by admin | Aug 13, 2016 | Agriculture, Environment, Public health, Public policy, Science, Water
Ours has often been a profligate society in using the vast natural resources with which it was originally endowed. We’ve improved our attitudes about conservation, but we have a long way to go. Among those resources we have been prone to waste in the interest...
by admin | Jul 27, 2016 | Disability, Personal health, Personal history, Public health, Public policy
Disability was one noteworthy theme during the presentations Monday night at the Democratic National Convention—how we perceive it, how we react to it, how we treat those with serious physical and mental limitations. It is no small subject, and Republican presidential...
by admin | May 30, 2016 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Environment, Government, Infrastructure, Public policy, Public safety, Urban forest, Urban Planning, Water, Wildfire
The subtitle to this headline for many people might be: Who Cares? As a term of art, green infrastructure may be popular with landscape architects, civil engineers, and urban planners, among a few other allied professions, but it does not often mean much to the...
by admin | May 22, 2016 | Chicago, Crime, Personal history, Public policy, Public safety
One of the more disquieting aspects of urban life is an occasional confrontation with the irrational. I have debated telling this story, but I decided that enough other people either have had or will share such experiences that sharing it may have great value. One...
by admin | May 1, 2016 | Climate, Disaster, Drought, Government, Public policy, Resilience, Science, Water
Drought has historically been the disaster that fails to focus our attention on its consequences until it is too late to take effective action. While other disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and most floods have a quick onset that signals trouble, and...
by admin | Mar 30, 2016 | Climate, Government, Infrastructure, Public policy, Resilience, Science, Urban Planning
Recently, the American Planning Association’s Hazards Planning Center, which I manage, and the Association of State Floodplain Managers, began work on a new project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal...
