CNU Salons

There's a new paperback novel co-authored by Glen Beck, entitled AGENDA 21.  It's a dystropian tale of a future that, according to Mr. Beck and his co-author is about to descend upon us!!!  In the story, life is so depressing that Ayn Rand's ANTHEM the title piece from her THE ANTI-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION are cheerful prophecied of better days ahead!  In the book's afterword, two of Agenda 21's main points are 1) moving people out of suburbs into urban locations.  2)Sustainable development and smart growth!  Heavens!

The introduction of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification program into the building and real estate market allowed environmentalists to breathe a sigh of relief. Buildings, the leading producer of GHGs, finally had a trendy and very marketable adaptation technique to combat global warming. In recent years, the rating system has made monumental gains in popularity in both the public and private sector.

One common "story" about the evolution of American cities is that suburban poverty is growing because people are being driven out of high-priced cities into suburbs.  One possible implication of this argument is that cities need to be kept poor and stagnant so that poor people can afford them.

­­The Finger Lakes Institute based at Hobart & William Smith Colleges, has created a community design center, dubbed the FLI-CDC, which strives to provide Finger Lakes communities with innovative, creative, and sustainable design solutions that improve the built environment and quality of life, while protecting the natural environment. Support for the FLI-CDC has been generously provided by the Isabel Foundation.