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Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the commitments to sustainable transportation were some of the greatest achievements of June’s Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). Very little could exemplify the world’s need for sustainable transport to the delegates better than the average of 6 cumulative hours per day they spent on buses in a traffic-choked commute to the exurban conference site. It was a clear sign that despite having adopted strong language for…

Genetically engineered (GE) foods have been heralded as the solution to food shortages in the future, as biotech companies modify the DNA of crops in an effort to make them more robust. Certain GE crops can now withstand freezing temperatures or are resilient to heavy applications of pesticides and herbicides.

GE crops are widespread in the United States. Nationwide, 93 percent of the soybean crop is genetically modified to resist the large volumes of herbicides used to combat…

Although most analysts assume that the world’s population will rise from today’s 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050, it is quite possible that humanity will never reach this population size.

My chapter in this year’s State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity, “Nine Population Strategies to Stop Short of 9 Billion,” outlines a series of strategies that would prompt significant declines in birth rates. Based purely on the intention of women around the world to…

In a sustainable world, the built environment would be in balance with the natural environment. Unfortunately, we are far from there. From single-family homes to soaring skyscrapers, buildings account for a significant share of global resource use. Constructing and operating these structures consumes 25 to 40 percent of the energy produced worldwide and contributes 30 to 40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. Construction also generates 30 to 40 percent of all solid…