Communities across the country are trying to reuse contaminated brownfields as sites for the production of clean energy.
"Among the successfully completed brown-to-green projects are a wind farm at the former Bethlehem Steel Mill in Lackawanna, New York; a concentrating solar photovoltaic array on the tailings pile of a former molybdenum mine in Questa, New Mexico; solar panels powering the cleanup systems at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Superfund site in northern California; and the U.S. Army's largest solar array atop a former landfill in Fort Carson, Colorado.
'It's an untapped opportunity to not just deliver cleanup to some of these contaminated or previously contaminated sites, but to recycle our industrial legacy in making progress toward a cleaner energy future,' said Chase Huntley, a policy advisor on energy and climate change for the nonprofit Wilderness Society."
Sites like Philadelphia's Navy Yard are being reused to host small-scale solar power plants and other energy producing uses.
FULL STORY: Brown to Green: A New Use For Blighted Industrial Sites
A New Texas Neighborhood is Powered by Geothermal Energy
The 7,500-home development claims to be Austin’s ‘first zero energy planned community.’
SEPTA Budget Slashes Service by 45 Percent
The Philadelphia-area transit agency is legally tasked with maintaining a balanced budget. Officials hope the state will come to the rescue with additional funding.
Philadelphia Swaps Car Lanes for Bikeways in Unanimous Vote
The project will transform one of the handful of streets responsible for 80% of the city’s major crashes.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.
Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.
Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.
Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
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