Residents in southern Maryland have long felt like they live in an 'energy sacrifice zone.' They already have a nuclear power plant and now are trying to stop a liquid natural gas port.

Millions of Americans are applauding President Obama for naming five new National Monuments.

These lovingly photographed, colourful rowhouses are what's left after all the neigbouring ones have been demolished.

Thanks to an exception for "electric or non-fossil-fuel-burning vehicles". Maybe all other states could do that so that other EV makers don't have to face what Tesla is facing?

A group of scientists argues our current climate change models get it wrong. Tracking "Carbon" only tells half the story.

Green roofs, living walls, vertical farms are all part of a new living architecture.

Designboom shows another example of how green roofs are changing architecture.

It was designed to stay cool without air conditioning, and the green roof was part of the strategy.

Strange things happen when roofs touch the ground.

It also pushes the limit of what we mean by historic preservation.

Jean-Philippe Pargade designs a school where the green roof IS the building, defining its whole look and feel

We are going to need a new term that binds them all together. A lecture in 20 slides.

"Less is more" is so over; These days the mantra is "too much is never enough."

Hawaiian engineers think that it can address many of the world's problems. Are they too ambitious?

And I am going to be positive, upbeat and happy about it, really.

An architectural tradition dating to the 9th century, Iceland's turf houses are an enduring inspiration.

Located in Rotterdam, this Concept House features a huge rooftop garden, and uses natural heating and cooling techniques to keep maintenance costs down.

Really, this trend should be nipped in the bud.

It looks a lot better than the usual kind, cleans the air and absorbs noise.

This reconstruction scheme in China encourages resilience and self-sufficiency.

A tropical skyscraper by WOHA and Patricia Urquiola is wrapped in a vine-covered sunscreen.

But really, they should be dealing with the source of the problem.

A traditional dwelling has been preserved by renovating it to include a new office, library, kitchen and guest room.

Diverging from the Sprinter van conversion trend, this man revamped an old life-saving vehicle into his own tiny home.

Blouin Tardif Architectes do a beautiful adaptive reuse and addition in Montreal.

It turns out that helping mining regions move on is just good politics.

School strikes, non-violent direct action, office sit-ins. It feels like something might be building.

New wind and solar will be cheaper than 96% of all existing coal by 2030.

The digital currency is in its death throes.

Pioneers are already making inroads into the market. But once economies of scale kick in...

The covering-yourself-with-blankets movement isn't nearly as cuddly as it seems.

It fosters connection and community, boosts happiness... and results in delicious baked goods.

Finally, people are beginning to take this issue seriously.

But some people are beginning to take the issue seriously. Anthony Pak writes a good article about it for Canadian Architect.

A growing number of environmentalists are re-envisioning 'disaster relief' as something that can provide hope for the future, not just a hot meal and somewhere to sleep. Their tool of choice? Permaculture.

Growing up in California, I was never really scared of earthquakes -- they happened frequently and most caused little, if any,

photo: J. Novak Food Freedom recently reported that Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, peasant farmer leader of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on

Living some 6,000 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that the oil spill often seems like an abstraction to me. A big, big abstraction, but still.

Kate Stohr, the co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, dropped me a note suggesting that I have a look at their Year in Review of their work in Haiti. I did, and couldn't help but come to the conclusion that it was really boring.. I mean really,

The shocking photo above is of gigantic piles of human feces left in the open air at a dump in Haiti. While some in the "developed world" (I always hated that term), may turn their noses up when we recommend composting toilets

Some time ago I posted on the efforts of Joe Jenkins and GiveLove.org to promote humanure composting toilets in Haiti. But this was nothing new. In fact, one of the non-profit partners behind that

The thin layer of topsoil that covers much of the earth's land surface is the foundation of civilization. As long as soil erosion on cropland does not exceed new soil formation, all is well. But once it does,

Haitian schools connect to the internet for the first time, powered by the sun.

The update to the "Red List" illustrates the worldwide crises facing many species around the globe in the face of habitat loss and degradation.

This company proves that plastic waste can be a valuable resource.

Once one of the great mysteries of the natural world, the bluefin tuna's migration pattern has finally been elucidated by the workings of an international team of scientists as part of the global 10-year Census of Marine Life. To reach their

In a belated attempt to (finally) stem the growing tide of aggressive overfishing, the U.S. is calling on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to enact a 3-5 year ban on bluefin tuna

On land, slugs are far from nature's most beautiful creatures--but underwater, the family of shell-less creatures known as nudibranchs come in bright neons, glowing pastels, and vibrant primary colors. The 3,000 different kinds of nudibranchs get their

Slugs as we know them aren't the most colorful land-based creatures, but the shell-less mollusk known as nudibranchs (meaning "naked gills"), or sea slugs, are the complete opposite: The more than 3,000 different members

In Haida Gwaii the trees are so big that you could live in them.