Monthly Archives: September 2009

Widening I-64 through Cherokee Park?

Leave a reply

Transportation is a huge sustainability issue that is often hard to balance. On one hand you need to be able to get where you need to go, and on the other hand traffic brings noise, pollution, and safety concerns into our communities. Studies show that foot traffic revitalizes downtown businesses and encourages people to create a more dense, rich, and sustainable downtown area. Vehicle traffic does exactly the opposite.

Our metropolitan planning organization (“KIPDA”) is in the process of amending the region’s Horizon 2030 Transportation Plan. The current plan includes a project to widen I-64 through the Cochran Tunnel (KIPDA ID #389). This will bring more trucks and traffic into the heart of our city and divert funds that could be used for a more sustainable traffic plan such as diverting traffic through an east-end bridge or a light rail system along I-64 to reduce rush hour loads.

The last day of the public comment period is next Tuesday and we encourage you to write your city representative. 8664.org has created a special page on their site to make it easy for you to generate an email and gather more information about this issue.

http://www.8664.org/kipda/

Please tell your friends and neighbors about this issue.

350 Event – Oct 24th

Leave a reply

We are co-sponsoring a 350 event on the Great Lawn Waterfront Park Saturday, October 24 at 2:30 pm as part of a worldwide effort to bring public awareness to the consequences of global climate change.

We will assemble and spell out “350″ with our bodies at 3:50 PM. There will be music, speakers, exhibits, puppets, theater, and an aerial flyover to take a photo for the worldwide 350 event. Come be part of the solution! Everyone is welcome and don’t forget to visit our booth!

“350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.

Accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts have led scientists to conclude that we are already above the safe zone at our current 390ppm, and that unless we are able to rapidly return to 350 ppm this century, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt.”

Check out 350.org for more information on the movement.

We are ligit!

Leave a reply

We have been incorporated by the state of Kentucky and the Kentucky Resource Council has agreed to be our financial umbrella until we get our 501(c)3 status. You know what that means – we can officially do business, apply for grants and take donations. Bring it on, we’re ready.

Partnerships, internal and external

Leave a reply

It’s been pretty hectic around lately and here’s an update of what has been going on. It’s a bit long so brace yourselves.

There have been some very productive meetings with Breaking New Grounds, the Heine Bros organic composting project, the Environmental Finance Center at UofL, Louisville CSA, and the Kentucky School Garden Network. Each group showed there support and some even committed to providing resources in the future once we have our projects up and running. Partnerships and coordination will prove to be the key to making the most of our contributions to Louisville.

Also, Mason presentation at Ignite 502, which went really well. The presentations were interesting and solidified our knowledge that the citizens of Louisville are proud and passionate about their city. We talked about the state of our food system and the easy steps to making a difference here in our community. We should have a video copy of it soon, which will be put up on our pressroom page.

Join me in welcoming two new board members to the organization, Paige Battcher and Guillermo Quintana.

Paige is Louisville native, an avid traveler, and a recent graduate from the University of Louisville with a degree in Finance. As a Fulbright Scholar, Paige taught English as a foreign language in northern Thailand for seven months. She has recently returned to Louisville after directing a summer camp in Tampa, Florida for at-risk youth. Her passions are sustainable food and transportation, supporting the local economy, cycling, running, laughing, and teaching. As the Volunteer Director for Louisville Grows, she is committed to help organize partnerships, projects, and volunteers.

Guillermo is a Peruvian Social Entrepreneur who just moved to Louisville 2 months ago and graduated from Campbellsville University with Master in Business Administration. He is the representative of Microfranchise Solutions Inc. in Peru (www.microfranchisesolutions.com) and will serve as our Economic Development Director.