Climate & Resilience

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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    America’s aging water infrastructure faces new threats

    The U.S. urgently needs to increase funding to shore up facilities, experts say, as climate change and emerging contaminants like PFAS pose growing threats.

    By Julie Strupp • April 1, 2025
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Preparing manufactured homes for extreme weather: 5 barriers

    Zoning, financing and other regulations can leave this more affordable form of housing vulnerable. Some communities are addressing the risk.

    By Leslie Nemo • April 1, 2025
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    CasarsaGuru via Getty Images
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    New Mexico occupational safety bureau advances heat safety rule

    If passed, the state would be the sixth to implement its own heat-related guidance, after a federal standard appears to have lost steam.

    By Zachary Phillips • March 31, 2025
  • A destroyed home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on September 30, 2024 near Black Mountain, North Carolina.
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    Sean Rayford/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    FEMA disaster preparedness role could decrease following Trump executive order

    The administration plans to publish a national resilience strategy with further details within 90 days, it said.

    By Ryan Kushner • March 28, 2025
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    Alex Wong via Getty Images
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    US infrastructure gets a C, its highest grade ever, in ASCE report card

    Infrastructure needs long-term, continuous investment to maintain and continue to improve, however, the civil engineering group said. 

    By Michelle M. Havich • March 26, 2025
  • Two men and two woman seated on a stage in front of a backdrop that reads "NLC - National League of Cities."
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    Dan Zukowski/Smart Cities Dive
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    Nearly 3,000 city leaders gathered in Washington last week. Here’s what they had to say.

    Mayors, council members and nonprofit leaders heard from Vice President JD Vance, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and others at the National League of Cities meeting.

    By • March 21, 2025
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    MattGush via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    3 concerns about California’s neighborhood decarbonization pilot program

    Decarbonization is essential to achieve carbon neutrality, but tenants and low-income homeowners might pay a steep price due to factors they can’t control.

    By Teresa Linares • March 20, 2025
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    Dan Zukowski/Smart Cities Dive
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    City leaders name housing, public safety and infrastructure as top issues

    The National League of Cities Congressional City Conference brought together 3,000 city leaders to discuss these issues, with appearances from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Vice President JD Vance.

    By • March 18, 2025
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    Retrieved from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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    EPA to end environmental justice programs, monitoring tools

    As part of the Trump administration’s end to environmental justice programs, it has cut off access to EJScreen, a monitoring tool used to track environmental justice metrics. 

    By Megan Quinn • March 14, 2025
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    Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
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    EPA revisiting dozens of climate, environment rules in ‘day of deregulation’

    The agency said it would roll back a range of rules and programs, including some that are foundational to its efforts to address climate change. A new WOTUS definition is expected, as well as rollbacks to an emissions reporting program.

    By Jacob Wallace • March 13, 2025
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    Kayla Bartkowski via Getty Images
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    DOT removes equity, environmental factors from IIJA funding decisions

    The move rolls back a Biden-era policy that included these considerations in decision-making criteria for infrastructure projects.

    By Julie Strupp • March 12, 2025
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    California wildfire air pollution insights coming from air sensor network

    Residents can track localized pollution, including particles from the wildfires that tore across Los Angeles in January, thanks to improvements in air quality sensor tech.

    By Kalena Thomhave • March 10, 2025
  • "Hon. Lee M. Zeldin," as a placard states, sits at a table with a microphone in front of a crowd in a hearing room.
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    EPA $20B funding freeze leaves ‘green bank’ nonprofits unable to pay bills

    “Local projects across the country will be unable to move forward without legal intervention” if EPA or Citibank does not unfreeze the funds, a Climate United Fund spokesperson said.

    By Diana DiGangi • March 4, 2025
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    Kent Nishimura via Getty Images
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    FEMA halts enforcement of flood rebuild rule, New York Times reports

    By not requiring buildings at risk of repeated flooding to be elevated or moved, the government isn’t saving money, critics say.

    By Robert Freedman • Feb. 19, 2025
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    Mark Makela via Getty Images
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    Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro sues Trump administration, citing frozen IRA funding

    The state’s agencies have limited access to over $3.1 billion in funding for activities including distributed solar deployment, well plugging and weatherization, according to the lawsuit.

    By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 18, 2025
  • The Boston Harbor and Financial district in Boston, Massachusetts, USA at sunrise showcasing its mix of contemporary and historic buildings.
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    Marcio Silva via Getty Images
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    Boston expands net-zero emissions requirements to new buildings, large additions

    The zoning change requires most new buildings to be net zero when they open. The city previously set similar performance standards for existing buildings.

    By Joe Burns • Feb. 4, 2025
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    OlegAlbinsky via Getty Images
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    The Smart Cities Outlook for 2025: Change is coming

    From new federal policies to growing technologies like AI and robotaxis, cities will encounter many changes while they continue to tackle housing, homelessness, climate and equity issues.

    By Smart Cities Dive Staff • Jan. 31, 2025
  • Lee Zeldin sits at a desk
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Zeldin is confirmed as the new EPA administrator. What’s next?

    The former New York representative will helm the agency as it navigates executive orders pausing climate programs and reviews pending regulations that could affect the waste and recycling industries.

    By Megan Quinn , Jacob Wallace • Updated Jan. 30, 2025
  • U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 93rd Winter Meeting on Jan. 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    Biden urges mayors to continue the climate change fight

    Then-President Biden and then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke at a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting Jan. 17.

    By Danielle McLean • Jan. 21, 2025
  • A car, remains of a house and downed power lines stand in front of an orange wall of flame.
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    Apu Gomes via Getty Images
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    LA fires damage power, sewer and water infrastructure

    AccuWeather says economic loss and rebuilding could cost between $250 billion and $275 billion, making these the most expensive fires in U.S. history.

    By Julie Strupp • Jan. 15, 2025
  • Building debris sits in mud outside a building that reads "Casablanca Cigar Bar 18 Lodge St." Two people carry items out of the building.
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    Melissa Sue Gerrits via Getty Images
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    HUD doles out $12B in disaster recovery grants

    The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s leader made the announcement in Asheville, North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene obliterated buildings and infrastructure in September.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Jan. 10, 2025
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    Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn via Getty Images
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    Microgrids boost grid reliability, lower costs: Colorado road map

    In the face of rising transmission costs and extreme weather impacts, self-contained grids can benefit both rural areas and urban centers, according to state agencies.

    By Brian Martucci • Jan. 9, 2025
  • A highway with cars on it in front of a city skyline. Two large cranes line the highway next to new construction.
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    JasonDoiy via Getty Images
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    6 smart cities trends to watch in 2025

    Transportation systems, housing policy and decarbonization approaches will evolve this year as the Trump administration assumes power and technology continues to advance.

    By Ysabelle Kempe , • Jan. 9, 2025
  • A sidewalk along a street is lined with several trees. Deeper into the sidewalk are benches and large built structures casting shadows.
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    Permission granted by City of Phoenix Office of Heat Response and Mitigation
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    Not just trees: Phoenix’s $60M shade plan includes built structures, too

    “We need to think much more holistically” about responding to extreme heat, said Adam Freed, a Bloomberg Associates principal who helped the desert city develop its plan.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Jan. 8, 2025
  • Aerial shot of flooded street lined by palm trees and houses. A truck drives down the flooded street.
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    FEMA offers $1.35B in climate resilience grants

    Certain restrictions for this cycle of funding will help “ensure a more diverse distribution” of grants across the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. 

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Jan. 7, 2025