🟢 Mahbubur Meenar, PhD

@meenarm.bsky.social

Asso. Prof. Planning/Geog/GIS 🌱Food systems/security, urban ag 🌳Green infra/NBS, parks 💧Env planning, env health, sustainable dev 💡Smart cities, tech, & society 💖Equity/justice, climate health, emotion/wellbeing https://www.planviz.org, Rowan Univ, NJ

As the country marks its 250th anniversary, we share the stories of farmers, ranchers, herders, and growers dedicated to a just and equitable food system. Read more in our latest series, Farming 250. ➡️ buff.ly/IXEmn6Z

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Today’s show was my last at CNN. My closing message: It’s never a good time to bow down to a tyrant… don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth… and hope.

The While House pauses all federal grants and loan disbursements. For researchers, this means that work already completed and charged to federal grants (NSF, NIH, etc) will not be reimbursed by the federal government until further notice. www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/p...

All federal grants and loan disbursement paused by White House | CNN Politics

The White House budget office has ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, according to an internal memorandum sent Monday.

cnn.com

#EnvironmentalJustice was NOT birthed in government or government programs. It sprang from people striving to make America more just for everyone. I'm hopeful and I have faith. But, "faith without work is dead." | Scientific American subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene.... @BullardCenter

E&E News: Trump scraps Clinton EJ order, calling it ‘discrimination’

The president revoked a 1994 directive requiring agencies to protect minority or low-income areas from pollution and health hazards.

subscriber.politicopro.com

Rather than pausing to linger, American pedestrians are racing through streets – and doing so alone. A new study from Ed Glaeser, Carlo Ratti, et al. raises troubling questions about the decline of streetlife. Me, in CityLab 🧵

What Happened to Hanging Out on the Street?

Urban pedestrians are walking faster and doing less socializing, according to a new study of NYC, Boston and Philadelphia. Is technology to blame, or public space itself?

bloomberg.com

These fires are a watershed moment, not just for residents of LA, but emblematic of a new era of complex, compound climate disaster. Conditions for a January firestorm in Los Angeles have never existed in all of known history, until they now do. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

The Los Angeles wildfires are climate disasters compounded

Conditions for a January firestorm in Los Angeles like this have not existed before now, writes a meteorologist and climate journalist

theguardian.com

An interesting piece about climate-resilient playgrounds, acting as stores for stormwater, designed for cooling, with shade, and to absorb pollution, restoring nature, and reclaiming brownfield sites for children and the community www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘A place for kids to play and a place to store water’: the stormwater capture zone that is also a playground

Flood-prone Hoboken, New Jersey, has opened a play area for its youngest residents that doubles as storage for stormwater runoff

theguardian.com

The truck used in the New Orleans terrorist attack is a Ford F-150 Lightning, which is perfectly designed for this kind of attack. It weighs more than 6000 lbs, accelerates to 60 mph in just 4 seconds, and the battering-ram-shaped front is nearly 5 feet tall. Deadly by design.

A photo of the Ford F-150 Lightning used in the New Orleans terrorist attack, surrounded by law enforcement officers.

Ecuador, which gets 70% of its electricity from hydropower, is facing a severe energy crisis due to an extraordinary drought exacerbated by climate change. The solution is to diversify and invest more in wind and solar.

Hydropower Was Ecuador’s Answer to Climate Change. Until the Drought Hit. (Gift Article)

An extraordinary drought has drained Ecuador’s rivers and reservoirs, leading to power outages of up to 14 hours. Some fear this is the beginning of a larger global crisis.

nytimes.com

Labour under fire over plans for 40 ‘greenwashing’ waste incinerators. Scientists warned incinerators are a “disaster” for #climate as burning waste emits same as coal power. Scotland & Wales already ban new incinerator plants due to environmental concerns www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Labour under fire over plans for 40 more ‘greenwashing’ waste incinerators

Communities across the UK are fighting ‘catastrophic’ proposals to build new energy-from-waste plants

theguardian.com