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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.

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.
The most significant climate legislation ever enacted by Congress has become law, without the word “climate” in its title. Here’s how it can benefit state and local energy and climate programs.
Tens of millions of Americans now work remotely on a full-time basis. Relocation incentives are helping to redefine the concept of “suburb.”
Though a large share of the country’s clean electricity comes from nuclear power plants, states have made plans to retire them. But as they set steeper emission targets, many are reconsidering the role of nuclear energy.
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. In the absence of action from Congress and state legislatures, local governments are adding capacity to their programs to support workers.
Chronic absence soared during the pandemic, and graduation rates dropped for the first time in 15 years. The first step out of this dangerous trend is knowing more about who’s missing.