The Vermont Transportation Energy Report: Vermont Clean Cities Coalition
The mission of the Vermont Clean Cities Coalition (VCCC) is to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels for transportation. This annual report provides policy makers with relevant and timely data on the status of fuel consumption, vehicle purchases, transportation expenditures, and travel behavior in Vermont. This information is intended to form the basis of data-driven policy discussions and initiatives.
Convergent links of social capital, sustainable practices, and support for cost-specified climate policy in two Vermont and Arizona Counties
This study uses survey data collected in Chittenden County, Vermont and Maricopa County, Arizona to examine the relationship of self-reported measures of social capital with sustainable practices and support for cost-specified fossil fuel reduction policies. Despite obvious geographic, demographic, and political contrasts between the two regions, behavioral and policy support outcomes for Arizona and Vermont residents were remarkably similar. Among the social capital variables, social engagement with neighbors was significantly tied to supporting subsidies for renewable energy, while social engagement with friends outside the neighborhood was tied to the purchase of locally grown produce. Volunteer work, participation in online neighborhood forums, and trust in neighbors were good predictors of recycling, while trust in government was a key predictor of support for all three fossil-fuel reduction policies.
Natural Radioactivity of Intrusive-Metamorphic and Sedimentary Rocks of the Balkan Mountain Range (Serbia, Stara Planina)
Stara Planina (also known as the Balkan mountain range) is known for numerous occurrences and deposits of uranium and associated radionuclides. It is also famous for its geodiversity. The geologic framework is highly complex. The mountain is situated between the latitudes of 43° and 44° N and the longitudes from 22°16′ to 23°00′ E. Uranium exploration and radioactivity testing on Stara Planina began back in 1948. Uranium has also been mined in the zone of Kalna, within the Janja granite intrusive. The naturally radioactive geologic units of Stara Planina are presented in detail in this paper. The main sources of radioactivity on Stara Planina can be classified as: 1. Granitic endogenous—syngenetic–epigenetic deposits and occurrences; 2. Metamorphogenic—syngenetic; and 3. Sedimentary, including occurrences of uranium deposition and fluctuation caused by water in different types of sedimentary rocks formed in a continental setting, which could be classified under epigenetic types. The area of Stara Planina with increased radioactivity (higher than 200 cps), measured by airborne gamma spectrometry, is about 380 square kilometers. The highest values of measured radioactivity and uranium grade were obtained from a sample taken from the Mezdreja uranium mine tailing dump, where 226Ra measures 2600 ± 100 Bq/kg and the uranium grade is from 76.54 to 77.65 ppm U. The highest uranium (and lead) concentration, among all samples, is measured in graphitic schist with high concentrations of organic (graphitic) material from the Inovska Series—99.47 ppm U and 107.69 ppm Pb. Thorium related radioactivity is the highest in granite samples from the Janja granite in the vicinity of the Mezdreja granite mine and the Gabrovnica granite mine tailing dump, and it is the same—250 ± 10 Bq/kg for 232Th, while the thorium grade varies from 30.82 to 60.27 ppm Th. In gray siltstones with a small amount of organic material, the highest radioactivity is related to potassium—2080 ± 90 Bq/kg for 40K.