West Virginia-based SkyTruth is culling satellite and aerial images to blow the whistle on unreported damage to the environment.
"Since 2001, West Virginia-based SkyTruth has been compiling published satellite and aerial images, then tasking computers and citizen volunteers to sort them to uncover potential environmental damage," according to an article by Rob Wile.
SkyTruth's big finds include revealing the true scope of the BP oil spill in 2010 as well as a Canadian mine in 2014 that spewed 1.3 billion gallons of toxic waste into the environment.
Wile goes on to detail SkyTruth's current project—the FrackFinder project, which is "plotting fracking activity across Pennsylvania and Ohio to better allow researchers to pinpoint where fracking is occurring." That effort uses publicly available satellite images from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Another current project is tracking the disappearance of Louisiana's land mass.
FULL STORY: A small group from West Virginia is running the most important whistleblowing shop you’ve never heard of

Amtrak Ramping Up Infrastructure Projects
Thanks to federal funding from the 2021 infrastructure act, the agency plans to triple its investment in infrastructure improvements and new routes in the next two years.

Ending Downtown San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’
A new public space project offers an ambitious vision—so why is the city implementing it at such a small scale?

Proposal Would Transform L.A.’s ‘Freeway to Nowhere’ Into Park, Housing
A never-completed freeway segment could see new life as a mixed-use development with housing, commercial space, and one of the county’s largest parks.

Former Brooklyn Sugar Refinery Reopens as All-Electric Office Tower
A historic building was reimagined as a 15-story office tower powered by renewable energy.

NHTSA: Traffic Fatalities Decline for Fifth Straight Quarter
Traffic deaths were 3.3 percent lower in the first half of 2023 than the same period last year, but not all states saw the same results.

LA Rail Project Testing Electric Excavator
The battery-powered excavator could replace diesel-powered machinery to reduce construction emissions and noise.
Urban3
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Washington University
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
Lassen County Planning and Building Services
City of San Carlos
National Capital Planning Commission
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.