Author: Travis Estell

Travis joined UrbanCincy in 2009 as a contributor, and quickly took over technical responsibilities for the site. After growing up in Cincinnati’s east side in Goshen, Travis earned an Electronic Media degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2009. Since then, Travis has been working throughout the United States as a web development consultant. After living in Clifton Heights, Northside, and Over-the-Rhine, Travis now resides in Cincinnati’s Central Business District.

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Business Development News Politics

National Dark Sky Week 2009

Tonight, take a look into the sky. Your view will be very different than that of someone a century ago. You will likely see a lot more light, and a lot fewer stars, than our ancestors would have seen.

An unfortunate side effect of our modern industrial society is light pollution. Unlike the contamination of our air or water, light pollution is one type of contamination people may not think about or take very seriously. But over-illumination causes a variety of issues, such as an annoying nighttime glow, unnecessary energy usage, problems for astronomers, and even human health problems like reduced visual acuity and increased fatigue. Like our air and water, our dark night sky is a natural resource that we must work together to preserve.

Today marks the beginning of National Dark-Sky Week (April 20-26, 2009). This annual event encourages Americans to audit their outdoor light fixtures and reduce their contribution to this problem. To help, you can turn off any unnecessary lights and make sure the rest are aimed toward the ground and are only as bright as necessary. Maybe even consider purchasing a directional shade to prevent your fixtures from spilling light upward.

One emerging technology that may help reduce light pollution is LED lighting. Although LED bulbs last longer and use less energy than incandescent or even CFL bulbs, their highly-directional light is typically seen as a drawback. In the case of outdoor lighting, directionality could be a benefit, as less light leaks up to the sky.

Although it may seem minor in comparison to other pressing issues, it’s easy to make a small step toward reducing light pollution and improving public quality of life. This National Dark-Sky Week, take a moment to think about the simple things you can do to reduce your impact.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

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Media Bridges to launch FM station, Radio Free Queen City

One of Cincinnati’s great unique assets is Media Bridges, our community media center. The non-profit organization operates four of the city’s public access television channels and broadcasts an Internet radio station, The Bridge.

Beginning August 1, Media Bridges will be adding yet another outlet as they launch Radio Free Queen City. This new low-power station, officially known as WVQC-LP, will broadcast on 95.7 FM. It will feature content produced by volunteers, focusing on issues, arts, and culture relevant to the community. The station will air city council meetings, some alternative national programming, and Spanish-language news. Media Bridges says WVQC will not duplicate the programming of other Cincinnati-area stations.

Media Bridges first applied for a license to operate an FM station in 2001, and the FCC granted the license last year. A campaign has been launched to raise the $127,000 needed to purchase the transmitter, build a new radio studio at Media Bridges’ Over-the-Rhine location, and fund the station’s first year of operation. Once operational, the FM signal will cover a 3-5 mile radius, and will presumably be streamed online for those outside the core of the city.

Cincinnati is currently served by another non-profit volunteer radio station, the East Walnut Hills-based WAIF, which has been surrounded by controversy in recent years.

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Radio tower photo courtesy of Flickr user maliciousmonkey.
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Business Development News Politics

Brown states balance concerns for our environment, our jobs

A recent New York Times article coined the term “brown state-green state clash,” referring to the opposing viewpoints of politicians from the coasts and politicians from the Midwest and Plains States. “Green states” like California are pushing for higher fuel efficiency, more renewable energy, and other efforts to fight climate change, while “brown states” like Ohio are resisting in order to preserve our manufacturing jobs.

In particular, many brown state officials are opposed to a cap-and-trade system proposed by President Obama. This proposal sets a ceiling on carbon dioxide emissions, giving manufacturers a certain number of credits and allowing them to emit a certain amount of pollutants. If a company reduces its emissions, it can sell its excess credits to companies who pollute more.

After a failed U.S. Senate global warming bill in June 2008, ten senators from coal-dependent, manufacturing-heavy states created the “Gang of 10,” which has since grown to 15 members. Ohio’s Sherrod Brown was part of the original group. Brown claims, “There’s a bias in our Congress and government against manufacturing, or at least indifference to us, especially on the coasts.” He adds, “If we pass a climate bill the wrong way, it will hurt American jobs and the American economy, as more and more production jobs go to places like China, where it’s cheaper.”

This seems to contradict themes echoed in both national and local politics, pushing for more “green jobs.” Environmental blog Gristmill points out that Midwest and Plains States will likely come out ahead job-wise in the push to become green: Plains States have been nicknamed “the Saudi Arabia of wind,” and the Midwest will manufacture wind turbines that are too large to be shipped from overseas. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts says, “A lot of new jobs will be created if we craft a piece of global warming legislation correctly, and that is our intention.”

Clearly, what we have is a disconnect between politicians claiming a green future will create jobs and politicians claiming exactly the opposite.

In Washington state, Democratic Senate leaders plan to direct $180 million of stimulus money to their plan “Clean Energy, Green Jobs.” One aspect of the plan, retrofitting low-income residents’ homes to be more energy efficient, will create an estimated 7,500 jobs over five years. The plan would also create an agency to oversee greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce them to 1990 levels by the year 2017. Republicans oppose the plan, saying that the new restrictions would be an impediment to businesses.

A similar movement is starting to happen in the Ohio state House, where Democrats are pushing for higher energy efficiency standards in public buildings. They claim this will cause job creation in the fields of energy-efficient design and construction. Republican Senator Jimmy Stewart said he supports the plan as long as it doesn’t create additional delays in construction.

Are our politicians effectively balancing concerns for our environment with the need to preserve jobs in our region? Will the green movement cause a gain or loss of jobs? Sound off in the comments section.

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Photo from Flickr user Caveman 92223