Environment & Sustainability

A photo of a natural wetland area between two tall apartment buildings.

Urbanism 101: What is a Sponge City?

Some experts believe the concept may be the best and cheapest way for cities to adapt to climate change. Numerous cities are dealing with two...

Sunday Video: How Bad Planning Makes Wildfires Worse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJiepXtXRX8 Dave Amos explains how a lack of good planning can contribute to worse wildfires.

Sunday Video: Why Are We Still Widening Highways in US Cities?

https://youtu.be/NcUx5r_ksk8 Dave Amos explains why it’s so hard to oppose highway expansion projects and why highway expansions are so pervasive in America, even though highway...

A Follow-Up on the Living Building Challenge

It is impossible to ignore the construction that is happening throughout the Puget Sound region. Cranes and scaffolding are everywhere. In Q1 2023 alone,...

Midweek Video: How Humans Are Making Pandemics More Likely

https://youtu.be/qp5CEcIyk94 Vox explains how human expansion into natural habitats is directly linked to the spread of new and deadly diseases in human populations.
Governor Inslee shakes the hand of a Tacoma high school student standing in front of the state's first electric school bus in 2019.

Seattle-Area Schools Slowly Electrify Bus Fleets 

Washington State has 40 electric school buses so far -- but big plans to change that. Meanwhile most parents drive their kids to school. That...
Three people biking and two pedestrians wait for a long line of cars queuing on Mercer Street in South Lake Union.

Washington State Needs a New Plan for Transportation

Washington State’s transportation infrastructure has been described as “on a glidepath to failure.” Our road conditions are consistently ranked among the worst in the nation....

Sunday Video: Is It Wrong To Fly?

https://youtu.be/88Cd5H3kmXQ In this video, Joss Fong and her colleagues at Vox ask the question, “Is it wrong to fly?” They examine the impacts of air...