Energy
Taking the Gloom Out of Peak Oil
The latest issue of Yes! Magazine focuses on local resilience, and how preparing for a Peak Oil era -- through such efforts as the Transition Town movement -- can be a positive force for community building.
Stealth Solar is Slowly Transforming Downtown Portland
In Portland, two examples of how stealthy implementation of solar-powered technology is changing the rhythm of daily life.
Friday Funny: Environmental Disaster Looms as Tanker Docks Safely
The satirical newspaper The Onion reports on how the safe transfer of millions of barrels of oil into the energy infrastructure of the United States will result in environmental calamity.
Economic Fallout of Gulf Disaster Could Top $200 Billion
While the scale and extent of the oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico are still unknown, the potential damage could mean a severe blow to the Gulf's $234 billion economy.
Why Peak Oil Will Bring us Closer
In this excerpt from his new book "Eaarth", Bill McKibben discusses how such efforts as the Transition movement and farmer's markets are tapping into our need for neighbors.
Green Dream Put to the Test
Boulder Colorado has tried peer pressure, free weatherization services, and intense publicity, but so far, voluntary efforts to increase energy efficiency have yielded mediocre results.
Cities Prepare for Electric Cars
San Francisco, Portland, and San Diego lead the charge to ensure everything from power grids to building codes are prepared for arrival of electric cars.
Government Plans Vertical Garden on Portland Skyscraper
As part of a $133 million renovation of a federal building in Portland, the Government Services Administration plans to add 200-foot high "vegetated fins" that will carpet the building with plants and - hopefully - energy savings.
Portland Learning from Los Angeles
An interdisciplinary team of urban designers, architects, and analysts have proposed a neo-retro-futurist scenario for making downtown Portland nearly car-free by 2050.
Win-Win Transportation Emission Reduction Strategies: Good News for Copenhagen
Here is good news for anybody looking for smart ways to reduce climate change. "Win-Win" transportation emission reduction strategies can provide substantial energy conservation and emission reductions in ways that also help achieve economic and social objectives.
Kunstler: Rebuild the Passenger Rail System
In his forward to James McCommons' new book, Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service, James Howard Kunstler lays out the case for investing in a revival of passenger rail.
CA Cities Switching to LED Lighting
Following the success of programs in L.A. and San Francisco, more cities in California are making the switch to LED lights to save on energy costs and provide more sustainable street lighting.
Food and Urban Form
Carolyn Steel gives a talk inspired by her new book "Hungry Cities," about the history of feeding urban areas, and the ways in which food might reach increasingly urban populations in the future.
A Low Cost Way to Learn About the Future of China
During my first week in China, I have spoken to dozens of people and toured all over Beijing. I even have a map listing the locations of all of the McDonalds in Beijing. Spatial theorists need to write down a model to explain how a uniform distribution of McDonalds is what we observe. While I am quite happy to be here, this is not a low cost trip. The flight over was literally a pain in the neck. I'm in trouble with my wife
How Much Green for the 'Green'?
As attention to energy efficiency and climate change continue to pervade the thinking and planning of the future transportation system, we are increasingly challenged to make very real decisions about the prudence of various investments. The current context for decision-making offers perhaps the greatest uncertainty regarding the future witnessed in the lifetimes of people in the planning profession today.
The "Greenest" Consumers
Consumers in India, Brazil, and China scored the highest (and those in the U.S. the lowest) in a survey conducted by National Geographic and Globescan for green behavior.
Making Cities Net Producers of Energy
Professor David Godschalk, City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill, discussed the need to initiate 'positive development' strategies in cities during a National Building Museum symposium.
A Whole New World
Sara Robinson of the Campaign for America's Future outlines in the first of a series of articles why we simply won't be able to "return to normal."
Predicting the Future of U.S. Suburbs
No drastic changes will occur in American suburbs over the next quarter century, Columbia University professor contends.
A Major Step Toward An Ambitious Energy Goal
The City of Austin is set to take in a record amount of solar power to advance towards a goal of deriving 30% of local energy from renewable sources by 2020.
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.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
