "Blueprint" for growth through 2050.

Posted by Joe Francica in Environment/Sustainable Development at 06:00 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |