Spills, Sins & Starbucks/how we designed our cities around oil - Eric Corey Freed

Spills, Sins & Starbucks/how we designed our cities around oil - Eric Corey Freed. AltBuild Expo, Santa Monica,CA May 7, 2011.

The Gulf Coast Oil Spill is the worst environmental disaster in history. This talk explores the tragedy of the spill, and how our own dependence on fossil fuels is really to blame and a plan for how to transform our cities and suburbs to eliminate this addiction for good.

The design of our cities and suburbs is dictated by the automobile. From the width of the street, location of driveways, distance between buildings and the spacing of the structure, the automobile has irrevocably changed our cities from human scale to vehicle scale. This talk explores those connections.

Through the lens of the 7 Deadly Sins, this lecture examines the root causes leading up to the oil spill, the forces driving these events and the maps out several poignant and humorous alternatives we need to develop. If the Car Culture represents the 20th Century, then we need to redefine our culture for the 21st.

This brand new "bullet-point free" talk is presented by the acclaimed author of "Green Building for Dummies." It was hailed by Apartment Therapy as "phenomenal" and "engaging, funny and super interesting."

Examine the history, drivers and conditions that created our current
car-centric built environment. Understand the development and design of regenerative, sustainable city blocks in cities throughout the United States. Uncover the hidden opportunities to radically transform our cities one block at a time. Discover the forces working against progress and what you can do to
move things forward. Map out an action plan for what you can do to be part of the green revolution.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• santa
• monica
• alternative
• building
• ecology
• oil
• car
• automobile
• public
• transit
• bus
• train
• development
• eric
• corey
• freed
• greed
• highway
• military
• city