Environment

After an avalanche drastically cut the supply of electricity, residents the Alaskan capital of Juneau cut their power consumption by almost 40 percent in a few weeks. Now the city is gaining attention as a leader in energy conservation.

This article from Grist looks at the city of Phoenix as it teams with Arizona State University to shift the city's direction from endless sprawl to a smarter, more environmentally-conscious growth pattern.

The automaker has announced plans for a fully-electric vehicle by 2010, and says it wants to lead the industry towards zero-emission vehicles.

Light rail vehicles aren't as green one might think, and cities that really want to lower carbon emissions might want to take a harder look at new hybrid-electric buses, argues a recent column.

States are helping homeowners who want to have a more eco-friendly lifestyle by overturning homeowner association regulations that ban solar panels and wind turbines.

With growing numbers interested in urban agriculture, American Public Radio's Marketplace interviews one urban farmer in Pasadena, California.

This segment from NPR looks at plans for the carbon-neutral Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.

The city of Rock Port, Missouri, recently celebrated the fact that its four wind turbines produced more energy than the town needed, becoming the first community in America to be completely powered by wind.

While plenty of investors and homeowners are feeling the pain of the current real estate market, groups trying to protect land from development are welcoming the downturn.

A planned New Urbanist development in Northern California wants enable its eventual residents to live within their prescribed ecological footprint.

One country stands out in Europe in surpassing the greenhouse gas emission reductions required by the Kyoto Protocol - Sweden. While it used several environmental technologies to achieve those reductions, experts give credit to its carbon tax.

The developer of the Tejon Ranch agreed to a plan to put permanent conservation easements on almost 375 square miles of ranch lands and wilderness 60 miles north of Los Angeles, in exchange for rights to develop 10 percent of its land holdings.

Transit operators around the country are looking at ways to make taking public transportation even more environmentally friendly.

Builders and planners are gathering in Detroit to discuss funding options for brownfield redevelopment and learn from region's experience transforming these community eyesores.

Water shortages have hammered the Atlanta region. But despite the drought, one real estate developer is planning to build a huge water park.

With 70 percent of its waste already diverted from landfills, San Francisco continues to push forward with new laws and programs to increase recycling.

The City of Portland joins Davis, California, as the only other city to earn the League of American Bicyclists' Platinum rating.

Environmentalists say laws have yet to catch up with greener fuel alternatives for cars.

Cairo's first new green space in more than 100 years has opened -- on top of a 500-year old garbage dump.