Climate & Resilience: Page 3
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FEMA
5 steps to disaster-proof your city as FEMA pulls back
FEMA is stretched thin, a GAO report warns. Its author offers advice for local leaders to respond strategically and build resilience now.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 30, 2025 -
How NYC is turning ambitious climate goals into results
At NYC Climate Week, the city’s climate office director highlighted tools like FloodNet and the NYC Accelerator as proof the city’s integrated approach to energy, equity and resilience is working.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 25, 2025 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Getty Images
TrendlineTop 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 -
White House will revoke EPA climate endangerment finding Thursday, Leavitt says
The Trump administration is calling it the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. Environmental leaders say local governments must now safeguard public health and climate resilience.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Updated Feb. 11, 2026 -
5 forces driving building retrofits and how cities can lead the shift
With nearly 1.5 billion square feet of aging stock in sustainability-focused markets, local governments are positioned to accelerate decarbonization, a JLL report finds.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 23, 2025 -
Newsom signs California energy package into law
The new provisions seek to address rising electricity costs, wildfire mitigation and climate funding. The package includes a blueprint for a regional Western electricity market and requires community air monitoring in select locations.
By Meris Lutz • Sept. 23, 2025 -
All-electric firehouse and net-zero police station help Charlotte, N.C., meet climate goals
The city has invested $36 million to build the facilities, which align emergency response with an ambitious strategic energy initiative.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 18, 2025 -
Cities can lead the way on resilient cooling, report says
Local officials have the tools to expand access to affordable cooling while boosting grid resilience and economic development, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 17, 2025 -
CenterPoint Energy courts Minnesota communities for networked geothermal pilot
The utility is hoping to prove to local governments that such decarbonization efforts can meet residents’ energy needs in a cold-weather climate.
By Brian Martucci • Sept. 16, 2025 -
EPA moves to end greenhouse gas emissions reporting
Gutting the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program would strip local governments of information they rely on to hold polluters accountable and undermine efforts to protect residents’ health, climate advocates say.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 15, 2025 -
FEMA
9 ways the FEMA Act would reform federal disaster response
Cities are rallying behind the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act, which they say would cut red tape, accelerate recovery funding and strengthen resilience against future disasters.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 11, 2025 -
Traffic cameras double as a hurricane-response system in this South Carolina county
By connecting existing cameras to an AI-powered command hub, a hurricane-prone county plans to track evacuation patterns, adjust routes on the fly and strengthen recovery planning.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Sept. 10, 2025 -
Sponsored by TomTom
[Podcast] Key trends in urban mobility transformation
In this podcast series, explore trending topics related to the larger theme of urban mobility transformation challenges and opportunities.
By Smart Cities Dive's studioID • Updated July 10, 2025 -
13 state governors join coalition to promote EVs
The Affordable Clean Cars Coalition said it will push back against the Trump administration's policies of “putting polluters over people.”
By Dan Zukowski • Sept. 8, 2025 -
New data tool helps Gulf Coast cities pursue disaster funding as federal resources shrink
The Urban Institute’s analysis gives local leaders information they can use to build cases for prevention and recovery support.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 28, 2025 -
Deep Dive // Green infrastructure
After Katrina, green infrastructure aims to supplement the rebuilt — but still vulnerable — levees
Residents and activists are forging resilient communities and implementing “flood mitigation by 1,000 cuts.”
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 27, 2025 -
Hurricane Katrina’s legacy is a warning for today’s city leaders
Twenty years after New Orleans flooded, federal funding cuts mean local governments must strengthen hazard planning, engage communities and prioritize vulnerable residents to prevent another avoidable disaster, climate advocates say.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 22, 2025 -
Opinion
California’s clean mobility push is leaving low-income residents behind
E-bikes and e-scooters are among the cleanest and least expensive transportation modes. California can make equitable green mobility a reality.
By Marta Anadón Rosinach • Aug. 21, 2025 -
Should schools be the centerpiece of heat resilience action?
As federal support to protect people from extreme heat shrinks, advocates say local governments must set a model for climate-smart leadership with enforceable standards and resources to protect children.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 19, 2025 -
Texas city pioneers tech that uses waste heat to generate drinking water
AirJoule’s first U.S. field deployment will tap into a geothermal well to turn air into distilled water for the municipal supply.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 13, 2025 -
What NEPA rollbacks mean for local projects
The Trump administration’s elimination of environmental regulations based on the 1970 law could mean faster permitting but reduce cities’ recourse for weighing in on federally funded projects in their communities, experts say.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 11, 2025 -
California cities, Nevada State University join forces on climate resilience
Seven public agencies are partnering with Urban Land Institute to develop strategies for extreme heat, disaster preparedness and resilient housing.
By Lori Tobias • Aug. 11, 2025 -
AI could cut disaster infrastructure losses by 15%, new research finds
Artificial intelligence applications like predictive maintenance and digital twins can help keep the power on and the roads open during natural disasters — and save $70 billion in infrastructure losses by 2050, according to a Deloitte Global report.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 6, 2025 -
Green infrastructure
Denver development recruits its river for urban flood control
The River Mile project is treating the South Platte River as natural infrastructure, delivering flood protection, recreation and economic opportunity on land once considered undevelopable.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Aug. 4, 2025 -
Xcel Energy ‘prepared to go to trial’ to fight Colorado fire liability
The company contends that it did not start the late 2021 Colorado blaze, which caused an estimated $2 billion in damages.
By Emma Penrod • Aug. 4, 2025 -
EPA’s move to gut key climate regulation raises stakes for city leaders
A repeal of the endangerment finding would make local climate policy a new battleground in continuing tensions between the Trump administration and cities, a legal scholar suggests.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • July 30, 2025