Environment & Sustainability

Wonkabout Washington: Equity in SEPA Reform, Improving Watersheds in Port Angeles

Keeping an Equity Focus for SEPA Reform in Seattle This year’s legislative session saw the passage of a major bill, House Bill 1923 that aims...

Sunday Video: How “Forever Chemicals” Polluted America’s Water

https://youtu.be/sZHuZkUUYM4 Throughout America, "forever chemicals" are polluting waterways because they effectively cannot be broken down. Vox explains how that happened and what that means for...

How Cities Can Adapt to a Hotter Planet

Research has identified strategies that can effectively combat the urban heat island effect. As the current heat dome traps Seattle within its sweltering...
A Route 33 trolley bus at the intersection 1st Avenue and Denny Way with low-rise apartment buildings behind.

What It Would Take for Seattle to Lead on Climate

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report on Monday underscoring its past warnings that governments must act decisively and...
A tangle of more than a dozen flyover ramps in a I-610 interchange.

Biden Infrastructure Law Mostly Funded Road Expansion, Leading to Climate Backsliding

A new report shows most states continue to funnel money toward highway expansion, locking in climate pollution, despite new tools to fund transit and other forms of climate action. This is a losing strategy for both the environment and increasing mobility options. 
Wind turbines with one half-constructed turbine in the foreground.

Renewable Energy Can Power America’s Grid and Its Economic Recovery

It's been a few months since the initial outbreak of Covid-19, and pandemic has already altered our societal fabric in profound ways. Fewer people...
A box of carrots and other produce with rows of plantings in the background.

Urbanism 101: How Urban Agriculture Can Boost Food Security

Producing food locally boosts food security and self-sufficiency, especially in urban areas. Beacon Food Forest and Tilth Alliance are advancing urban agriculture in Seattle, joining an international trend.

Sunday Video: Autonomous Vehicles Deserve Heavy Skepticism

Urbanist circles differ in how they see autonomous vehicles, particularly as they move toward wider adoption. Some see them being a tool that builds...