Energy

Friday Funny: Sustainability Buzzword Generator

Need a sustainable slogan to show your green cred? Look no further than Building Magazine's Sustainability Buzzword Generator.

January 23, 2009 - Building

NYT Pushes Hybrid Credits and Auto Scrapping

This editorial suggests three strategies to make the American auto fleet more efficient: renewing the hybrid tax credit program (many credits have been exhausted), pursuing a "cash for clunkers program", and increasing the gas tax to supplement CAFE.

January 22, 2009 - The New York Times

Giving Highways New Life

The author of this article offers a few ideas on how to better use our 46,000 miles of highway. From the integration of rail lines to the development of electricity distribution grids, the interstate has more potential than it seems.

January 22, 2009 - Metropolis Magazine

Alternative Energy Grid Vs. Locals and Enviros

PBS' NOW goes to California to look at new state requirements for renewable energy, and the battle over where the new infrastructure will go.

January 21, 2009 - NOW

Carbon Emitters Anonymous

Berkeley, California has launched a citywide program that offers support to residents who wish to reduce their carbon footprints. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, these support groups are "part social, part confessional and partly about accountability."

January 21, 2009 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Still Time to Fix Stimulus Bill, Says CNU

John Norquist presents CNUs recommendations for improving the American Recovery and Reinvestment Economic Recovery Bill, including more funding for transit and smarter road building.

January 20, 2009 - Congress for the New Urbanism

Miami's Bicycle Awakening

Miami and Miami-Dade County are working together to implement a robust network of bicycle infrastructure that in tandem with ongoing events like Bike Miami Days and County led Ciclovia events,will help residents and visitors get out of their cars.

January 20, 2009 - Miami Herald

Cape Cod Wind Farm Closer to Reality

The Department of the Interior has decided that a proposed wind farm to be built in the waters off Cape Cod poses 'no serious environmental threat.' Homeowners and boaters on the Cape, including Ted Kennedy, continue to fight it.

January 19, 2009 - The New York Times

Alternative Energy Businesses Growing

Even as businesses across the spectrum are failing, the small alternative energy companies are seeing increased investment and a growing market.

January 18, 2009 - The Wall St. Journal

Building (and Living) Off the Grid

When Borton and Welsh found 90 acres bordering a national forest near Whitehall, Montana, they parked a trailer, dug in, and began building Sage Mountain Center, a combination of cordwood and straw bale, powered off-grid by the sun and wind.

January 18, 2009 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

How Oil Shapes the Landscape

An exhibition in Houston organized by the Center for Land Use Interpretation looks at how the oil industry has transformed the landscape of Texas.

January 17, 2009 - The Blaffer Gallery

Cars Are Here To Stay, Transit Is Not The Answer

UC Davis Professor Daniel Sperling, a transportation expert and member of CA's ARB has co-written "Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability". In this radio interview, Sperling describes cleaner auto technologies but dismisses transit's role.

January 16, 2009 - NPR: 'Fresh Air'

New Highways 'A Catastrophic Choice'

Alex Steffen of WorldChanging looks at the Obama administration's moves towards funding more highways, the appointment of Ray LaHood, and argues that we can do much better.

January 16, 2009 - WorldChanging

Putting a Furnace Under the Economy

If we're looking for a way to kick-start a green economy, we could do worse than investing in American-made, high-efficiency furnaces, argues Paul Loeb.

January 15, 2009 - CommonDreams

Wind Turbine Bridge Stirs Imaginations

A proposed bridge going over the Columbia River in the Portland-Vancouver area may be able to power itself with wind turbines integrated right onto the design.

January 15, 2009 - OregonLive

Recycling Becomes an Economic Liability

Due to consumers cutting back, the global market for recyclables has collapsed and even begun to cost some cities' recycling programs.

January 15, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor

Can Brutalism Clash with Religious Exercise?

A Washington, D.C. church contends that its current facility, a historic Brutalist buildling, interferes with its theology and should be able to replace it with something more "welcoming" and fitting with "the scale of the community."

January 14, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor

Electric Car Race Heats Up

It's clear that both domestic and international auto companies are gearing up to manufacture all-electric (battery-powered) vehicles, though whether the market goes for them is another story with gas prices at historic lows.

January 14, 2009 - The New York Times

Exxon to Congress: Give Us A Carbon Tax, Please!

Exxon's CEO has joined Al Gore, Dr. James Hansen, and others on the forefront fighting climate change in requesting a carbon tax, though they make in clear it should be in lieu of cap & trade, the method favored by the Democrats.

January 12, 2009 - The Wall Street Journal

First 'Biofuels Corridor' in the U.S.

If you want to drive your biofuel car between Gary, Indiana to Mobile, Alabama, now you can. A collaboration of states with the Dept. of Energy has created a 886-mile corridor of biofueling stations stretching from Lake Michigan to the Mobile Bay.

January 10, 2009 - Clean Cities Now

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Senior Manager Operations, Urban Planning

New York City School Construction Authority

Building Inspector

Village of Glen Ellyn

Manager of Model Development

Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.