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.

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.

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.
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.

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

'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why Are Utilities So Ugly?
A landscape architect in Tucson shares a professional lament: intrusive, ugly utilities.

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.

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.
Pagination
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.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont