Group items tagged

"Smart growth" covers a range of development and conservation strategies that help protect our health and natural environment and make our communities more attractive, economically stronger, and more socially diverse.

Humanity's 21st century challenge is to meet the needs of all within the means of the planet. In other words, to ensure that no one falls short on life's essentials (from food and housing to healthcare and political voice), while ensuring that collectively we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth's life-supporting systems, on which we fundamentally depend - such as a stable climate, fertile soils, and a protective ozone layer. The Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries is a playfully serious approach to framing that challenge, and it acts as a compass for human progress this century.

It is time for a profound shift. As we experience the effects of a global economic system that values profit and endless growth over the welfare of humans and the biosphere, we believe that people are more ready than ever to usher in something radically different. We are reconnecting to our hearts, to our communities, and to the jusearth, and committing to building a future that works for all.  A new system must be built from the bottom up, person by person, place by place, working together for the common good. We believe that change is inevitable, but justice requires conscious work. We stand for wise choices as we navigate the future, and we see a thriving network of people, working collaboratively, as the path to a regenerative economy and a more just society.

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic indicators. EJSCREEN users choose a geographic area; the tool then provides demographic and environmental information for that area. All of the EJSCREEN indicators are publicly-available data. EJSCREEN simply provides a way to display this information and includes a method for combining environmental and demographic indicators into EJ indexes. 

EPA partners with more than 50 data contributors from various government agencies, academic institutions, and other organizations to compile a key set of indicators related to the causes and effects of climate change. These indicators also provide important input to the National Climate Assessment and other efforts to understand and track the science and impacts of climate change. Explore the indicators below.