Environment

A veteran gas producer claims that the U.S. may be 'drowning in natural gas'. Interestingly, the gas has always been there - it's technology advancements that make the Marcellus shale deposits from N.Y. to W.V. and accessible.

The rise of sea levels is an inevitable fact. This week, designers, planners, and engineers from the Netherlands and U.S. met to strategize on how the Bay area should deal with it.

This report from NPR looks at Houston's growth pattern, and the evolution of a city that at once provides a high quality of life but also creates a big environmental impact.

Portland is well-known for many things in the urban planning community. Now, it's being recognized as a leader in stormwater management.

Matsys, an experimental architecture firm, used the book Dune as a starting point for its design of a terraced, sunken city form focused around preserving water.

This year, the Environmental Protection Agency will expand its WaterSense program to label newly built homes which are 20 percent more water-efficient than standard homes. The label's landscaping clause is causing a stir among grass enthusiasts.

M.I.T.'s Senseable City Laboratory launched a project to track the journey of garbage and recyclables, using small electronic sensors, in Seattle and New York City, in part to highlight the high cost of waste to the environment and cities.

Dusty "red snow" in the Rockies, plunging water levels in Lake Mead and California's forest fires are all signs that the West is drying up, writes Chip Ward.

Witold Rybczynski bemoans the green movement's emphasis on sustainability measure that treat environmental action as a process of accessorizing rather than changing lifestyles.

This piece from the Guardian looks at a handful of projects and ideas that are emphasizing the importance of sustainable metropolitan areas in an age of diminishing resources and environmental devastation.

The islands of Hawaii are proving to be a laboratory for renewable energy projects, playing host to a variety of pilot projects that could end up paving the way for the rest of the country's transition to an energy menu with more renewable options.

Achieving sustainability can take one of two paths, according to Richard Carson: centralized or decentralized policy. Choosing one will be crucial.

A review of GREEN METROPOLIS: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen, expanding on his groundbreaking essay in the New Yorker in 2004 on why New York is the greenest city around.

Major environmental groups hope this year's park closures, caused by the California budget crisis, will inspire support for parks at the ballot box next year.

Warren Karlenzig looks for the best examples of sustainable developments in Asia to serve as examples for the growing region.

Monitoring how much water is diverted from rivers and pumped from wells is notoriously difficult. But now, researchers have developed a new way to track usage.

This investigation from The New York Times examines water pollution records from across the country and finds more than half a million violations that are causing deadly pollution to local water resources.

Tufts urban planning professor Justin Hollander appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to answer questions about his new book, Polluted & Dangerous: America's Worst Abandoned Properties and What Can Be Done About Them.