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Carl Smith

Senior Staff Writer

Carl Smith is a senior staff writer for Governing and covers a broad range of issues affecting states and localities. For the past 30 years, Carl has written about education and the environment for peer-reviewed papers, magazines and online publications, with a special focus on conservation and sustainability. He has guest-edited special issues of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health focused on the Precautionary Principle and the human rights dimensions of environmental degradation. Carl attended the University of Texas and the University of Georgia. He can be reached at carl.smith@governing.com or on Twitter at @governingwriter.

Recent polls indicate Americans are increasingly confident about the electoral process. But state and local administrators aren’t taking any chances and are sharing resources for safe and secure elections.
In its annual survey of the fiscal condition of U.S. cities, the National League of Cities finds cause for both hope and concern. Federal funds have improved municipal fiscal health, but inflation and recession fears are on the horizon.
As one western Florida community celebrates the success of a program to restore what Hurricane Michael took from it, others brace for a storm projected to be among the most damaging to ever strike the state.
A harsh analysis of the global pandemic response has public health leaders in the U.S. pointing to a fractured, underfunded public health system, partisan politics and low health literacy as barriers to better outcomes.
Gun suicide rates in American cities are going up, according to a new analysis of CDC data. The numbers are highest in states with the fewest gun laws.
The pandemic overwhelmed a long-neglected public health system, pressuring many workers to leave. But a new program hopes to inspire AmeriCorps members to work in public health.
As historic floods beset several states, a new study finds that warming could make a California “megaflood” more dangerous, and likely, than previously thought.
Grace Rink, who does the job for the city of Denver using a taxpayer-supported fund specifically for climate action, explains why it’s vital.
Most of the states we live in appear to be solidly Republican or Democrat. These maps offer a chance to look beneath the surface at the shades of partisan control.
The public’s relationship with the Census was strained by the unique circumstances surrounding the 2020 count. Robert Santos, the first Latino to direct the Census Bureau, wants to repair this.