environment

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A New Perspective on Plant Pests

By Darrin Nordahl / On July 16th, 2013
Author Darrin Nordahl's food blog Today is...Fava Beans highlights a different food everyday along with a creative way to easily add it to our everyday diet. Today's food changed the way I think about food, nutrition, and the environment. It is my epiphany food. And it is a pernicious, detestable weed. Today is purslane. Purslane (also known as pigweed) is a succulent that has naturalized in almost every garden in America.
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Rising Temperatures Hurt Current Energy Systems

By Admin / On July 9th, 2013
Sarah LeRoy of the Southwest Climate Change Network weighs in on the rising temperatures and their impact on current energy systems.  Climate change could substantially impact the energy system in the Southwest through less efficient power generation, reduced electricity distribution, and threats to energy infrastructure—all while peak energy demands increase.
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When will America, world make sustainability a priority?

By John Dernbach / On July 19th, 2012
Twenty years ago, I took a week off from my job at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources and attended the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development as a private citizen. At this conference, also known as the Earth Summit, nations of the world, including the United States, endorsed a nonbinding plan for a new form of development: environmentally sustainable development. The big question then was what sustainable development means.
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It Is a Matter of Scale or What is the Connection between Brain Size and Sprawl

By Admin / On September 26th, 2011
Scale is fundamental to urban design. If you get it right, and achieve a well-proportioned space between buildings, you have a sound basis to build upon. Even if the architecture is far from perfect, the public realm you create can be decent and comfortable. If you get the scale wrong and your master plan is built, even the most lustrous architecture won’t remediate the failure of space-making; people might still use it for utilitarian reasons (think the parking lot of a Wal-Mart), but will not enjoy it. Getting the urban scale right has been the mantra of planners and architects for ages.
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Reduced or Not, the Mortgage Interest Deduction Can Help Fix Sprawl

By Galina Tachieva / On September 19th, 2011
As of late, the mortgage interest deduction (MID), a tax break many Americans have become accustomed to, has become the focus of much debate and controversy. It first became the subject of heated discussion when President Obama’s debt commission suggested its reduction. They argued that in addition to reducing deficits, such reform could also help slow the growth of sprawl.

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