Another Look Into the ‘Heart’ of America
First, a geographic perspective. Then, the country's struggle to recognize ways in which it is changing—and might be improving.
Environment & Sustainability
37 posts
UW student project aims to spur climate change conversations
New website features local voices to help encourage people to take part in conversations about a changing environment.
A Delicate Balance – Marrying Recreation and Preservation in Iowa
Local climbing coalition and authorities found a way to collaborate and keep access to a popular climbing area and preserve the environment.
Turning the Tides
Turtles, and people — a connected story, with an outcome you might not have guessed.
‘Mapping Common Ground’: What I learned this summer in San Diego
New reason to “think globally, and act locally.”
Past, Present, and Future on the Water: Using StoryMaps to Explore Bucksport, Maine
What does a mile-long stretch along the Penobscot River tell the walker about Bucksport, Maine? As it turns out, a lot.
A Look at Lobstering and Craftsmanship
Eastport, Maine has a long history of resilience. It’s still there today in Elijah Brice.
The River Walk Theory of Life
Bucksport's waterfront is a major natural asset for the Maine town. And along it runs Bucksport's Walkway. Here's a look at the river walk and why it matters.
Bringing a City Together: How Leaf Blowers Did It
This is the story of how citizens worked together toward a common goal in Washington, D.C. The story involves a change on the local level with significant, positive implications for other parts of the country and beyond.
‘New Old Ideas’: A Modern CCC
American history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. Crises keep cropping up—and so do ideas and solutions. Many innovations from the 1930s have new relevance for the post-pandemic 2020s. Here is an example, and the thinking behind it.
A Plan to Grow 90,000 Trees in Los Angeles
Using tree planting as an axis to connect job creation, climate sustainability, urban renewal, and economic equity and inclusion.
A ‘Climate Corps’ of California Volunteers
Designed to address both the causes and the effects of California's exposure to climate change.
Planting a ‘Trail of Giants’
Last month, as part of a “Big Little Ideas” series, I mentioned a surprisingly valuable short-term step that communities can take, on their own, for positive climate effects. That is to start planting…
Start Planting Trees
Recently Deb Fallows kicked off a series of “Big Little Ideas”—innovations or reforms that could be applied fairly easily at the local level and that might have cumulatively very important effect.…
Documentary: A Renewable Energy Revolution in Small-Town America
A documentary about small towns and renewable energy produced for the American Futures project.
What the Renewable-Energy Economy Looks Like
At its peak, nearly one century ago in 1920, the coal-mining industry employed nearly 800,000 people in the United States. Decade by decade, as America’s population has swelled and its…