Environment

Oslo Creates Ambitious 'Climate Budget'

Oslo sets ambitious goal for carbon emissions with a "Climate Budget." The budget is a sign of climate policies to come as the Paris climate agreement begins to take effect around the world.

October 17, 2016 - Next City

Leonardo DiCaprio

Why the Disconnect on Climate Change and Urban Density?

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is also a committed climate change activist. His documentary on the topic airs Oct. 30 on the National Geographic channel. At the U.N., he asked leaders to take bold action. Yet, as an Angeleno, he opposes increased density.

October 17, 2016 - Curbed LA

An image of a path through sand dunes to ocean in New Jersey

Calling for an End to Federal Support for Beach Nourishment

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, a researcher calls attention to the method behind the federal spending on billions of dollars of investment in unsustainable beaches.

October 15, 2016 - The New York Times

EPA Awards Grant To Monitor Wetlands Using Unmanned Aircraft System

Community and Regional Planning Associate Professor Zhenghong Tang received an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to explore the use of drones to monitor wetlands.

October 14, 2016 - University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Volcano

Friday Eye Candy: Watch as the Earth 'Breathes'

A new visualization from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History shows how the earth "breathes"—in the form of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and emissions.

October 14, 2016 - The Washington Post

Hurricane Matthew Brings Record Flooding in North Carolina

Hurricane Matthew seemed to have hit a glancing blow on the southeastern seaboard over the weekend, until the floodwaters, and the death tolls, started to rise.

October 13, 2016 - Vox

Grass Grift

L. A. company Turf Terminators promised low impact lawns in exchange for city rebates, but delivered shoddy work and hot rocks.

October 13, 2016 - Bloomberg

Chattahoochee River

'Vision 53' Plan Would Connect Atlanta to the Chattahoochee River

A river flows through Atlanta, but few of the city's residents have any access to it. A new vision plan produced by the advocacy group Chattahoochee Now aims to change that.

October 12, 2016 - WABE

Green

Building Industry Falling Short of the AIA's Carbon Reduction Goals

The American Institute of Architects gave a reality check regarding its ambitious and aggressive carbon reductions targets.

October 12, 2016 - Architect

Erskine Fire

Study: Forest Fires Have Doubled in the Western United States

Wildfires ravaged the western United States again this year, reflecting the new normal of climate change.

October 11, 2016 - The San Jose Mercury News

Flooding

Five Canadian Cities Already Facing Climate Change

The CBC produced an interactive feature about the dangers of climate change in Canada, focusing on five cities threatened by environmental factors like sea-level rise, flooding, and wildfires.

October 10, 2016 - CBC Radio

Electric Cars

Germany Pushing Europe to Ban the Internal Combustion Engine by 2030

Germany has approved legislation calling for the end of the end of internal combustion engine by 2030. Whether the rest of Europe follows Germany's lead is to be determined.

October 10, 2016 - Forbes

Solar Power

Las Vegas Solar Arrays and the Future of Power Utilities

Casinos are energy intensive and often located in areas with specific resource constraints and surpluses (i.e., Las Vegas), thus they offer a perfect case study for the future of solar energy.

October 9, 2016 - CityLab

Airport

Global Leaders Agree to Reduce and Offset Carbon Emissions from Plane Travel

The day after the number of signatories to the Paris Climate Accord met its threshold for implementation, the international community agreed to tackle growing emissions from aviation, which was not covered by the Paris agreement.

October 9, 2016 - The New York Times - Science

Ça c'est Paris

Paris Climate Accord Will Take Effect November 4

October 5 was an historic day, hailed President Obama, as nations responsible for emitting more than 55 percent of world carbon emissions have now signed the Paris climate agreement, the threshold needed for the accord to take effect in 30 days.

October 8, 2016 - Reuters

Meadow Wetlands

California Legislation Recognizes Natural Environments as Water Infrastructure

AB 2480, recently signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown takes a small but important step toward making better use of natural systems for water management infrastructure.

October 7, 2016 - American Rivers

Passaic River Hydropower

Hydropower Isn't Totally Carbon-Free

Hydroelectric generation itself doesn’t produce greenhouse gases, but it does rely on the creation of reservoirs that release methane into the air.

October 7, 2016 - Crosscut

Electricity Pylon

Why Are Utilities So Ugly?

A landscape architect in Tucson shares a professional lament: intrusive, ugly utilities.

October 6, 2016 - ASLA's The Field

Biomass

The Carbon Neutral Controversy Surrounding Biomass

A controversial biomass amendment added to the Senate's energy bill would make the burning of wood for energy purposes a renewable source of energy. While the proposal has broad, bipartisan Congressional support, many groups oppose it.

October 6, 2016 - The New York Times

San Francisco

San Francisco's Mission Bay Provides a Case Study for Sea-Level Rise

The San Francisco Chronicle's John King continues his ongoing, in-depth coverage of sea-level rise and its potential impacts on local and regional concerns in the San Francisco Bay Area.

October 4, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

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.

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

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.