UrbanWorkbench

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U.S

While the Federal Governments in the US and Canada throw stimulus money to the wind, the Municipalities are on the front line of debt, foreclosures and real service cuts. Here’s a sample of my reading list from this week on this topic.

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A Big Thanks – July Sponsors

by Mike Thomas on July 15, 2009

in Blogging

Here is a selection of the companies supporting UrbanWorkbench. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank my regular readers and their encouragement.

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While considering the history of Rossland, I was struck by the fact that at it’s peak population last century, there were about 6,000 people living in the mountain community, mainly because of the quantity of gold being extracted from under its feet and the surrounding mountains. Since that time, the community has waxed and waned, [...]

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Oil Speculation

by Mike Thomas on July 8, 2009

in Energy, Regulation

In an amazing change of direction, the US is considering market intervention for speculative buying of energy futures. Hang on, I thought the act of participating in the market was speculative to start with?

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Small City Airports

by Mike Thomas on April 28, 2009

in Sustainability

I’ve been criticized for saying this before, but I’m not the only one that is pointing this out – so I’ll pass this article on as a reference to the idea that small airports are struggling to maintain services and things are not going to get easier around North America. The following article references several American cities…

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Feel Good and Save the Planet

by Mike Thomas on April 24, 2009

in Energy, Marketing, Sustainability

I guess being sustainable should make you feel good, but does anyone else see the irony of shopping for the planet and being rewarded with air miles.

The thought of flying off to some exotic tropical island with all the hard earned “sustainable” air miles gets me pulling out the credit card – I’ve got to [...]

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Revising the Russian Prediction

by Mike Thomas on March 4, 2009

in Sustainability

A revised prediction? At the end of last year I wrote about Igor Panarin’s prediction that the US would collapse within a few months into 2009… He’s revising his prediction:

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Much of the world views Western Canada as a picturesque wilderness with magnificent cities nestled in harmony with nature. Unfortunately the reality is sprawling suburbs, crumbling infrastructure, decimated forests and tucked away up in northern Alberta is the geological formation known as the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the industry that has developed around this massive, but difficult to extract, reserve of oil.

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