Author: Steven Cohen54

From PlaNYC to OneNYC: New York’s Evolving Sustainability Policy

How do we encourage the wealthy to participate in our real estate market without driving out the rest of us? How can the city tax some of the new real estate wealth to provide housing subsidies for working New Yorkers?
Earth Day’s Importance and Evolution Since 1970

The issue for Earth Day, 2015, is how we marshal the forces of technology toward the goal of creating a sustainable, high-throughput economy. Some of these new technologies will damage our environment. Some, like solar power, can help protect the environment.
Deep Sea Drilling Rules and the Transition from Fossil Fuels

The now reorganized Minerals Management Service (MMS) was responsible for generating revenues by leasing federal lands for mining, or drilling, and then regulating the same mining operations it sold leases to. That is an inherent conflict of interest, but it gets worse: The MMS was a revolving door for fossil fuel companies.
California Dreaming: Drought and Development

California’s water crisis is further proof that environmental issues must be fully integrated into economic development plans and projects. Sustainability management requires that we factor these physical resources and constraints into our designs for new homes, businesses and institutions.
We Need to Finance and Subsidize Mass Transit

While it would be nice to see a mass transit financing solution included in an effort to rebuild the nation’s depleted highway trust fund, a nation that refuses to tax itself to repair deteriorating roads and bridges appears unlikely to provide funding for mass transit. Still, no effort to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse…
Learning from the Era of American Environmental Leadership

Earth Institute Executive Director Steve Cohen discusses what sustainability leaders can learn from American environmental leaders of the past through a new course taught at Columbia University by Leon G. Billings and Thomas C. Jorling, authors of the Clean Air Act.
Our Government is Incapable of Building a Sustainable Economy

My Columbia University colleagues Bill Eimicke and Alison Miller recently joined me in authoring a new book entitled Sustainability Policy: Hastening the Transition to A Cleaner Economy. If all goes well, Jossey-Bass publishers will release the book in early 2015. Our work focuses on how American government at the federal, state and local levels can…
Work, Youth, Optimism, and the Drive Toward a Safe, Sustainable Planet

Earth Institute Executive Director Steve Cohen discusses the changing natures of work and opportunity in the transition to a sustainable economy.
Will de Blasio and Cuomo Make Sustainability a Higher Priority?

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has allowed the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability to lose many of its most talented staff, while New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is using capital funds meant to finance environmental facilities to help pay for the Tappan Zee Bridge. These two progressive elected officials talk…

From PlaNYC to OneNYC: New York’s Evolving Sustainability Policy

How do we encourage the wealthy to participate in our real estate market without driving out the rest of us? How can the city tax some of the new real estate wealth to provide housing subsidies for working New Yorkers?
Earth Day’s Importance and Evolution Since 1970

The issue for Earth Day, 2015, is how we marshal the forces of technology toward the goal of creating a sustainable, high-throughput economy. Some of these new technologies will damage our environment. Some, like solar power, can help protect the environment.
Deep Sea Drilling Rules and the Transition from Fossil Fuels

The now reorganized Minerals Management Service (MMS) was responsible for generating revenues by leasing federal lands for mining, or drilling, and then regulating the same mining operations it sold leases to. That is an inherent conflict of interest, but it gets worse: The MMS was a revolving door for fossil fuel companies.
California Dreaming: Drought and Development

California’s water crisis is further proof that environmental issues must be fully integrated into economic development plans and projects. Sustainability management requires that we factor these physical resources and constraints into our designs for new homes, businesses and institutions.
We Need to Finance and Subsidize Mass Transit

While it would be nice to see a mass transit financing solution included in an effort to rebuild the nation’s depleted highway trust fund, a nation that refuses to tax itself to repair deteriorating roads and bridges appears unlikely to provide funding for mass transit. Still, no effort to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse…
Learning from the Era of American Environmental Leadership

Earth Institute Executive Director Steve Cohen discusses what sustainability leaders can learn from American environmental leaders of the past through a new course taught at Columbia University by Leon G. Billings and Thomas C. Jorling, authors of the Clean Air Act.
Our Government is Incapable of Building a Sustainable Economy

My Columbia University colleagues Bill Eimicke and Alison Miller recently joined me in authoring a new book entitled Sustainability Policy: Hastening the Transition to A Cleaner Economy. If all goes well, Jossey-Bass publishers will release the book in early 2015. Our work focuses on how American government at the federal, state and local levels can…
Work, Youth, Optimism, and the Drive Toward a Safe, Sustainable Planet

Earth Institute Executive Director Steve Cohen discusses the changing natures of work and opportunity in the transition to a sustainable economy.
Will de Blasio and Cuomo Make Sustainability a Higher Priority?

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has allowed the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability to lose many of its most talented staff, while New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is using capital funds meant to finance environmental facilities to help pay for the Tappan Zee Bridge. These two progressive elected officials talk…