Energy
The Tortoise and the Glare
Plans to scrape hundreds of thousands of acres of the Mojave Desert for solar panel installations may endanger wildlife and are pitting environmentalists against each other.
Affordable And Efficient Communities for 2013
Just getting started here, so I hope you’ll give me time to set my voice and you will tune in to provide a thoughtful dialogue. Like many of you, I am an urban planner with a distinguished background. My current emphasis is on new community development that will begin to emerge in the United States by 2013. Over the past two years, I was lucky enough to have a patron who sent me all over the world to see and record the best places, and meet with experts in energy efficiency, health care delivery, workplace transformation, learning and transportation demand reduction.
Coal Ash Dumps Unregulated, Pose Health Risks
The catastrophic spill of coal ash sludge in Tennessee is a wake-up call: there are more than 1,300 such dumps across the U.S., and, as a result of coal industry lobbying, no federal regulations for safe storage, reuse or disposal of the waste.
Getting Off Oil Without the 'C' Word
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."
From a Zombie Economy to a New Economy
The stream of Washington bailouts is a doomed attempt to revive a 'zombie economy', argues James Howard Kunstler. He believes we need to start organizing new, local economies built around growing food, making things and transporting them by rail.
'Gold Rush' for Geothermal
Warren Buffett, Google and others are investing heavily in geothermal energy development, spurred on by state incentives for renewables and higher gas prices.
Energy Crisis Solved
Technology innovation – that’s all we need to solve the energy crisis! Unleash American ingenuity and we’ll be able to cope with higher energy costs. The Windmillmobile, should go a long way toward reducing petroleum consumption. It seems to work fine unless there is a strong tailwind. The engineers are still working on the sensor to fold down the windmill for garages and overpasses.
Cars a Rite of Passage No More?
That mainstay of adolescence -- achieving car ownership and going cruising -- may be on its way out.
Missouri Town Goes Off the Grid
Rock Port, Missouri, population 1300, has become the first community in the country with more wind power that it can use.
Natural Gas Boom Brings New Option to City Drivers
Officials in Fort Worth, Texas weigh regulations for natural gas compression stations arising from a boom in drilling shale for natural gas.
Yukon Ho! The New Rush North
It's Gold Rush days long since passed, Canada's Yukon Territory was until recently a wild, myth-bound place. But now oil and gas revenues are fueling new construction and population growth.
America's Dying Middle Class
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.
Feds Plan 'Energy Corridors' Through National Parks
The Department of Energy is proposing to construct massive "energy corridors", land designated solely for the purpose of energy conduction like oil, hydrogen and electricity.
Local Governments 'Heroes' of the Climate Crisis
If buildings are responsible for almost half of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, then our energy and building codes are incredibly important tools attaining energy and climate sanity.
Climate Change Changing Assumptions on Land Use, Energy
Critic John King reflects on how common assumptions of Bay Area residents about urban growth boundaries and protesting nuclear power are challenged by the growing problem of climate change and energy access.
People Mover
This article from Next American City looks at escalators -- the expensive, energy-intensive, and often under-used transportation mode.
Snow Forces City To Conserve
An avalanche decimates an Alaskan city's energy infrastructure, leading residents to craft creative ways to conserve energy and lower their utility bills.
The Promise of New Industrial Jobs
Bethlehem Steel left 25 years ago, but a new, mysterious energy company is brining a glimmer of hope to Lackawanna, New York. The proposed plant, to be built on Bethlehem's brownfields, would convert petroleum coke into synthetic gas.
Protests, Riots Go Global as Fuel Costs Soar
Protests both peaceful and violent are breaking out across Europe and Asia as people's livelihoods begin to suffer from soaring fuel costs, and some stores are running out of food as truck drivers go on strike.
Weird Energy Sources Debunked
One of the hosts of Mythbusters turns his eye on new ideas for energy sources, from grape juice to used tires.
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
