Myron Orfield

Like Georgia state legislator Julian Bond, Minnesota Representative Myron Orfield has an impact that extends far beyond his state’s boundaries. As a national authority on urban sprawl, he advocates what he calls "metropolitics," a regional approach that joins communities together in common interests. Orfield, a member of his state’s unique Democratic – Farmer – Labor Party, is now engaged in a run for Minnesota’s State Senate. He directs the Metropolitan Area Research program, serves on sprawl-related committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Planning Association, and is working on his second book about urban-suburban problems for the Brookings Institution Press.

Burning Biomass

Are We Overlooking Some of the World’s Sustainable Energy Fuels? Ever since humans first huddled around a fire for warmth, people have burned logs, straw, wood and animal waste—otherwise known as biomass—to create energy. Indeed, throughout most of history, these crude forms of fuel answered the world’s energy needs. Only after the industrial age matured […]

Meeting in the Middle

Finding Common Ground on Housing and the Environment Thanks to colleagues at the Coalition for a Livable Future, Tasha Harmon, a housing advocate in Portland, Oregon, doesn’t worry so much about missing regional planning meetings anymore. “If Mike Houck from Portland Audubon is there and housing comes up, he’s as likely as anyone to speak […]

Take Back the Night

Light Pollution is a Threat to Wildlife, Safety and the Starry Sky After hours of driving south in the pitch-black darkness of the Nevada desert, a dome of hazy gold suddenly appears on the horizon. Soon, a road sign confirms the obvious: Las Vegas 30 miles. Looking skyward, you notice that the Big Dipper is […]

White Gold

The Social and Ecological Consequences of High-Intensity Shrimp Farming Lider G?ngora knows this part of the Pacific like the back of his hand. The founder of the environmental organization Fundaci?n de Defensa Ecologica (FUNDECOL) stands stoically at the back of the boat, gripping the handle of the 75-horsepower Yamaha outboard motor and wiping salt spray […]

Sprawling America

The process by which well-defined towns and cities get transformed into corridors of strip malls and fast-food outlets, linked by smog-choked highways, now has a name: urban sprawl. Since World War II, American cities have been developing as low-density, land-intensive settlements. Many-tentacled Gothams like Los Angeles and Washington stretch endlessly, crosshatched with a myriad of […]

Growing Pains/Malling America

Louden County, Virginia, the third-fastest-growing county in the country, could easily become the outward-most link in the Washington, D.C. "edge city" corridor. The commute to the nation’s capitol is only an hour and a half, land is cheap.

Political Animals The Fight to Save the ESA

Wildlife protection is headed for a showdown, but it may not come in the current Congress. The main players are Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) and Representative George Miller (D-CA); both have sponsored bills which, if passed, would dramatically change the face of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Lost Eden

A Marine Ecologist’s Search For Meaning In An Oil Spill

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