Climate & Resilience
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Permission granted by Jean Schwarzwalder/NYC Environmental Protection
This New York City leader unlocked a century of data, turning paper files into actionable intelligence
Smart Cities Dive Public Service Award winner Janet Aristy is modernizing New York City's infrastructure systems while empowering the next generation of public servants.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 30, 2026 -
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Housing energy efficiency requirements rescinded by HUD, USDA
The 2021 International Energy Conservation Code added $20,000 to the cost of new home construction, according to Trump administration estimates.
By Ryan Kushner • April 29, 2026 -
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TrendlineEnergy Codes and Building Performance Standards
Cities are using these levers to meet climate goals and address everything from data centers to building decarbonization.
By Smart Cities Dive staff -
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Boston’s climate plan focuses on local execution, accountability as federal support shrinks
The city is using dashboards, pilots and partnerships to cut emissions, build resilience at the neighborhood level and “bring more happiness and justice” to Bostonians.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 29, 2026 -
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Water reuse is essential for economic growth, the EPA says. Experts see obstacles ahead.
EPA’s Water Reuse Action Plan 2.0 positions recycled water as critical to industries like semiconductors and data centers, but local capacity, policy gaps and lingering stigma could complicate delivery, an expert says.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 28, 2026 -
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City and state climate litigation would be banned under new federal GOP bill
The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act would strip local governments and others of legal pathways to hold energy companies liable for climate-related costs and assert federal authority over greenhouse gas emissions.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 27, 2026 -
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Cities sue EPA for failing to uphold soot standard
“By ignoring the legal responsibility to uphold its own rule, U.S. EPA is willfully abandoning the agency’s duties under the Clean Air Act,” California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez said.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 27, 2026 -
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Who gets shade first? Austin, Texas, uses Google Earth data to decide.
By layering heat risk, demographics and tree canopy data, the city is prioritizing vulnerable neighborhoods as extreme heat intensifies.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 24, 2026 -
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Houston expands multifamily recycling pilot
About half of Houston residents live in apartments, but most lack recycling access. A pilot supported by The Recycling Partnership and Alliance to End Plastic Waste aims to change that.
By Megan Quinn • April 24, 2026 -
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Heat, wildfires drive surge in ozone pollution, report finds
The American Lung Association’s State of the Air report cites ground-level ozone, data centers and EPA actions as clean-air threats, but cities have levers to curb emissions, an ALA director says.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 23, 2026 -
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5 ways these D.C. suburbs are turning climate goals into local results
Takoma Park, Maryland, and Dumfries, Virginia, are advancing resilience through funding alignment, infrastructure upgrades and resident engagement.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 22, 2026 -
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Boston eyes water-based thermal network to ease grid strain
The BosTEN initiative explores whether a closed-loop system using thermal energy from the city’s waterways can deliver scalable heating and cooling — and what regulatory hurdles could stop it.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 17, 2026 -
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NYC launches concierge-style service, enhanced web tools to aid Local Law 97 compliance
New resources to help building operators plan retrofits, including resilience planning and expanded workforce development, will cut through red tape, city officials say.
By Joe Burns • April 16, 2026 -
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How much power do cities have over data centers?
A Wisconsin referendum highlights the limits of local authority and the growing need for cities to negotiate community benefits and cost protections, experts say.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 16, 2026 -
Permission granted by New York City Sanitation Department
Mamdani commits to containerizing New York’s residential waste by 2032
New leaders in City Hall are beginning to negotiate the sanitation budget, and they want containerization to be part of the picture. But challenges still lie ahead.
By Jacob Wallace • April 14, 2026 -
Courtesy of Recology
OpinionWhy waste diversion pilots struggle to scale
The problem is rarely technology. It’s the upstream behavior inside homes and buildings.
By Cam Anderson • April 14, 2026 -
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Cool Cities Lab heat-mapping tool helps cities target relief where it’s needed most
From Atlanta’s cool roof ordinance to Boston’s pilot programs, cities are using block-level data to identify heat risks and deploy targeted solutions.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 13, 2026 -
Sponsored by National Association of State Procurement Officials
Building resilient communities: how cooperative contracting can accelerate emergency preparedness
Don't wait for a crisis to plan. Cooperative contracts can keep you prepared for emergency response.
By Micah Gibson, Communications Coordinator, NASPO • April 13, 2026 -
Retrieved from Tennessee Valley Authority/Wikimedia Commons.
EPA proposes weakening power plant coal ash protections
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin framed the proposal as “commonsense changes,” but environmental advocates say it threatens drinking water.
By Robert Walton • April 10, 2026 -
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Affordable housing standard evolves from sustainability to resilience
Updated Enterprise Green Communities Criteria focus on extreme heat, wildfire, flooding and power outages, treating climate risk as a core housing responsibility.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Updated April 10, 2026 -
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The EPA wants to test for microplastics in drinking water. Here’s what that means for cities.
Microplastics pose risks that science and monitoring tools aren’t equipped to fully capture, which could produce “uninformative and potentially misleading” results, an expert says.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 8, 2026 -
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Trump’s FY27 budget slashes climate and disaster funding, shifting costs to cities and states
Deep cuts to FEMA, EPA and climate programs would force local governments to absorb preparedness, infrastructure and resilience costs.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 6, 2026 -
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How cities can encourage faster, cheaper rooftop solar
Permitting delays, inconsistent inspections and local utility rules add thousands to rooftop solar costs, pushing installers to avoid certain jurisdictions. Cities can fix that, a new report says.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 2, 2026 -
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Cities, states, environmental groups sue EPA over repeal of mercury and air toxics standards
Public health and environmental groups say the rollback puts communities at risk. The EPA says it will cut transportation and energy costs.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Updated April 1, 2026 -
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3 communities find success promoting composting
Stakeholders in three states discussed how local governments can work with composters to maximize diversion in a webinar the Institute for Local Self-Reliance hosted Wednesday.
By Jacob Wallace • March 27, 2026 -
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Extreme heat is here. Here’s how 2 cities plan to deal with it.
From data-driven targeting to cross-agency coordination, Miami-Dade County and Philadelphia are mitigating heat risk with concrete interventions.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • March 26, 2026
