Climate & Resilience: Page 2


  • Construction worker pushes water cart to worksite during heat wave
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    How to protect employees from heat and other climate extremes

    Clear protocols for identifying heat illness, safety training, paid breaks and access to water and shade are among the steps cities can take to protect workers as temperatures rise.

    By Ryan Golden • July 21, 2025
  • A person with an umbrella and a person wearing a stars-and-stripes shirt stand on rocks looking at muddy river water
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    Eric Vryn via Getty Images
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    Local officials hold the key to life-saving flood and weather warnings

    Accurate weather warnings are useless if they don’t reach residents in time. Take these steps to avoid mistakes that may have contributed to the tragedy in Texas.

    By Updated July 17, 2025
  • 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.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
  • A red "For Sale" sign on a white post and a smaller sign about private fire debris removal in front of a bulldozed lot with burned trees in the background.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    $10B lawsuit targets LA over ‘epic failures’ in Palisades Fire

    Class action and amended complaints accuse city and state agencies of negligence, mismanagement and cover-up in the January fire.

    By July 16, 2025
  • A sign that says “FEMA-STATE Disaster Recovery Center” in the grass in front of a parked pickup truck.
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    Allison Joyce via Getty Images
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    Most states couldn’t afford disaster recovery without FEMA: report

    Cities may need to establish their own recovery and resilience funds because only a handful of states are prepared to absorb proposed FEMA cuts, the Urban Institute found.  

    By July 15, 2025
  • Sacramento, California, outside the capitol building
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    DustyPixel/iStock via Getty Images
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    California issues key updates on climate-risk disclosure laws

    The state’s laws on emissions and financial risk reporting signal a shift in regulatory expectations that could serve as a blueprint for other states weighing similar legislation.

    By Zoya Mirza • July 15, 2025
  • A person kneels at a large wooden cross as two people look at a fence covered with flowers and photos.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    5 steps cities can take to prevent a flood tragedy like Kerr County’s

    Cities and counties can strengthen their defenses — even on tight budgets —  with smarter maps, stronger codes and regional coordination, a flood expert says.

    By Updated July 16, 2025
  • Metal sign that says United States Environmental Protection Agency on stone building
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    Greggory DiSalvo via Getty Images
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    Judge dismisses cities’ lawsuit over termination of climate justice grants

    The ruling creates uncertainty for air, water and resilience programs. “We will continue to fight for communities across the country,” an Earthjustice attorney said.

    By Updated Sept. 3, 2025
  • A pure white building looms in the foreground around green foliage and a bright blue sky.
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    FrozenShutter via Getty Images
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    California walks back environmental law for housing, high-speed rail

    The changes to the California Environmental Quality Act could greatly speed up the issuance of building permits.

    By Matthew Thibault • July 8, 2025
  • Stoplights and street between two tall buildings with more tall buildings in the background.
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    peeterv via Getty Images
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    Cities can decarbonize buildings while cutting costs, new road map says

    The guide from Climate Mayors and Veolia aims to help cities tackle one of their biggest greenhouse gas emissions challenges, even as federal support for energy efficiency and decarbonization shrinks.

    By July 7, 2025
  • New York offering up to $750K for facility decarbonization projects

    The Large-Scale Thermal program is accepting applications through July 31 for heating, cooling and hot water systems in single buildings of at least 100,000 square feet or campuses of 250,000 square feet and up.

    By Brian Martucci • June 30, 2025
  • Glass building wall with U.S. Department of Homeland Security seal and the words FEMA, 500 Federal Center Plaza
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    Kayla Bartkowski via Getty Images
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    As FEMA shrinks, cities face rising burdens — and risks

    The backbone of emergency management is under threat, former federal officials say. Small towns may be the first to feel the effects.

    By Updated June 24, 2025
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    baranozdemir via Getty Images
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    US, global cities tout emissions reductions

    Local U.S. officials say they’re driving emissions goals from the ground up since the Trump administration’s withdrawal from key international climate events and agreements.

    By June 23, 2025
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development
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    helen89 via Getty Images
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    HUD green retrofit grant recipients in limbo after funding upheaval

    While HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program gave out almost 270 awards, only 20 projects received funding before it was halted, according to an attorney.

    By Mary Salmonsen • June 23, 2025
  • People walk across a makeshift bridge with damaged infrastructure around them.
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    Targeted investment, tech can sustain critical infrastructure

    To help communities bounce back after disaster, jurisdictions must identify gaps in lifeline systems and cost-effective ways to mend them, panelists at the Building Innovation 2025 conference said.

    By Julie Strupp • June 18, 2025
  • A person wearing shorts and a t-shirt sits on a park bench in the shade of a tree drinking from a plastic water bottle.
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    Antonio_Diaz via Getty Images
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    New tool maps urban heat disparities block by block

    American Forests’ shade map reveals a stark lack of shade in hundreds of U.S. cities, giving local leaders a powerful tool to prioritize cooling investments where they matter most.

    By June 18, 2025
  • Aerial view of flooded homes following Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas.
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    New building codes aim to provide vital flood protection

    The updated standards mark a major shift in approach for design and construction in flood hazard areas, according to a floodplain manager.

    By Tom Little • June 16, 2025
  • A footpath lined with trees and bushes with tall buildings in the background.
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    Thomas Faull via Getty Images
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    New AI tool helps cities respond to shrinking urban canopy

    The open-source model helps cities monitor vegetation loss in real time and plan smarter greenery investments based on population density and vulnerability.

    By June 16, 2025
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Toa55 via Getty Images
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    Column

    Securing our water future through strategic action

    How utilities can overcome aging infrastructure, unfunded mandates and emerging contaminants.

    By Stephanie Cuthbert • June 13, 2025
  • Cars on a city street with "School Speed Limit" sign and American flag in the foreground and four smokestacks in the background.
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    Jeff Swensen via Getty Images
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    City leaders blast EPA’s rollback of power plant pollution standards

    The Environmental Protection Agency says power plant emissions regulations imperil the grid. Local leaders and clean energy advocates say repealing them imperils residents.

    By June 13, 2025
  • A man wearing a suit and tie speaks into microphones while two men wearing suits and ties look on.
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Local leaders warn U.S. Senate not to pull the plug on clean energy credits

    Bipartisan coalition says proposed cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would threaten jobs and local investments, raise energy costs and create economic uncertainty.

    By June 6, 2025
  • A cruise ship with people on deck sails past a large building with BATWorks sign over the front door.
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    Courtesy of NYCEDC
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    New York bets big on green economy with Brooklyn climate innovation hub

    NYC and LA nonprofits expect BATWorks to nurture 150 cleantech startups, generate $2.6B in economic impact and create more than 600 green jobs.

    By Danielle McLean • June 5, 2025
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Toa55 via Getty Images
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    Clearing waterways of nuisance vegetation can be a green achievement

    A key part of aquatic maintenance includes a growing demand for products that get rid of vegetation overgrowth without the use of dangerous herbicides.

    By Michael Keating • June 4, 2025
  • A person walks past a brick building and a banner hung between two trees that says "FEMA - STATE DISASTER RECOVERY CENTER."
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    Allison Joyce via Getty Images
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    Is your city prepared to weather the storm without FEMA?

    Local officials must act now to build emergency networks for community-based disaster resilience as federal support evaporates, experts say.

    By June 4, 2025
  • DC Climate Week attendees eat lunch with the Capitol in focus in the background
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    Permission granted by Cedric Craig for DC Climate Week
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    Q&A

    How Washington, D.C.’s first climate week came together

    Behind the scenes with DC Climate Week co-founders C’pher Gresham and Vid Mićević on how they, and over 200 volunteers, built toward the first week-long climate event in the nation’s capital.

    By Lamar Johnson • June 2, 2025
  • A radar device installed on top of a water tower with a graphic that contains the words "Americus, Georgia" and "Touch America's Heart."
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    Courtesy of Climavision
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    AI, drones, private radar fill gaps from National Weather Service cuts

    Private tech companies are stepping in to support local officials on the front lines of weather emergencies as federal offices struggle to stay staffed.

    By May 30, 2025