Energy

California Wildfire

PG&E Promises to Keep the Lights on After Declaring Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Pacific Gas and Electric has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of "actual and potential" liability.

January 29, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Capitol Hill

Carbon Tax-and-Dividend Bill to Be Reintroduced

Two members of Congress, a Democrat and a Republican, both from Florida, will reintroduce their bill to put a tax on carbon emissions and return the revenue to the people in the form of a dividend.

January 29, 2019 - Washington Examiner

Sierra Nevada Drought

U.S. Appeals Court: Climate Crisis Justifies California Clean Fuels Rule

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which requires fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by at least 10 percent by 2020, has been opposed by corn ethanol producers and the oil industry since its inception in 2011.

January 28, 2019 - Transport Topics

Texas

Draft Climate Action Plan Aims for Carbon Neutrality in San Antonio

The city of San Antonio is working on a plan to reduce its reliance on carbon-emitting fuels.

January 28, 2019 - San Antonio Express-News

Desalination

Desalination Plants Produce More Brine Than Fresh Water

The plants provide much-needed fresh water, but the environmental costs are immense.

January 22, 2019 - National Geographic

Solar Installation

'Green Zones' an Immediate Success in Minneapolis

After years of planning and development, two Green Zones in Minneapolis are attracting desired investments and paving the way for more success.

January 22, 2019 - Energy News Network

Carbon Tax

Progressive Carbon Pricing Policy Should Address Social Equity

Putting a price on carbon emissions is widely viewed as an effective tool to reduce emissions. It can also be applied to help those who stand to lose the most from climate change, thus enabling a socially just transition to a low carbon economy.

January 15, 2019 - World Resources Institute

Northern California Wilidfires

California's Largest Utility Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

PG&E announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, facing $30 billion in liability after two years of catastrophic wildfires in the state of California.

January 15, 2019 - The Mercury News

Jiujiang power plant

U.S. Carbon Emissions Increased Last Year After a Three-Year Decline

The sobering news comes from the Rhodium Group, a research firm that tracks CO2 emissions. The preliminary estimate is the third in two months to show an increase in 2018, attributing it to an improved economy and Trump's regulation rollbacks.

January 10, 2019 - The Washington Post

Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Tops California in Emission Reductions

California and Massachusetts use the same name for climate change legislation, Global Warming Solutions Act, and set the same target date for reductions, 2020. Both achieved their targets 2016, but the Bay State had a tougher goal to meet.

January 8, 2019 - WBUR

Texas Wind Power

Texas Ideal for Solar and Wind Energy

If coal use phases out in Texas, renewable energy could very likely pick up the slack.

January 8, 2019 - Houston Chronicle

Tax

Fighting Climate Change With an Income Tax

There's been a lot of talk about the Green New Deal, but not that much is known about it. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is promoting it, explained the program on 60 Minutes on January 6.

January 7, 2019 - Politico

Global warming and pollution

EPA Targets Co-Benefits in Rulemaking—Public Health to Suffer

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a critical change in the cost-benefit analysis used in the mercury rule that applies to coal-fired power plants. By eliminating the principle of co-benefits, public health impacts would be severe.

January 3, 2019 - The Washington Post

Macron Protest

Learning the Wrong Lessons From France's Yellow Vest Movement

The widespread Yellow Vests protests, which initially involved hundreds of thousands of protestors in November, are wrongly being interpreted as a movement against carbon taxes and climate action, rather than a revolt against social inequities.

January 3, 2019 - World Resources Institute

pallets of green oil barrels stacked

U.S. Becomes Net Oil Exporter, If Only Briefly

Oil independence, a goal set by President Nixon in the depth of the 1973 energy embargo, was achieved in the last week of November thanks to a fluke in record keeping as well as an "unprecedented boom in American oil production."

December 27, 2018 - Bloomberg News

Environmental Justice

The Environmental and Public Health Toll of the Trump Administration

A bombshell series of stories details the environmental and health costs of many fo the Trump administration's industry friendly regulatory decisions.

December 27, 2018 - The New York Times

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Most Popular Planning Articles of 2018

We crunched the numbers on all the features, blog posts, and news articles we published in 2018 to figure out which made the biggest splash with readers.

December 27, 2018 - James Brasuell

Protected Bike Lane

British Columbia's Climate Plan Bans Sales of Gas and Diesel Passenger Vehicles by 2040

Ten years ago, British Columbia launched North America's first carbon tax. This month, Premier John Horgan unveiled the long awaited climate plan, CleanBC, that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 2007 levels by 2030.

December 26, 2018 - Vancouver Sun

Solar and Wind Energy

Op-Ed: Cities Leading the Charge to 100 Percent Clean Energy

Four mayors hammer home the point that moving to 100 percent clean energy on the municipal level is environmentally, economically, and politically desirable.

December 26, 2018 - Next City

Solar Houses

District of Columbia to Adopt the Nation's Strongest Renewable Energy Target

Move over, Hawaii and California, with your ambitious goals of going to 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2045. The District's city council passed legislation on Tuesday that sets 2032 as the target to reach 100 percent renewable.

December 23, 2018 - Huffpost

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.