Oasis of Stone: Visions of Baja California

In our daily lives we have traded the marvelous for the commercial – the world’s eloquence for mere comfort – and fail to understand the source of our alienation, our sadness. As a photographer,...

Information of Interest, May/June 2011

1. Study Addresses Freshwater Species Extinction & Development Policy (www.iwr.usace.army.mil/) – At Congressional hearings in 2002, critics testified that U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil ...

Ways Forward Engaging Gender & Development

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) signed at the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit in 2000 were formulated to end poverty and greatly reduce social, economic and political in...

Cooperative River Restoration for Long-Term Urban Sustainability

Dozens of major rivers flowing through highly urbanized areas across the United States suffer from high pollution levels. While industrial effluents, municipal waste discharges, urban run-off and othe...

The Changing Arctic: New Challenges & Opportunities

The summer of 2007 was a memorable time in the Arctic – a season of profound events and extremes. The 4th International Polar Year (IPY) was in high gear. Russia placed a flag on the seaf...

CH2M HILL Seeking Energy/Water Balance

Use power or take a shower? Surely this trade-off is one everyone would like to avoid. Yet, it takes water to make energy, and it takes energy to produce, treat and transport water to users. This inte...

HDR & SROI How to Measure “Green”

The prolonged economic downturn has increased pressure on municipalities to do more with less. The Obama Administration is attempting to solve this problem and transform the economy through “green...

Using Satellites to Sustain Earth

Darl Sagan, the astronomer whose award-winning Cosmos television series translated the mysteries of the planets and stars, once arranged for the Voyager spacecraft t...

HOBOS: A UNESCO-Awarded Learning Project

General education is a process crucial to humanity’s future progress as it offers skills necessary for the success of individuals and of societies, including enhancement of the abil...

Ecosystem Services & Comprehensive Land-Use Planning

The past two decades have witnessed a shift in conservation strategy by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments around the globe. Within this time span, the driving motivation behind hab...

Winning Hearts & Minds: A Conversation with Admiral Gary Roughead

Few people understand “smart” power as well as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Gary Roughead. To this ingenious, adept leader of the world’s largest and most powerful navy, it’s not ju...

USDA Forest Service Awards Nearly $3 Million for Renewable Energy Projects

Federal grants support the development of clean renewable energy, help reduce the risk of wildfire and provide economic opportunities to rural communities WASHINGTON, June 22, 2011 — Agriculture Sec...

US Forest Service Issues Framework and Map to Bolster Health of American Watersheds

Watersheds on national forests and grasslands are the source of 20 percent of the nation’s drinking water supply WASHINGTON, June 6, 2011 – The U.S. Forest Service released a new map on Friday tha...

New Study confirms Significant Land Loss Along Louisiana Coast

LAFAYETTE, La., June 3, 2011 – Coastal Louisiana has lost more than 1.2 million acres in the past 78 years, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research Center. ...

Oil giant ConocoPhillips ‘pulls out’ of controversial Amazon project

US oil giant ConocoPhillips has reportedly announced it is pulling out of the controversial oil block 39 in the northern Peruvian Amazon. The decision comes after global outrage over the risk oil comp...

Eye Clinic Restores Sight, Hope for Malawians

BLILONGWE, Malawi, May 12, 2011 – Few memories from a medical exercise that wraps up here today stand out so vividly for a team of Army ophthalmologists than the moment when an elderly cataract-surg...

Air Force Research Lab: From Algae to Energy

My work at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) is centered on using different types of biomass for energy. Our focus is on converting algae to energy, which involves taking different strains, seeing how...

Tribal Research Bridging Science & Traditional Knowledge

The Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) is creating a national research bridge with 565 tribal governments, their members and institutions, where the combined population speaks approximately 200 tribal l...

U.S. Air Force: A New Paradigm for Leaner, Cleaner & Smarter Energy

As the Air Force Civil Engineer, I am charged with constructing, maintaining and operating sustainable installations for the U.S. Air Force across the globe. With nearly 60,000 Airmen, civilians and c...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Building Sustainability Strong

From wetlands reconstruction in Iraq to green roofs in Fort Belvoir, Va., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) focuses its efforts toward building sustainability into virtually everything we do. W...

Alberta Tar Sands The True Price of Petroleum

Although not widely known, Canada’s Alberta Tar Sands are both the world’s largest oil reserves outside Saudi Arabia and America’s single greatest source of oil. The mining operations and tailin...

Information of Interest, March/April 2011

1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) www.noaa.gov – The Arctic Report Card (www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard) tracks recent environmental changes throughout the Arctic, and is upd...

Dolphin SMART: A Win-Win Conservation and Business Model

Viewing marine mammals in the wild is big business with an estimated economic impact of nearly $1 billion USD in 2008. According to an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) 2009 report, the Uni...

The Mission Case for DoD Sustainability

The Department of Defense (DoD), as the largest Federal department and standard-bearer for superior performance, is expected to use its buying power to markedly help the Obama Administration’s effor...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has joined other Federal agencies in developing plans to meet expanded sustainability requirements to lead the way in creating a clean energy economy. Presiden...

CH2M Hill Embracing Environmental Stewardship

If a person walked into an office, would he/she know right away if the company is “sustainable,” or “walking the talk,” or practicing any other green buzzword of the moment? It’s easy to tel...

Green Game Changers: Air Force Alternative Energy Research

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Air Base Sciences Energy Group (AFRL/RXQ) is part of a larger effort to bring green energies into deployed settings like Afghanistan and Iraq using their existing...

The Necessity of Global Climate Monitoring

Evidence is mounting that Earth’s climate is now experiencing major perturbations from historical norms. Left unchecked, consequences of climate change can affect humans at both individual and inter...

DUSD Dorothy Robyn on DoD’s Evolving Energy Revolution

Dorothy Robyn, Ph.D. and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (DUSD) Installations & Environment (I&E), is an accomplished economist, a creative thought leader and a results-oriented sustainabili...

Military, Afghan Leaders Mark Orphanage Opening

SHARAN, Afghanistan, April 26, 2011 – “Safe haven” took on new meaning yesterday as hundreds of Afghans gathered to open an orphanage here in Paktika province’s capital. The U.S. military cont...
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