Environment
A marathon negotiation forged the compromises necessary for the New Urban Agenda to be adopted next month at the Habitat III summit in Quito, Ecuador.
Citiscope
The federal judge ruled against a challenge that would have halted construction on the $3.8 billion pipeline project connecting North Dakota to Illinois.
Associated Press via ABC News
The reservoir on the Colorado located above the Grand Canyon is dropping fast. A new study proposes a contingency plan to reduce the risk of catastrophe.
Arizona Daily Star
Joe Mathews of Zócalo Public Square views with a great deal of skepticism the urban growth boundaries the voters of Ventura County adjacent to Los Angeles County have enacted since 1995 due to the lack of infill. Another measure is on the ballot.
San Francisco Chronicle
A median-income family in the L.A. metro area spends 73 percent of their income on housing and transportation alone. L.A. Metro explains why and how they're taking huge steps to get affordable housing on land they own—where it will do the most good.
Shelterforce/Rooflines
The Houston Chronicle continues a series of feature articles about the persistent flooding of the region. The latest installment examines the tenuous position of the Addicks and Barker dams.
Houston Chronicle
An initiative to prohibit fracking within 2,500 feet of an occupied building and another that would have allowed local governments to ban fracking will no longer be on the ballot in Colorado.
Grist
California's new rigorous renewable portfolio standard of 50 percent by 2030 will support a renewable energy source that serves the dual purpose of reducing forest fire hazards.
Planetizen
It has been a good year for environmentalists, but it hasn't come easily, as seen in the much-celebrated but delayed passage of SB 32 that continues the landmark emissions reductions first set in 2006. Joe Mathews explains the transitions underway.
Zocalo Public Square
A review of the current research into the effectiveness of green streets and green infrastructure finds gaps in our understanding of what works, and where.
Green Infrastructure
An earlier announcement awarded almost $400 million to transit agencies, but left a larger chunk of these funds still unsettled. On Wednesday, leaders agreed on a $900 million expenditure plan to cut emissions and address social concerns.
Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. (California)
It's getting a lot cheaper to install solar power, and a lot easier to imagine a solar-powered future.
Scientific American
As difficult as it was for the legislature to pass SB 32 on Aug. 24, reducing emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 will prove far more challenging. Brad Plumer, senior editor of Vox, explains the bill and what it will take to meet the goal.
Vox
We should have seen the historic flooding in the Florida Parishes region of Louisiana coming—both in preparation and in response—says a pair of recent articles.
The Conversation
Comparisons to Wounded Knee have been common as a growing number of Native Americans are gathering in North Dakota to protest the construction of a new crude oil pipeline.
Los Angeles Times
Some good news from a state that has seen far too much bad news this year: local officials report that the trees of New Orleans are making a surprisingly strong comeback after devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans Advocate
With a 32 percent increase in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, it is no surprise that emissions are increasing as well, particularly sulfur dioxide. However, the increase was dwarfed by decreases from the power sector.
The Allegheny Front
Created so people could "experience nature in the midst of crowds," New York's Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge embodies the characteristics of all modern national parks: abundant, welcoming, and threatened.
Grist
It only takes two minutes and 55 seconds to catch up on the biggest news stories from the week in planning.
Planetizen
Zillow has released research on how many of the nation's homes may be underwater (literally) by the year 2100. Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Louisiana are at the highest risk.
Zillow
