The number of community banks in the US has been steadily declining for decades, giving way to big banks that have little connection to the communities they claim to serve. In The Banks We Deserve, journalist Oscar Perry Abello argues that community banking has a crucial role to play in addressing urgent social challenges, from creating a more racially just economy to preparing for a changing climate.
 
Abello tells the stories of new community banks — like Adelphi Bank, the first new Black bank in 20 years; or Walden Mutual Bank, the first mutual bank chartered specifically to finance a more sustainable food system. He hopes these stories inspire others to take some of these same daunting-but-not-impossible steps.

For a community or industry that is being ignored by big banks, the idea of starting up a new bank or credit union rarely figures as an option. In The Banks We Deserve, Abello shows advocates, organizers, and innovators that it can be done, that it is being done, and describes a path to support more community banks and credit unions.
 

“The guide will serve as an essential blueprint for safe, active, multi-modal streets.”
—Gabe Klein, former Chicago Transportation Commissioner
 
The completely revised and updated third edition of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide sets a new standard for street design in North America. Developed for cities, by cities, the new guide is more than a permission slip for better street design—it's a prescription for safe, connected, equitable bike networks. It captures lessons learned and emerging practices to set a new bar for the design of city streets. Every transportation professional, from design to maintenance and from field staff to executives, needs a copy for their daily work.
 

In 2023, the Supreme Court made one of its most devastating rulings in environmental history. By narrowing the legal definition of ‘waters of the United States’ (WOTUS), the court opened the floodgates to unregulated pollution. But while tremendously consequential, the decision was also simply the latest in a long series of battles over WOTUS, and which rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and perhaps even farm fields were to be protected by the Clean Water Act of 1972.
 
Waters of the United States is an unprecedented exploration of this history—and its importance for today’s efforts to conserve a critical natural resource. The book offers the detailed analysis necessary for any lawyer or environmental advocate to understand the nuances of water policy, while spinning a compelling narrative for anyone who cares about the future of the nation’s water. 
 

In Building for People, architect and ecodistrict planner Michael Eliason makes the case for low-carbon ecodistricts and presents practical tools for developing these residential and mixed-use communities.
As cities turn brownfields into green fields and look to maximize public investment in transit and infrastructure, ecodistricts are the answer. Eliason shows that this type of affordable, climate-adaptive living option is possible anywhere.
 
Full-color photos and illustrations show what is possible in ecodistricts through examples around the world. Looking at small districts like Steingau in Kirchheim unter Teck, to massive urban redevelopment like Vienna’s Sonnwendviertel and Seestadt-Aspern as models, Eliason argues that building regulations and planning processes in the US must change to make these livable neighborhoods possible.
 
Building for People shows professionals involved in regulating, planning, or designing our communities that high-quality, low-carbon living is within reach.
 

Will you please just listen to me? If you are a scientist, or a fan of science, have you ever wondered why your fact-based explanation of ground-breaking scientific research falls flat with family, friends, and the general public? Social science communicator Anne Helen Toomey argues that science today faces a public-relations crisis, and she calls for a whole-scale change in how scientists engage with the world.

This practical, how-to guide will help scientists address public distrust, communicate about uncertainty, and engage with policymakers so that science can make a difference. Science with Impact argues that science can—and should—make a meaningful difference in society, and offers hope and guidance to those of us who wish to take the steps to make it so.  
 

Multisolving is a simple but powerful idea: using a single investment of time or money to solve many problems simultaneously. In a world that tends to approach complex, deeply intertwined societal issues from siloes, it offers a hopeful vision for holistic change.
 
This unique resource is for anyone working to fight climate change, reduce hunger, advance social justice, conserve biodiversity, or otherwise make a difference—and who senses all these issues are tied together. It may also be for you: doing the work you know is imperative but that is sometimes overwhelming and often faces opposition from well-heeled interests.
 
Multisolving can’t promise a list of “fifty simple things to make everything OK.” It does offer strategies to build solidarity between diverse groups, overcome powerful interests, and create lasting progress that benefits all.
 

America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. How do we create spaces for people to come together—to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas?
 
Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal, and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy. Many are reimagining themselves in new and innovative ways, actively reaching out to the communities they serve.
 
Meet Me at the Library offers us a revealing look at one of our most important civic institutions and the social and civic impact they must play if we are to heal our divided nation.
 

As a journalist on the climate security beat, Peter Schwartzstein has been chased by kidnappers, detained by police, and told, in no uncertain terms, that he was no longer welcome in certain countries. Yet these personal brushes with violence are simply a hint of the conflict simmering in our warming world.
 
A new dam that has brought Egypt and Ethiopia to the brink of war over water. ISIS recruiters who exploit drought to pad their ranks. Farmers-turned-pirates who can no longer make a living off the land and instead make it off bloody ransoms.
 
In The Heat and the Fury, Schwartzstein not only puts readers on the frontlines of these conflicts but gives us the context to make sense of seemingly senseless acts. His incisive analysis of geopolitics, unparalleled on-the-ground reporting, and keen sense of human nature offer the clearest picture to date of the violence that threatens us all.
 

How does our climate actually work? Should we worry about the global supply of drinking water? And can technology help reverse the damage we’ve done to the Earth? In Atlas of a Threatened Planet, award-winning book and graphic designer Esther Gonstalla digs into these questions and many more through her attractive and easy-to-understand infographics.  Gonstalla turns her designer’s eye to the most critical threats to our environment, from shrinking glaciers and declining biodiversity to shifting ocean currents. These accessible and fun illustrations will show readers that, although the threats are grave, not all is lost. Changes in technology, infrastructure, and our outlook can still help us protect the places we love.

Atlas of a Threatened Planet will spark your curiosity and invite you to see the Earth in a new way. It is written for all who want to understand the interlocking pieces of our home—and fight for the best ideas and strategies to save it.

Threat Multiplier takes us onto the battlefield and inside the Pentagon to show how the US military is confronting the biggest security risk in global history: climate change. We learn how the military evolved from an environmental laggard to a climate and clean energy leader. And we discover how a warming world exacerbates every threat—from hurricanes and forest fires to terrorism and power plays by Russia and China. The Pentagon now considers climate in war games, disaster relief planning, international diplomacy, and even the design of its own bases. No one knows the stakes better than Sherri Goodman, the Pentagon’s first Chief Environmental Officer, also known as  Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). In Threat Multiplier, she offers a front row seat to the military’s fight for global security, a tale that is as hopeful as it is harrowing.