Earth Policy Institute was an independent non-profit environmental organization based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in the United States. It was founded by

Lester R. Brown Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is an American environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BB ...

in 2001 and functioned as an environmental

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

, providing research and analysis on environmental indicators and making policy and lifestyle recommendations aimed at promoting environmental and economic sustainability. Cited by environmental advocates, as well as policymakers and journalists, the institute was a nonprofit that still provides articles, data resources, and select free downloads of their books on their website. In June 2015, the Institute announced that, with Brown's retirement, it would close its doors. Its website is archived by Rutgers University.

Description

The Earth Policy Institute functioned as a think-tank, providing policy research and recommendations on

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

and living, as well as on environmental issues. EPI's goals were (1) to provide a global plan for moving the world onto an environmentally and economically sustainable path, (2) to provide examples demonstrating how the plan would work, and (3) to keep the media, policymakers, academics, environmentalists, and other decision-makers focused on the process of building a Plan B economy.

Publications and releases

The Institute sent out articles called Updates, Eco-Economy Indicators, Book Bytes, Data Highlights, and Press Releases to the media and the general public on a free low-volume e-mail listserv and also posted them on its website along with supporting data and sources for additional information.

Publications

Publications were released in several languages. International publishers for books can be found on the website, as well as links to other organizations who publish the translations of articles.

Books

The Institute released the following books: * ''Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth''. * ''The Earth Policy Reader'' * ''Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures'' * ''Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble'' * ''Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble'' * ''Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization'' * ''Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization'' * ''World On The Edge'' * ''Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity'' * ''Breaking New Ground: A Personal History'' * ''The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy''

Releases

Updates

Earth Policy Institute stated that Plan B Updates are original, four-page analyses of environmental issues ranging from worldwide advances in renewable energy to deaths from heat waves to new flows of environmental refugees.

Eco-Economy Indicators

Earth Policy Institute stated that eco-Economy Indicators consist of the 12 trends EPI used to measure progress toward building a Plan B world. The 12 trends are (

Overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scal ...

, Global Economy, Grain Harvest, Fish Catch,

Forest Cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

Water Resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

Carbon Emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

Global Temperature The global temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time. There are numerous estimates of temperatures since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation, particularly dur ...

, Ice Melting,

Wind Power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

Bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

Production,

Solar Power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

Book Bytes

Book Bytes were highlights and adaptations from EPI's books and researc

EPI regularly contributed releases to other websites, including: * Sustainablog * Care2Earth Policy's Shareboo
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/sharebook/576038753&tag=brown
Accessed September 21, 2010.

Closing

The institute's June 2015 announcement of its closing began:

All good things must come to an end, and we at the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) find ourselves sadly at the end of a road filled with many successes. With our president and founder, Lester Brown, stepping down at the age of 81, we are closing our doors on June 30, 2015. Our awesome staffers are finding new posts to continue their work, and we are certain that they will be able to further the issues EPI has pursued.

The announcement added:

We are delighted to say that our website and all of its information, data, and research publications will remain available to you. The Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
has agreed to keep our site available as a legacy website.

References

{{Authority control 2001 establishments in Washington, D.C. 2015 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Environmental organizations based in Washington, D.C. Human overpopulation think tanks Population concern advocacy groups Population concern organizations