Climate & Resilience: Page 2
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[Photograph]. Retrieved from Austin Resource Recovery.
Austin, Texas, releases zero waste plan as population booms
The city’s goal of achieving a 90% diversion rate by 2040 remains ambitious, but Austin Resource Recovery is planning new infrastructure and expanded collections to help bridge the gap.
By Jacob Wallace • Nov. 14, 2023 -
Biden announces $6B for climate resilience as report warns of ‘insufficient’ adaptation
Most U.S. climate adaptation actions are “incremental” rather than “transformative,” the nation’s preeminent report on climate change says.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 14, 2023 -
Explore the Trendline➔
jamesteohart via Getty ImagesTrendlineTop 5 Stories from Smart Cities Dive
Flying taxis and expanding high-speed rail promise to transform the urban transportation landscape, as cities increasingly harness the natural and built environments to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts.
By Smart Cities Dive staff -
Sponsored by Rubicon
Understanding Kansas City’s innovative approach to winter readiness
As winter approaches, cities across the United States are gearing up for snow and ice challenges.
By Rubicon • Nov. 13, 2023 -
Meet Houston’s first emergency preparedness manager for vulnerable communities
Houstonians with disabilities have previously been unable to access emergency shelters and evacuation plans due to limited emergency preparedness outreach, a city official said.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 10, 2023 -
Lack of funding still stands in the way of California’s local climate policy
This finding in a report released Thursday is “very surprising” considering recent historic federal and state investments, said a co-author at the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 9, 2023 -
Opinion
EPA should put landfill methane on COP28 agenda: former Oregon governor
States like Oregon are curbing landfill methane emissions to help achieve climate goals. Kate Brown says the EPA should take greater action on this issue ahead of COP28.
By Kate Brown • Nov. 8, 2023 -
Feds award $653M for 41 port projects
Projects in New Jersey, Washington state and Texas are among the recipients of grants that aim to bolster U.S. supply chain infrastructure.
By Julie Strupp • Nov. 7, 2023 -
NYC wants a ‘blue highway’ on its waterways
To leverage its long coastline for delivery and get polluting trucks off the streets, the city is looking to the private sector for ideas.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 7, 2023 -
Are EV sales tanking? This Al Gore doesn’t think so.
Despite recent labor and manufacturing woes, EV sales remain strong, and cities will benefit as more electric trucks and buses hit the streets, Al Gore III said.
By Dan Zukowski • Nov. 7, 2023 -
Opinion
Big power’s EV charging strategy: Raise rates, overpromise, underdeliver, repeat
We grant publicly regulated utilities certain privileges in exchange for reliability and affordability. When they try to leverage that privilege to corner a new market, they deserve plenty of pushback.
By Jay Smith • Nov. 6, 2023 -
Ørsted cancels two offshore wind projects along New Jersey coast
The projects became financially unworkable due to supply chain problems and increased interest rates, the company said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Ørsted’s decision “outrageous.”
By Diana DiGangi • Nov. 2, 2023 -
EPA kicks off effort to help communities use climate, environmental justice funds
The agency will host a six-day “national virtual open house" starting on Nov. 6, which will include panels about how communities can use “historic” federal funds to address pollution and climate change challenges.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 2, 2023 -
How cities can decarbonize delivery in the era of online orders
A new action guide by the National League of Cities points to emerging policies and technologies to combat increasing air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 1, 2023 -
[Photograph]. Retrieved from King County, Washington.
Local officials demand federal policy to reduce landfill methane emissions
Ground-up strategies to bring down such emissions are insufficient, more than 50 local elected officials said in a letter to the U.S. EPA.
By Jacob Wallace • Oct. 31, 2023 -
Austin, Texas, mandates commercial composting for apartments
The city is offering thousands of dollars in rebates to early adopters and requiring properties to educate tenants and employees about the program.
By Amanda Loudin • Oct. 30, 2023 -
White House advances office-to-residential conversions with new resources
The guidance, financing and technical assistance aim to address a 30-year high in office vacancies and ease the affordable housing crisis.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Oct. 30, 2023 -
‘It has already begun’: Senate sounds off on climate disruption to supply chains
With droughts and heat waves affecting crops and shipping routes this year, the budget committee looked at the rising costs extreme weather will have on supply lines.
By Ben Unglesbee • Oct. 27, 2023 -
DOE issues draft plan to speed up, improve grid interconnections
The draft road map aims to transform grid interconnection processes, a major hurdle to the Biden administration’s goal of decarbonizing the power sector by 2035.
By Ethan Howland • Oct. 27, 2023 -
Los Angeles region to accelerate clean energy efforts in run-up to 2028 Olympics
The road map sets new and more granular decarbonization targets, said a co-chair of the public-private partnership behind the plan.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Oct. 26, 2023 -
Debate swirls at NYC hearing on proposed delays to building emissions enforcement
Participants weighed in on whether “good-faith efforts” toward compliance should delay penalties and whether renewable energy credits provide a worrisome loophole.
By Joe Burns • Updated Oct. 30, 2023 -
EPA pours $128M into environmental justice projects
The Environmental Protection Agency chose 186 projects led by community groups and local governments and counts several waste and recycling initiatives among its recipients.
By Megan Quinn • Oct. 25, 2023 -
70+ cities, groups report progress a year after committing to shared-mobility goals
The shared-use mobility “action agenda” seeks to reduce reliance on private vehicles while creating more sustainable and equitable transportation systems.
By Dan Zukowski • Oct. 24, 2023 -
Groups push for landfill methane action from local governments as ‘low-hanging fruit’
New EPA data shows the waste sector continues to dominate U.S. methane emissions. But groups believe new federal funding is aligning with a growing awareness of opportunities to make a dent in those numbers.
By Jacob Wallace • Oct. 24, 2023 -
Deep Dive
Heat pumps are hot, but commercial retrofits face cold realities
Government decarbonization strategies call for widespread deployment of heat pumps for building heating and cooling, but experts warn of retrofit costs, disruption and other concerns.
By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 23, 2023 -
What isn’t in the White House’s climate resilience plan
Unveiled last month, the plan offers more to like than not, said the executive director of University of Miami’s Climate Resilience Academy. But he pointed to key shortcomings.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Oct. 23, 2023