Introduction
This guide was created to support the work of the spring 2012 Sustainability and the Law course. The course participants' final reports are available online.
This page offers databases, sources of law, and other resources related to governmental sustainability initiatives.
The traditional definition of sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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Sample Policies & Programs
- Energy Audits, Benchmarking, and Disclosure PoliciesLinks to state and local laws and proposals related to energy audits for both residential and commercial property. From the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Local Leaders in SustainabilityAccess several American Institute of Architects reports describing green building initiatives and incentives.
- Model Policies and Legislation
From the Sustainable Cities Institute - Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington Links to studies, best practices, ordinances, and more. Covered topics include transit-oriented development, infill development, and storm and surface water management. Although focused on Washington, this nonprofit includes some materials from other parts of the country.
- Smart Growth OnlineFocuses on Sustainable communities. From the National Center for Appropriate Technology.
- Smart Growth: A Guide to Developing and Implementing Greenhouse Gas Reduction ProgramsFrom the EPA.
- Smarter CitiesNatural Resources Defense Council's Smarter Cities program investigates the progress made in cities across the U.S. toward sustainability.
- Sustainable Cities"Knowledge on sustainable urban planning and best practice cases from cities all over the world."
- Sustainable Construction Policies in EPA Region IVThis 2009 report provides background on sustainable construction and discusses policy initiatives.
- SustainLane City RankingsRanks 50 U.S. cities' "performance in 16 areas of urban sustainability" and includes information about select programs.
Contact Us
Research Help
During the regular academic year, reference librarians are typically available Monday - Thursday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. to provide research guidance. Consult the reference schedule for the most current information.
John Edwards (271-2141, john.edwards@drake.edu)
Rebecca Lutkenhaus (271-2053, rebecca.lutkenhaus@drake.edu)
Karen Wallace (271-2989, karen.wallace@drake.edu)
David Hanson (271-2077, david.hanson@drake.edu)
Deborah Sulzbach (271-3784, deborah.sulzbach@drake.edu)
Julie Thomas (271-2052, julie.thomas@drake.edu)
Computer Help
See the computer help directory for guidance on who to contact for your issue.
Sustainability Ordinances
- EPA Model Ordinances to Protect Local Resources
- Model OrdinancesModel and actual ordinances on green buildings and wind and solar resources. From The Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.
- Sustainable Development Ordinances 17 model ordinances related to sustainable development, including energy efficiency, transit-oriented development, and storm water control. (Updates 2000 Minnesota Planning Environmental Quality Board model ordinances.)
- Wind Turbine OrdinancesLinks to 138 state and local wind turbine ordinances.
Databases on Sustainability
- DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency "A comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility and federal incentives and policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency"
- Government Green Building Programs InventoryA searchable database of green building initiatives from the University of Wisconsin.
- Green Building Public Policy Search Search green building initiatives based on a number of critieria. From the U.S. Green Building Council
- Green Policy 360.netA wiki of policies, ordinances, and other green initiatives and legislation. Search or use the index to find information on sustainability, transportation, energy, recycling, and more.
- GreenFILE
A bibliographic database of information about environmental concerns, GreenFILE indexes scholarly and general interest titles, as well as government documents and reports. - GREENR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources) Focused on the academic study of sustainability and the environment, this one-stop site provides news, background information, video, unique commentaries, primary source documents and statistics.
- Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database"Our goal is to compile a comprehensive body of global greenroof & greenwall projects searchable by type, date, geographic location, designer, manufacturer and more, all at no charge."
- International Energy Agency Energy Efficiency Policies and MeasuresSearchable database of "information on energy-related policies and measures taken or planned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and support renewable energy development and deployment" in IEA member nations.
- Planners Energy and Climate DatabaseThis site by the American Planning Association provides examples of communities that have taken steps to integrate energy and climate change issues into planning, states that have addressed climate change issues in plans or policies, and more.
- UFindThe Urban Forestry Index (UFind) is a database of current and historic urban forestry and arboriculture publications and other media that can be searched by topic, author, title, description, or keyword. Through the cooperative efforts of the USDA Forest Service, University of Minnesota, and TreeLink, this database is continuously updated and made available on the web.
- Urban Forestry DatabaseFrom the University of Minnesota libraries, this database Indexes publications relating to the history of urban forestry; urban forest legislation; the benefits of urban forests, selection and planting of trees; maintenance of the urban forest; planning and management; and urban forestry programs.
General Databases
These databases do not focus exclusively on sustainability issues but do contain information on related issues.
- Academic Search Complete Includes more than 8,992 full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals.
- Biological Abstracts Collection of bibliographic references to life science journal literature published internationally.
- CRS Reports CRS Reports (Congressional Research Service) was established to provide members, committees and congressional staff with nonpartisan and objective research and analysis on all public policy issues. Research divisions include: American Law, Domestic Social Policy; Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade; Government and Finance; Knowledge Services; and Resources, Science and Industry.
- Energy Citations Database"Energy and energy‑related scientific and technical information collected by the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies." Dates back to 1943.
- Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE) Energy DatabaseThe "largest collection of energy research and technology literature in the world." This database includes over 4 million records dating back to 1974. From the International Energy Agency.
- Global Issues in Context Offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics, and current events. Featured are hundreds of continuously updated issue and country portals that bring together a variety of specially selected, highly relevant sources for analysis of social, political, military, economic, environmental, health, and cultural issues.
- Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information"Free public access to over 230,000 full-text documents and bibliographic citations of Department of Energy (DOE) research report literature."
- SCOPUSIndexes over 19,000 peer-reviewed journals in the scientific, technical, medical, and social science literature from over 5,000 international publishers. Some content back to early 1800s with abstracts back to 1966. Links to full text when subscribed to by Cowles Library; otherwise, offers citation information. Includes some legal journals.
See reference guide to learn more about using SCOPUS.
Note: To use SCOPUS in Internet Explorer 9, click on the tools menu then compatibility view.
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