Island Press began with a simple idea: knowledge is power—the power to imagine a better future and find ways for getting us there. Founded in 1984, Island Press’ mission is to provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems.
We elevate voices of change, shine a spotlight on crucial issues, and focus attention on sustainable solutions.
Our network of authors includes E.O. Wilson, Paul Ehrlich, Sylvia Earle, Gretchen Daily, Jan Gehl, Daniel Pauly, and many others. By working closely with experts like these, Island Press has developed a comprehensive and growing body of knowledge—vital resources for all those working to protect the environment and create healthy communities.
While most efforts at biodiversity conservation have focused primarily on protected areas and reserves, the unprotected lands surrounding those areathe "matrix"are equally important to preserving global biodiversity and maintaining forest health. In Conserving Forest Biodiversity, leading forest scientists David B. Lindenmayer and ......
The most difficult questions of sustainability are not about technology; they are about values. Answers to such questions cannot be found by asking the ""experts,"" but can only be resolved in the political arena. In The Local Politics of Global Sustainability, author Thomas Prugh, with Robert Costanza and Herman Daly, two ofthe leading thinkers ......
The High Costs and Low Rewards of US Highway Construction
The world's largest public works investment visible from space, the Interstate Highway System and the hundreds of thousands of miles of supporting roadways, are frequently hailed as a marvel and triumph of engineering. President Eisenhower's 1956 Interstate Highway Act is often praised as a model of successful bipartisanship. Today, the ......
In the US, police conduct millions of traffic stops for reasons unrelated to safety. Study after study confirm that Black drivers experience higher rates of non-safety stops, searches, and use of force than White drivers. In Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement, Charles T. Brown, founder and CEO of Equitable Cities, ......
Ice, Exploration, and the Battle for Power at the Top of the World
Almost two centuries after British explorer Sir John Franklin and his men died amid paralyzing cold and ice in pursuit of the mythical Northwest Passage, the Arctic--in response to temperatures greater than at any time in the last ten thousand years--is melting at an alarming pace. Instead of heeding this clear sign that the world must reduce ......
False Promises and Real Solutions in the Race to Save the Climate
For decades, we've been promised that a hydrogen economy is just around the corner: a high-tech Eden in which our cars, homes, and industries would be powered not by fossil fuels but by hydrogen from pollution-free sources. After billions in investment, hydrogen has failed to live up to these overblown promises. Yet it is as hyped as ever, a ......
Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future
Climate change is no longer an abstract threat. Day after day, an already disrupted climate is impacting the lives of millions, and the time available to curtail climate change is alarmingly limited. Going for zero greenhouse gas emissions requires retooling everything about industry, agriculture, transportation, and every city and town that ......
This is the shocking true-life story of how PFAS--a set of toxic chemicals most people have never heard of--poisoned the entire country. Based on original, shoe-leather reporting in four highly contaminated towns and damning documents from the polluters' own files, Poisoning the Well traces an ugly history of corporate greed and devastation of ......
