Climate & Resilience

  • Workers installing solar panels on a house.
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    EPA releases $325M in environmental justice grants

    It’s not too late for other local governments to apply to the federal Community Change grants program, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accepting submissions into November.

    By • July 26, 2024
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    EPA to update landfill air emissions rules in 2025

    This would be the first update to Clean Air Act emissions standards for new and existing municipal solid waste landfills since 2016.

    By Jacob Wallace • July 25, 2024
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    Trendline

    Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

    From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them in 2024.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
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    Joe Cicak via Getty Images
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    EPA announces nearly $160M to cut construction emissions

    Grant recipients will help disclose the environmental impacts of manufacturing construction materials as some cities eye ways to reduce buildings’ embodied carbon.

    By Matthew Thibault • July 24, 2024
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    Tanaonte via Getty Images
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    Building performance standards are likely not preempted by federal law, attorney says

    Such policies are likely safe even after a federal appeals court struck down Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation gas ban in new construction, said Daniel Carpenter-Gold, staff attorney at the Public Health Law Center.

    By • Updated July 24, 2024
  • A view of the facade of New York City Hall and Manhattan Municipal Building in lower Manhattan, New York City.
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    Mark Zhu via Getty Images
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    600+ NYC facilities pledge to cut energy use as part of expanded demand response program

    The city also plans to install over 1,150 real-time meters in municipal buildings to help manage electricity use, according to its Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

    By Nish Amarnath • July 23, 2024
  • A row of electric vehicle chargers is seen from one end with a dark red vehicle parked and plugged in to the nearest charger.
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    How cities are using Biden’s $4.3B climate pollution reduction grants

    The grants “put local governments in the driver’s seat to develop climate solutions,” a federal official said. Cities and counties plan to use the money for electrification, bike-sharing, solar power and more.

    By • July 23, 2024
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    franckreporter via Getty Images
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    New York wants tall commercial, multifamily buildings to test low-carbon heating retrofits

    Seven finalists in a $10 million competition will develop heating and distribution systems that can be installed without displacing occupants, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week. 

    By Nish Amarnath • July 22, 2024
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    Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    14 attorneys general press FEMA to define heat, wildfire smoke as major disasters

    The state officials are the latest to call on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to update its definition of major disasters eligible for federal money as key funds run low.

    By • July 19, 2024
  • Several rats on the ground next to full black trash bags.
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    Chanawat Phadwichit via Getty Images
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    Boston has a new anti-rat plan. Here are 3 takeaways.

    “We’re working to make Boston a home for everyone. Except for rats," Mayor Michelle Wu said as the city released a report by a leading urban rat researcher.

    By • July 18, 2024
  • A group of people hold a house on a city street. Other people stand in the background in yellow and orange safety vests.
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    Courtesy of NYC Water
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    NYC bets big on porous pavement with $32M flood-control project

    It's the city's first large-scale implementation of the approach after years of testing different porous pavement products.

    By • July 17, 2024
  • A person looks at a flooded highway with a partly submerged white pickup truck.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    FEMA tightens flood resilience rules for federally funded infrastructure

    Projects like schools, fire and police stations, sewers, roads and bridges will be affected by the new Federal Emergency Management Agency policy. 

    By Julie Strupp • July 15, 2024
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    3 strategies to decarbonize transportation: US DOT report

    To meet U.S. greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Paris Agreement, the Transportation Department says the U.S. must reduce transportation emissions to near zero.

    By • July 15, 2024
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    ImagePixel via Getty Images
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    The movement to get neighborhoods off natural gas gains momentum

    For years, cities have pursued ways to get buildings off fossil fuels, one structure at a time. Now, some leaders and advocates are eyeing a newer approach: neighborhood-scale decarbonization.

    By • July 10, 2024
  • A man walks near a banner holding a microphone and speaker. The banner says "Compost Is For Everyone, It Belongs In Public Parks."
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    Jacob Wallace/Smart Cities Dive
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    New York City Community Compost program funds restored in FY25 budget

    The budget, finalized Sunday, expands the number of organizations the program funds and protects it from future cuts. Certain active and planned composting projects will still be disrupted, however.

    By Jacob Wallace • July 2, 2024
  • People in coats and masks stand in line against a building behind a metal fence. Many have large backpacks and bags.
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    Spencer Platt/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    What US mayors want from the next president, Congress

    The creation of a first-ever city mental health block grant, affordable housing investments and gun safety legislation are among the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ requests.

    By • June 27, 2024
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    Joshua Roberts/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Climate adaptation plan updates released by 20+ federal agencies

    For the first time, the plans include a common set of metrics to measure agencies’ progress on climate resilience.

    By • June 26, 2024
  • Several pedestrians and a cyclist are silhouetted against a gray sky. A large building looms in the background. Flag poles with the U.S. flag sit in the foreground.
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    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Extreme heat, wildfire smoke belong in FEMA’s major disaster definition, petition says

    Despite similar calls from some city officials and federal policymakers, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has said extreme heat does not need to be added to the Stafford Act for communities to get funds. 

    By • June 21, 2024
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    Permission granted by Balcones/ Tico Mendoza
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    San Antonio welcomes ‘most automated’ recycling facility in the US

    It will have an education and outreach hub that will offer community tours and workshops. “Our goal is to deliver a recycling campus that is without peer anywhere in the country,” said Balcones Recycling’s president.

    By Megan Quinn • June 20, 2024
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    welcomia via Getty Images
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    Electrifying neighborhoods could save California billions on gas line replacements

    Utilities could save around $20 billion in gas pipeline replacement costs by 2045 while only affecting about 3% of current gas customers, says a new analysis prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

    By • June 20, 2024
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    Permission granted by Dan Zukowski
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    NY congestion pricing pause already has consequences for infrastructure projects

    The region’s transit agency stopped subway extension work that relied on the plan’s revenue. Meanwhile, a final federal approval of the congestion pricing came through.

    By • June 20, 2024
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    Sponsored by Schneider Electric

    Extreme heat driving innovation in municipal heat resilience

    How city leaders are demanding proactive strategies for resilience and energy use.

    June 17, 2024
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    TebNad via Getty Images
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    Local opposition to renewable energy projects ‘widespread and growing’: Columbia University report

    The report tracks 395 local restrictions on renewable energy development, with 55 of those emerging in the last year.

    By Diana DiGangi • June 14, 2024
  • A flooded street with people, boats and vehicles.
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    Congressional Democrats call for ‘cost-effective’ flood resilience strategies

    Flooding costs the U.S. up to $496 billion a year, says a new analysis by Democrats on the U.S. Joint Economic Committee.

    By • June 14, 2024
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    Lathan Goumas | Virginia Sea Grant. (2023). "VASG Commonwealth Fellow Clay Ferguson" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Virginia Sea Grant.
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    9 climate resilience job training programs to launch with $60M from NOAA

    They will train workers for jobs in conservation, renewable energy, urban agriculture, green infrastructure, emergency preparedness and more, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.

    By • June 12, 2024
  • People holding signs in an ornate building. The largest sign reads, "Gov Hochul don't defund the subway."
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    Permission granted by Riders Alliance
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    Transit agency faces $15B funding gap after NYC congestion pricing reversal

    “We’re going to fight like hell to make sure we don’t have to reduce service,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority chair and CEO Janno Lieber said.

    By • June 12, 2024