Urban Sustainability
and
the Built Environment

Water
and
Ecosystem Services

Energy, Biofuels
and
Climate Change

Material Management
and
Human Health

EPA Sustainability Blogs. Several EPA staff have contributed articles posted in EPA’s “Science Wednesday” blog that are especially relevant to sustainability. These articles include "Sustainability Through the Eyes of a Chemist” (posted November 18, 2009) and “Nano Goes for the Green” (posted November 4, 2009).

Students and Sustainability.This site provides resources and hints for teachers who wish to introduce the concepts of sustainability into their classrooms and for students who need assistance and guidance in their sustainable research projects.

EPA Begins Sustainable Biofuel Research Program. In 2010, President Obama increased research funding for the EPA on sustainable biofuels.  Watch this website, particularly the Energy, Biofuels and Climate Change section for updates and results.

EPA Awards Competitive Grants for Students to Design Sustainable Technologies that Help Environment and Economy. EPA has awarded 42 grants to teams of college and university students across the country who will design creative technologies to sustainability challenges in the developed and developing world.  The People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) Phase I awards for the 2009-2010 competition challenge students working together on interdisciplinary teams to design and build sustainable technologies that improve quality of life, promote economic development, and protect the environment.

Government Ordered to Lead Way on Sustainability. On October 5, 2009, President Obama signed a new Executive Order on Federal Sustainability, which challenges all federal agencies to lead by example in energy and environmental performance. The Order gives the agencies 90 days to set a 2020 greenhouse reduction goal and also sets targets for efficient and sustainable buildings, reduced petroleum use in vehicles, water efficiency, waste reduction, purchasing green technologies and products, and supporting sustainable communities. Council on Environmental Quality chair Nancy Sutley added that "...by putting Federal purchasing power to work – more than $500 billion per year in goods and services – the government can build on the momentum of the Recovery Act to help turn good entrepreneurial ideas into great American enterprises that create jobs."

Call for Papers: Environmental Policy: Past, Present, and Future (PDF). (76 pp, 2.8 MB, About PDF) A January 2011 special issue of Environmental Science & Technology will mark several ground-breaking events in the history of environmental protection. These include the 40th anniversary of the founding of the EPA (December 2, 2010), the first Earth Day (April 22, 1970), the Clean Air Act Extension (1970), and the National Environmental Policy Act (effective January 1, 1970). ES&T welcomes thought-provoking ideas and retrospectives or perspectives in a variety of formats exploring, for example, how the environment and environmental consciousness have changed. Deadline for submission of articles is May 1, 2010.

Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities. EPA has joined with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation in a partnership agreement and set of six guiding livability principles that will provide a vision for sustainable growth. The agreement, announced on June 26, 2009, will guide the agencies' efforts to improve access to affordable housing, provide more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide.

Science and Technology of Biofuels. Videos and slides from this special session of the May 2009 annual meeting of the American Institute of Biological Sciences include presentations by Alan Hecht, Robert Larson and Donna Perla of EPA's Office of Research and Development and John Regalbuto of the National Science Foundation. The overall theme of the AIBS meeting was Sustainable Agriculture: Greening the Global Food Supply.

For older documents related to environmental sustainability, please visit More Resources.