Planning for a New Energy and Climate Future

Planning for a New Energy and Climate Future
A joint project of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the American Planning Association


Emerging energy and climate issues will present new economic and environmental realities for local communities to face—sooner or later, by choice or necessity. Climate change is already evident in many regions of the United States and is projected to accelerate in coming decades. The basics of energy—how it is generated, how it is used, and how much it costs—may also change dramatically in the not-so-distant future. Professional planners, by definition, need to be at the forefront of local and regional responses to changing energy and climate issues.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the American Planning Association are collaborating on a joint project to help planners and the local communities they serve to: Our goal is to help planners find useful information on energy and climate issues. Toward that goal, the project has three main parts:

Planners Energy and Climate Database
The Planners Energy and Climate Database is an online tool to help planners, policymakers, and allied professionals find information related to addressing energy and climate issues at the local, regional, and state level. Relevant planning documents, research reports, case studies, local examples, and other information resources from across the country can be searched by region, state, community size, planning tool, topic, or keyword search.

>Go to the Planners Energy and Climate Database

We welcome your suggestions for resources to add to the database. We are especially interested in innovative local efforts to address energy and climate issues in the areas of development patterns, infrastructure and utilities, transportation, economic development, building and site design, and natural resources. Please email suggestions to energy [at] planning.org.

Energy and Climate Report for Planners
A companion report is being developed for release in fall of 2009 through APA’s Planning Advisory Service (PAS). The report will provide essential background information and a practical framework for integrating energy and climate issues into planning. Like the database, the report will address a full range of planning issues—from development patterns and infrastructure to transportation and economic development—and planning tools—from community visioning to project implementation—that can be employed to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

A recent article in APA’s bimonthly publication PAS Memo provides a preview of the topics addressed by the report.

>Read the Article

The report draws on our database research and the input from experts in planning, energy, and allied fields. If you have comments on specific issues that, in your experience, are particularly important for planners to address, please submit them to energy [at] planning.org.

Planners Energy and Climate Network (PECN)
If you would like to receive future information updates regarding the project and efforts by planners and local communities to tackle energy and climate change issues, join the Planners Energy and Climate Network. We are also developing an online forum for planners, energy experts, and other practitioners to directly discuss energy and climate issues and share their experiences. To join the PECN, please email planning [at] eesi.org.


For more information on this project, please contact Jan Mueller at jmueller [at] eesi.org or (202) 662-1883, or the American Planning Association at energy [at] planning.org.