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.
As unprecedented heat waves, storms of the century, and devastating fires impact cities, the time to create climate resilient communities is now. While large-scale innovations in policy and technology are necessary to preserve the planet, the wisest and most lasting adaptation solutions originate at the local level. However, with something as ......
Flooding in California. Drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. Massive fish kills in Texas and Australia. "Forever chemicals" in US drinking water. Similar headlines are sure to dominate the news in the years ahead. What is sometimes missing from the headlines, though, is an understanding that these diverse problems are related: manifestations ......
It took an oil crisis in the 1970s for the Dutch to realise that they simply couldn?t afford to live without bicycles, and today the Dutch lead the world in urban cycling. Fifty years later, another crisis, the pandemic, has led to a boom in bicycling and a radical rethinking of the future of urban mobility, demonstrating the possibility of a ......
Everyone knows someone who is an involuntary nondriver and has trouble moving freely around their community-whether it is due to age, immigration status, or a disability-and it is time to address the need for an improved mobility system
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America's Energy Future
Imagine one day you receive a letter in the mail that informs you that a large energy company is planning to build a massive pipeline through your property. That surveyors will be coming out soon. That they have the legal right to do so, whether you like it or not, because this project is in the "public interest"--because the pipeline will be ......
Climate tech is critical for averting planetary chaos. Half the greenhouse gas reductions required to reach "net-zero" climate targets in 2050 will need to come from technologies that have not yet been invented. Without effective government interventions, market incentives alone will not produce a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy. The ......
A Falconer's Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife
To escape the tough streets of Southeast Washington, D.C. in the late 1980s, young Rodney Stotts would ride the metro to the Smithsonian National Zoo. There, the bald eagles and other birds of prey captured his imagination for the first time. In Bird Brother, Rodney shares his unlikely journey to becoming a conservationist and one of Americas ......
Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry
Barons is the story of seven corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else. Take Mike McCloskey, Chairman of Fair Oaks Farms. In a few short decades, he went from managing a modest dairy herd to running the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled ......
Following John Muir's Journey Through an Endangered Land
In 1867, John Muir set out on foot to explore the botanical wonders of the South, keeping a detailed journal of his adventures as he traipsed from Kentucky southward to Florida. One hundred and fifty years later, on a similar whim, veteran Atlanta reporter Dan Chapman, distressed by sprawl-driven environmental ills in a region he loves, recreated ......
