Cool Solutions

Story of how residents of South Portland Maine, a town of 25,000, stopped the export of tar sands from their port. We follow the story from a few people in a living room to overflow attendance at city council and the council's vote to ban tar sands and stand firm against Big Oil's lawsuit. Moving testimony by children, grandparents, fishermen and others. A legal expert explains Home Rule and how a city at the end of a pipeline has the power to protect itself from harm.  

Solar streetlights are hyperlocal clean energy that can help US cities survive extreme weather events and break free of utility monopolies. We visit 3 cities where solar street lights do a fine job lighting the streets, but also do much more. 

In a struggling rustbelt city, they're a beacon of hope for sustainable development. In a high end housing development, they attract buyers of luxury estates. In a working class town, they save the city money.  And in all locations, they're protecting the climate and helping remodel our energy system from a centralized for profit model, to a more dispersed, democratic, and resilient system. 

We talk with a community activist, a real estate developer, and a street light electrician from these communities about their experiences with solar street lights.  

Transit expansion leads to gentrification so often that some folks have started calling new light rail, the "Gentrification Train". A community land trust in Denver takes land near new stations permanently off the market and turns it into affordable housing.

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People in Macon, GA got tired of waiting and made their own bike lanes. Progress ensued. Josh Rogers of New Town Macon and Rachel Hollar of Bike Walk Macon tell their story. Tactical urbanist Mike Lydon and epidemiologist Neil Maizlish help us look deeper into DIY street redesign and the health and safety benefits of protected bike lanes.