LibGuides: Sustainability: Websites

Evaluating Websites

The Internet allows an unprecedented ease of access to information. Unfortunately, not all of that information is reliable or useful. As with all of your sources, you need to look at websites with a critical eye. Indeed, it's even more challenging to determine a website's reliability. For help with evaluating websites, please visit this page at the SFCC library website. Also, you can click here for more information.

This page includes three different types of links:

Government Agencies
Non-profit and advocacy groups
Local resources

Just scroll down to see them all!

Search Engines & Directories

GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
A freely accessible database from Ebsco covering all aspects of human impact to the environment.

Politics and the Enviroment

The Democratic Party
The Democratic Party's page on environmental issues.
The Green Party
The Green Party's Four Pillars includes ecology.
The Libertarian Party
The Libertarian Party's platform page explains their stance on the Environment in Section 2.2.
The Republican Party
The Republican Party's Energy and Environment page shows their stance on the environment.

University Sites

Environment 360 @ Yale U.
Yale Environment 360 is a publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Aldo Leopold Archives University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries.
Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the most influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Leopold's legacy spans the disciplines of forestry, wildlife management, conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, and more.

US Government Agency Websites

Links to US government and local agency websites on the environment and related issues can be found below and on the SFCC Library's Environment research guide.

International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an intergovernmental organisation which acts as energy policy advisor to 29 member countries in their effort to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for their citizens.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Its reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor. Their goal is to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory helps to advance innovation in concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. Articles may be found on the publications page.
Science.Gov
Science.gov searches over 55 databases and over 2100 selected websites from 15 federal agencies, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information including research and development results. Science.gov is governed by the interagency Science.gov Alliance

Advocacy/Informational Websites

Environmental news, commentary and other information from environmental advocates and non-profit organizations. The descriptions come from the websites themselves.

Green Facts
Green Facts' mission is to bring complex scientific consensus reports on health and the environment to the reach of non-specialists.
Green Home Guide
The U.S. Green Building Council believes all buildings should be green. Read about green buildings on their Articles webpage.
Grist Environmental News and Commentary
Grist: it's gloom and doom with a sense of humor. So laugh now -- or the planet gets it.
The Land Institute
The Land Institute believes that natural ecological systems are self sustaining. They are working to bring farmers and scientists together with nature to sustain and even rebuild soil, communities, and economies.
National Research Defense Council
The NRDC works to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.
TreeHugger
TreeHugger is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, we strive to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information.
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions.
The Walden Woods Project
This site offers material by, and relating to, the American author Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862). Thoreau is considered to be one of America's first "environmentalists."
Writings of Henry David Thoreau
The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau provides, for the first time, accurate texts of Thoreau's complete works: his writings for publication, his Journal, his correspondence, and other uncollected papers. Much of the material in this edition has never been published before.

Local/Regional Websites

Conservation Northwest
Conservation Northwest connects and protects old growth and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the BC Rockies, to benefit people and wildlife. Since 1989 we have protected hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat: from the big tree forests south of Mount Rainier to forest critical to lynx in the Loomis east of North Cascades National Park.
Down to Earth Northwest
DTE is committed to reporting and sharing environmental news and sustainability information from across the Inland Northwest.
Inland Empire Rail Transit Association
The Inland Empire Rail Transit Association (InlandRail) is a non-profit organization advocating for rail transit as part of a more balanced transportation network for the Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho region.
Sightline Institute
Sightline Institute equips Northwest citizens and decision-makers with the policy research and practical tools they need to advance long-term sustainability solutions in the Pacific Northwest.
Spokane's Sustainability Action Plan
The Sustainability Action Plan is the culmination of a year’s worth of work by the Mayor’s Task Force on Sustainability. The plan includes strategies to address climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and energy security.
Spokane Community Gardens
Community gardens provide nutritious food at low cost, promote skills that encourage self-reliance, revitalize neighborhoods, stimulate positive social interaction, provide opportunities for recreation and exercise, and uniquely improve quality of life.
Spokane River Project
Working to educate and inspire citizens about the importance of river issues and the need for river protection.