Environment
Towns Transitioning To Peak Oil Future
The Transition Town movement has spread to 150 towns in 14 countries. David Bollier of On The Commons takes a look at how these towns are making the shift towards locally-produced food and reduction in energy use.
EPA OKs California's Plan to Regulate Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency has reversed a decision by the Bush Administration that will allow California to create its own set of vehicle emissions standards.
Climate Change's Barometer Has No Climate Change Plan
The Florida Keys are likely the most vulnerable places to sea-level rise in America. Despite this danger, officials there have set no plans for counteracting or dealing with climate change.
Land Use Clash Involves "Every Piece of Law You Can Think Of"
An amusement ride business in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is the center of controversy involving public space, environmental protection, and noise pollution.
Mississippi River Dams Doom Gulf Marshes
Marsh loss in the Gulf region is being exacerbated beyond repair by dams along the Mississippi River, according to a recent study.
Rainwater Collection Rules Evolving in the West
Two new laws in Colorado make legal the formerly prohibited act of collecting rainwater. Other states aren't so lenient.
Squatters to Gain Legal Land Rights in the Amazon
The Brazilian government has just approved a measure that would grants legal land rights to squatters in the Amazon.
Good Parks Good for Urban Economies
Anne Schwartz compiles recent studies on the economic value of parks, describing how an investment in parks by the city will result in a healthier urban economy.
Bicycle Use Surpasses Car Use in Amsterdam
According to the latest numbers out of Amsterdam, residents are for the first time using bicycles for transport more often than they use their cars.
Air in Hundreds of Neighborhoods Carries Elevated Risk of Cancer
Residents in 600 American neighborhoods are breathing air with levels of pollution that put them at an elevated risk of developing cancer.
Gasping for Air in America
Next American City's Hamida Kinge reviews the "State of the Air" report from the American Lung Association and finds dire news for the majority of Americans.
Rep. Blumenauer Touts Cap and Trade
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer expresses his support for the American Clean Energy and Security Act as the House of Representatives prepares for a vote.
Obama's Weatherization Program in Action
Van Jones tours a weatherization project in D.C., part of the $5 billion the Obama Administration is putting into weatherization projects to cut energy costs. (VIDEO)
New Report: Use Cap & Trade Revenue To Invest In Smart Growth
Cap and trade is the topic du jour in climate change circles. A new report from CCAP makes the economic case for using those revenues to promote smart growth that reduces transportation emissions though VMT reductions.
Climate Change is Local, Says Chu
U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said at the Asia Society Washington, D.C. center awards dinner that "climate change is the greatest challenge facing science."
Kunstler Says "Too Late" For High-Speed Rail
Returning from CNU, James Howard Kunstler reacts to a NY Times article about California's high-speed rail plans, and reflects on New Urbanism's shift away from traditional-neighborhood developments and into preparing for the 'long emergency'.
City Living Is Greener
Cities produce more CO2 per acre, but much less per person than other types of living, according to a new study by The Center for Neighborhood Technology.
Closing the Loop on Energy Use
Architect Michael Palwyn is designing sustainable architecture that combines solar power and seawater into an ultra-efficient loop of resource conservation.
Sustainable Sites Initiative: A New Stand-alone Rating System
The National Building Museum recently held a session on Sustainable Sites Initiative, which outlines voluntary guidelines for sustainable practices.
Masterplanning the Architecture of the Near Future
As the population rises, underused and empty spaces are going to fill in. How well the transition works depends on shifts in demographics and infrastructure, as well as architecture. A studio of UCLA architecture students were asked to plot that transition. But before they could be architects, they had to be planners.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
