Climate & Resilience: Page 3

  • Large bundles of plastic bags, cans and milk containers await processing at a recycling center.
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    shaunl via Getty Images
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    Recycling brings environmental justice communities opportunities — and potential costs

    As local groups strive for federal grants, efforts to recycle solar panels and EV batteries could exacerbate problems in already overburdened communities, National Recycling Congress participants said.

    By Megan Quinn • March 15, 2024
  • U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the Transportation Department building on May 09, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    US DOT awards $3.3B to reconnect communities, offers funding for other transportation projects

    Meanwhile, President Biden's 2025 budget for transportation calls for $4 billion for large transit projects and $1.2 billion for the use of low-embodied-carbon materials.

    By • March 13, 2024
  • smart city, smart cities Explore the Trendline➔
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    jamesteohart via Getty Images
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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
  • Close up of two people's hands touching fresh soil at the base of a small tree surrounded by grass
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    Aleksandr Golubev via Getty Images
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    Planting a tree just got $100 cheaper for property owners in a California water district

    A new rebate rewards residents and businesses for planting trees where they previously grew grass. However, “not all trees are created equal,” the water district’s resource specialist said.

    By • March 13, 2024
  • A rooftop solar installation against the backdrop of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.
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    FernandoAH via Getty Images
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    New York City bill would mandate solar panels on public buildings

    The legislation would prohibit the use of power purchase agreements to meet solar targets, leaving the city to figure out who should handle routine operations and maintenance of the systems.

    By Nish Amarnath • March 12, 2024
  • A sign reading "Sea Isle City A City for All Seasons Est. 1882"
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    Permission granted by City of Sea Isle City
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    This New Jersey beach city went from ‘worst to first’ in reducing flood risk

    Sea Isle City’s success required leaders who were willing to spend political and financial capital on building resilience, the city’s floodplain manager said.

    By • March 11, 2024
  • A Chicago elevated train snakes through downtown buildings.
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    Mlenny via Getty Images
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    Q&A

    Think holistically about infrastructure, new president of civil engineering group urges

    The American Society of Civil Engineers’ Marsia Geldert-Murphey talks about why public transit is the most underfunded infrastructure sector and how to build climate change-ready structures.

    By Julie Strupp • March 7, 2024
  • A person faces a television in an empty room
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    Brandon Bell/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Arizona names US’ first state chief heat officer, unveils summer 2024 plans

    Arizona said it has also hired a statewide cooling center coordinator and will deploy solar-powered cooling centers made from shipping containers.

    By • March 7, 2024
  • Construction framing of wood building.
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    ribeirorocha via Getty Images
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    Building energy code revamps can get another $90M from DOE

    More energy-efficient homes can remain habitable longer during extreme heat and cold events, which could save lives, a Department of Energy-commissioned study finds.

    By • March 5, 2024
  • An aerial view of Los Angeles, California.
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    Adam Kaz via Getty Images
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    LA City Council plans to streamline solar, battery installation review process

    The move, which echoes a similar initiative in New York City, aims to help Los Angeles reach its goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035.

    By Joe Burns • March 5, 2024
  • Hill with cactuses on the foreground, and cityscape in the background
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    Gregory Clifford via Getty Images
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    Can you fix a Phoenix water shortage? A new drought simulation game lets players try.

    As the desert city endures a drought that has stretched on since the turn of the century, water resource specialists want the community to understand the trade-offs necessary in water management. 

    By • March 4, 2024
  • Hydrogen fuel cell buses at a bus stop.
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    Scharfsinn86 via Getty Images
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    Fuel cell electric buses up 75% in transit fleets last year

    Battery-electric bus fleets also grew last year, but at a slower rate than in 2022, according to Calstart’s annual report on zero-emission buses.

    By • March 4, 2024
  • A council chamber where a man and woman in suit sit on dais while four people, one wearing a jacket labeled DSNY, sit at a table facing the dais.
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    Jacob Wallace/Smart Cities Dive
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    ‘We are behind’: On composting, NYC’s new sanitation chair pushes for funding, transparency

    Budget cuts to New York City’s community composting program are “unacceptable,” Council Member Shaun Abreu said at the first Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Committee hearing of the year.

    By Jacob Wallace • March 1, 2024
  • An engineer checking a maintenance pipe system for ventilation and air conditioning on the rooftop of a building.
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    Amorn Suriyan via Getty Images
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    NYC defines ‘green economy,’ projects job growth in new action plan

    The 124-page plan released yesterday is the city’s latest signal that it is hungry to be at the center of climate change-related business and workforce growth.

    By • Feb. 29, 2024
  • Pylon with power lines against reddish sky at sunset, rural North Carolina, USA.
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    Karl Weatherly via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Congressional action on energy permitting remains stuck, but states, developers are finding solutions

    States are resolving local objections to projects through community engagement while transmission developers are making innovative use of existing rights-of-way to bypass permitting logjams.

    By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 29, 2024
  • In this aerial view solar panels stand at the Klettwitz Nord solar energy park on May 04, 2023 near Klettwitz, Germany.
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    Local, tribal clean energy projects can tap into $18M from DOE

    Microgrids and downtown revitalization efforts that create energy-efficient buildings are potential projects the Department of Energy suggested could be eligible.

    By • Feb. 28, 2024
  • A maintenance boat works next to the turbines of the new Burbo Bank off shore wind farm in the mouth of the River Mersey on May 12, 2008 in Liverpool, England.
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    Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
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    Ocean City, Maryland, ‘cannot be bought’: Mayor rejects offshore wind developer’s benefits package

    Mayor Rick Meehan said US Wind offered community benefit packages in exchange for local officials refraining from negative comments about the planned renewable energy project.

    By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 28, 2024
  • Electric vehicles at an EV charging station.
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    EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER via Getty Images
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    Utility Con Edison to reward NYC EV charging operators for reducing demand at peak times

    Rideshare and fast-charging provider Revel will be the first participant in Consolidated Edison’s new EV charging program. Officials say program incentives should help to lower station operating costs.

    By Robert Walton • Feb. 27, 2024
  • Aerial shot of flooded neighborhood
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Climate risk planning portal from Argonne National Lab gets new features

    The portal uses one of the world's largest supercomputers to model climate change hazards. Now, communities can use it to predict impacts on vulnerable populations and infrastructure.

    By • Feb. 26, 2024
  • A modern heat pump in a cold, snowy setting
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    Klubovy via Getty Images
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    Heat pumps would cut energy bills for majority of US homes: NREL research

    Even so, “we need work to bring down the cost of installing heat pumps,” said a senior research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

    By • Feb. 23, 2024
  • A Rivian R1T nears undergoes final assembly at the automaker's plant in Normal, Illinois.
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    Courtesy of Rivian Automotive
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    EV startup Rivian to lay off 10% of salaried workforce

    Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said that Rivian still firmly believes in the full electrification of the automotive industry.

    By Michael Brady • Feb. 23, 2024
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    DC updates strategy to reach ‘zero waste’ by 2040, including many policy proposals

    The plan calls for actions such as implementing commercial waste zones and banning certain items from disposal.

    By Megan Quinn • Feb. 23, 2024
  • Hazy orange sky over cityscape
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    MattGush via Getty Images
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    EPA rolls out $83M for air quality monitoring after tightening soot standard

    The Biden administration is hoping to clean up the nation’s air, but about two-thirds of U.S. counties lack air monitors, according to Earthjustice.

    By • Feb. 22, 2024
  • A structure is set on Xcel Energy's Rush Creek transmission project in Colorado.
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    Courtesy of Xcel Energy
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    Why Colorado cities don’t want to pay for any of a $2B electric transmission project

    The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska and three of its municipal utility members in Colorado contend they won't benefit from the project, which Xcel Energy’s Public Service Co. of Colorado is building.

    By Ethan Howland • Feb. 22, 2024
  • A facade of a sustainable glass office building with a tree for reducing carbon dioxide.
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    Fahroni via Getty Images
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    Building decarbonization guide to be developed by ASHRAE, Noresco

    The guide will provide case studies, guidance and key takeaways to help building owners and operators establish robust plans and feel confident in their decarbonization endeavors, says the chair of the guide’s working group. 

    By Nish Amarnath • Feb. 21, 2024
  • A sign with a design and the letters "bp" against a blue sky
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    Tim Boyle/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Chicago sues oil, gas companies to make them pay for ‘climate deception’

    The nation's third-largest city joins dozens of other municipalities and states that have filed similar lawsuits.

    By • Feb. 21, 2024