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

Explore the Trendline➔

Energy 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

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

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

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

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

High hopes for US high-speed rail

Only 50 miles of high-speed track currently exist in the U.S., but an expansion could create thousands of jobs and slash greenhouse gas emissions, says a Mineta Transportation Institute study.

By Dan Zukowski • Oct. 23, 2023

8 cities to install public art projects with Bloomberg Philanthropies grants

The winners include Houston, which aims to “disrupt perceptions of homelessness,” and Phoenix, which will commission artists to create shading and cooling installations.

By Ysabelle Kempe • Oct. 20, 2023

DOE announces ‘largest-ever investment in America’s grid,’ giving $3.5B across 44 states

The awards include smart grid grants of around $1 million to individual cities.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 20, 2023

Chicago aims to make composting accessible with food waste drop-off program

Residents will be able to drop off all kinds of food waste at 15 locations managed by the Department of Streets and Sanitation to help meet the city’s climate goals.

By Megan Quinn • Oct. 19, 2023

NYC plans greenway expansion amid concern about cycling deaths

Supporters of the expansion called it “historic," but other street safety decisions have left advocates feeling betrayed by the mayor, reports news organization Gothamist.

By Ysabelle Kempe • Oct. 18, 2023

How many chargers will the Northeast’s electric trucks need? National Grid aims to find out.

The U.S. Department of Energy-funded analysis will span some of the nation’s largest cities, targeting highways with heavy trucking traffic and commercial areas such as ports.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 17, 2023