Isaiah Thompson, staff writer at Philadelphia’s City Paper, is reporting that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is considering authorizing the leasing of more state lands for natural gas drilling. According to Thompson, the Governor and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are ignoring “warnings from former DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis, who wrote in May that too much leasing would “scar the economic, scenic, ecological and recreational values of the forest,” and that “a rush to drill threatens the certification of our state forests as sustainably managed.””
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We’ve all heard and read plenty about how Rust Belt cities can use their vacant lands as space for urban farms and community gardens.
This article from the Los Angeles Times says some folks believe they could even make a profitable investment. Michigan native and financier John Hantz has invested an initial $30 million of his own money toward purchasing equipment and land in Detroit, according to the article.
-KG
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Don’t let the sunshine in the photos fool you.

It was a cold one in Tremont on Sunday, as temperatures in the low 30s heralded winter’s tightening reins on Cleveland. But the weather didn’t deter over 100 cyclists and pedestrians from rallying in support of a path to connect them to downtown. United States Representative Dennis Kucinich made an appearance, pledging his word for a path with a letter to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland.

From the neighborhood on Cleveland’s west side, a leap over the milky Cuyahoga River, bikers rode and walkers strode to the lawn at Carnegie Avenue and Ontario Street. The broad swath of concrete is one of the largest intersections in the city, linking downtown to I-90 and I-77.

Christopher Steiner’s new book $20 Per Gallon is an interesting read. The book’s thesis is that oil and gasoline prices will appreciate over time. Not just to $4 per gallon like we saw last summer, but significantly higher as supply dwindles and demand continues to pick up steam. It’s not all bad news, though. One potential revival that Steiner points to is the resurgence of Rust Belt cities; some of the same cities that have been badly struggling over the past few years.

Admittedly, it’s a plausible theory. Rust Belt cities …

This editorial was contributed by Nick Helmholdt, a guest blogger and Ann Arbor, Michigan resident.
In a recent Youtube jam session, my brother Tony directed my attention to the “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video“. My fiancee said that I should take it down from my website. I can see how she came to this opinion: as a recent graduate who is searching for jobs in the rust belt, the video lampoons the persistent and ugly problems that many people associate with the region. It also slams it’s neighbor with the final …

All you members of GLUE – Great Lakes Urban Exchange- may remember hearing (and seeing!) Will Allen and learning about his amazing urban farm, Growing Power, in Milwaukee.
In fact, we at Rust Wire featured some photos from Growing Power back in March.
Now, The New York Times has noticed Allen and the work he is doing.
For those of you not familiar with the project, Growing Power is  “14 greenhouses crammed onto two acres in a working-class neighborhood on Milwaukee’s northwest side, less than half a mile from the city’s largest public-housing …

In honor of the 40-year anniversary of the Cuyhoga River catching fire, my friend, photographer Greg Ruffing, has agreed to share works from an ongoing project to document the river and its surroundings.
The Cleveland-area river has earned some tempered praise for making environmental strides since a passing train lit the oily water ablaze in 1969.
The event is credited in part with inspiring the environmental movement that led to the Clean Water Act of 1972.
Local environmentalists have dubbed 2009 “The Year of the River.” However, the EPA disappointed Cleveland environmental activists …