AlterNet

The massive flood of coal ash sludge in Tennessee may be the most serious environmental disaster in the nation's history and promises to be a flashpoint for opponents of coal power. [Includes slideshow of spill damage].

Las Vegas has always epitomized American excess. But with its water supply running out and its constant illumination warming the planet, it also represents the extent of our economic and ecological unsustainability.

Amory Lovins, co-founder and chairman of Rocky Mountain Institute, believes that governments and the private sector need to identify and remove barriers to energy efficiency, rather than simply promoting "conservation."

The way out of the foreclosure crisis may not be as difficult or as complex as it has been made out to be, argues Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Maude Barlow, Chair of the Board of Food and Water Watch lay out key priorities for an Obama Administration in terms of transportation and water policy.

Solar energy initiatives are taking off all across the country, despite some reservations over the impacts of large-scale installations.

David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance wonders if the economic crisis will see alternative energy fall off the political agenda, or if the next president will recognize the economic benefits of renewable energy investments.

Joseph Nocera reports on a proposal to rescue homeowners that lets people live in their homes, and doesn't require any government money.

The wetlands and barrier islands of Louisiana -- nature's way of absorbing tidal surges during tropical storms -- are almost gone. We may not be able to restore them.

Los Angelenos have long forgotten that they live in a desert, but the coming drought will mean water consumption patterns will need to change on a massive scale writes Scott Thill.

Whether through community gardening or high-tech "vertical farms" interest is growing in urban agriculture.

Humanity has over-engineered the world's hydrology through dam-building, writes Rachel Olivieri.

Most of the news coverage concerning the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has failed to note the history: Until 1968, FNMA had always been nationalized.

Decades of massive hydrologic engineering have altered California's ecology out of equilibrium and will be unable to support present demands, warns Rachel Olivieri.

The enormous traffic in imported goods is generating a huge amount of disease-causing pollution in and around ports, and along trade routes.

With America facing a $1.6 trillion infrastructure deficit, Joanna Guldi of the Commonweal Institute laments for the era the "infrastructure state."

Homeowner Associations have traditionally frowned on eco-friendly additions such as clotheslines. Recent legal challenges may change the rules.

We shouldn't be blaming biofuel production for rising food prices and environmental degradation while ignoring the immense harm of industrial meat production, writes Frances Cerra Whittelsey.

Rolling Stone pundit Matt Taibbi writes that the media are missing the real story: that millions of Americans are financially drowning under home heating costs, gas prices and debt, and the middle class is disappearing.

A proposal to annually burn tens of millions of car tires to produce electricity at a facility in Erie, Pennsylvania is raising concerns among environmentalists and regional residents over mercury and other emissions.