Metropolitan region leaving a

By Pam Sohn,

For a city that has tried more than once to improve its image as a environmental leader and sustainable city, the residents of metropolitan Chattanooga continue to leave a larger and larger carbon footprint.

The 2008 State of Chattanooga Region Report on Environment, released today by the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, finds local energy use up, regional sprawl increasing and the use of public transportation virtually non-existent.

At the same time, according to the report, the region's air quality is worsening, and three quarters of the region's assessed streams and rivers have been found to be impaired -- half with E. coli.

David Eichenthal, president and CEO of the Ochs Center, said the report is a beginning for regional officials and policymakers to "connect the dots."

"Clearly there is a relationship between land use, open space and transportation patterns that gets translated into air quality and even water quality in our region," he said.

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The report puts an emphasis on urban sprawl as a contributor to the growing carbon footprint, a measure of how human activity contributes to climate change by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the earth's atmosphere. According to the report, sprawl now includes more of the greater Chattanooga region -- the six-county metro area, not just Hamilton County.

Mr. Eichenthal said the Ochs Center report is important because it is the first of its kind that takes a regional approach, describing conditions within Hamilton, Marion and Sequatchie counties in Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in Georgia.

"This really is a regional issue," he said. "Political boundaries don't work very well when it comes to clean air or clean water, so the only way to really think about the environment is not just within the bounds of a particular city or county, but really across, at a minimum, the six-county region."

Gene Hyde, Chattanooga city forester and the chairman of the city's Green Committee, said he hasn't seen the report, but it sounds like a good beginning and probably "a lot of it should be factored into our sustainability initiative" to be finalized later this year.

"I'm hearing these numbers for the first time," he said. "It shows there's work to be done for sure. I'm sure there are some positive sides, too."

But in Georgia, Dade County Commission Chairman Ben Brandon said the report didn't say much to him -- especially since he didn't get a opportunity to preview it.

"I do not believe in man-made global warming, so right off the bat I'll tell you that anything with carbon footprint in it is baloney," he said Tuesday.

INSIDE THE DATA

The report, to be released to the public today at 11 a.m. at Greenspaces at 63 E. Main St., picks up on the findings of a recent study by the Brookings Institution and a Chattanooga Green Committee report.

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The Brookings findings ranked the Chattanooga region as the 12th worst per capita greenhouse gas emitter -- with 3.1 metric tons per year -- of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

The Green Committee report, which also looked at commercial and industrial emitters rather than just residential emitters, was even harsher. The Green Committee stated that Chattanooga alone emitted 6.1 million tons o
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Ottawa order boost for New Fly

Transit authority approves 306 new buses worth $190 million

A major new sale of buses approved by Ottawa city council this week will bolster New Flyer Industries' production levels after the company reported that new order activity in the first quarter was four times lower than last year.

New Flyer will sell OC Transpo, the Ottawa transit authority, 306 new articulated clean diesel buses for approximately $190 million.

The Ottawa deal includes arrangements for Ottawa to trade in Villarreal a fleet of older buses that had experienced some troublesome defects.

Company officials said despite discounted prices, standard profit levels will be achieved through the life of the contract from parts sales and used-bus sales.

Richard Stoneman, an analyst with Dundee Securities, said the Ottawa sale lessens the negative impact of New Flyer's first-quarter new sales report.

"The contract they signed (this week) in Ottawa will provide a level of stability over the next 18 months," Stoneman said. "I can only assume that's why they hurried to get that in place."

The company said the new order will not cause the company to alter its production rates, which it has said will remain steady at about 40 buses a week through 2010.

In addition to poor first-quarter market activity -- which New Flyer officials said was something that was experienced across the industry -- the company reported that "transit agencies in the United States and Canada are facing unprecedented funding challenges due to declining state, provincial and local tax revenues."

Early this month, the Washington-based American Public Transportation Association reported that 69 per cent of public transit systems are projecting budget watches-a shortfalls this year.

Perhaps even more concerning for New Flyer and other bus manufacturers is that 54 per cent of U.S. transit systems have transferred funds from capital use to operations.

"As bad as things are today, more drastic service cuts, fare increases, layoffs and deferred capital projects will occur if this problem is not addressed," said William Millar, president of APTA.

But Stoneman, for one, said he believes the worst of the public-sector funding issue is behind us.

"We did go through a major recession," he said. "That recession is over."

At least part of his belief is tied to the forecasts produced by the Portland ed hardy clothing Cement Association, a Chicago-based organization that represents the cement industry whose members are tied to the construction industry, which relies in large part on local government funding.

"They expect funding issues at the state and municipal level to start easing in the second half of 2010 and get back to normal 12 months from there," said Stoneman.

But APTA officials are not convinced.

Virginia Miller, an APTA spokeswoman, said, "We do not know where the light at the end of the tunnel is."

Last summer, New Flyer announced about 320 layoffs after funding for a major sale to Chicago Transit Authority did not materialize.

New Flyer officials declined to comment Thursday on the company's latest news.

New Flyer units were down eight cents Thurs
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Ouija Board has colt foal

Byline: Tony Smurthwaite

Tampa Bay Lightning

OUIJA BOARD, the BHB's Horse of the Year of 2004, a dual Cartier Horse of the Year and twice an Eclipse Award winner in the US, last night gave birth to her first foal, writes Tony Smurthwaite.

Now seven, the earner of more than pounds 3.5 million successfully produced a bay colt by Kingmambo at around 8.15pm at Lord Derby's Stanley House Stud in Newmarket.

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Peter Stanley, Lord Derby's brother and manager of Stanley House, said: "She has given birth to a colt foal with markings exactly like his mum. We are very pleased, and both mum and foal are happy and healthy."

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