Resilience
States and localities are having to adjust to a changing climate, establishing new policies, rules and guidelines relating to energy, land use and water rights, as well as responding to emergencies triggered by more intense storms, floods and wildfires.
Most of Alabama may be covered in forests, but asphalt still reigns on school playgrounds. The Alabama Forestry Foundation wants to change that.
It’s appealing to say that disaster relief should be left to states and localities. The less appealing reality is that they aren’t up to the job.
Legal challenges, economic factors and Trump administration policies are all creating problems for commercial wind farms.
Outdated transmission infrastructure can’t deliver the power that’s being generated. State policymakers can make it easier to build new lines and make older ones much more efficient.
Gov. Jared Polis and legislative leaders are working on a package to require 100 percent clean energy in the state by 2040, 10 years earlier than current plans.
Oregon-based Pacificorp is pushing shield bills in its home state after convincing lawmakers in three other states to offer utilities financial protection if they take preventative steps.
Legislators have made water a priority this session, with the state falling short of ever-increasing demand. Ideas for addressing the problem range from conservation to desalination.
A panel of Massachusetts energy experts discussed how the commonwealth can promote renewable energy even as the federal government pulls back on approvals and funding.
The storm damaged about 20 percent of western North Carolina’s child-care centers. Early childhood education is often neglected in disaster recovery plans and efforts.
The Maryland legislature is considering dozens of proposals to make energy cheaper, more reliable and more abundant. Meanwhile, residents’ utility costs are rising.
A record amount of electricity came from renewable sources in 2024, with both red and blue states leading the way.
The nations were attempting to finalize updates to the 61-year-old Columbia River Treaty, which governs cross-border water and hydropower management. That’s on hold now amidst the Trump administration’s trade fight.
Forests and other natural and working lands are climate-resilience allies. Managing them better offers common ground where economic growth, public safety and environmental progress align.
A state-run insurance program is running out of money following the L.A. wildfires. Lawmakers are looking for ways to shore it up as private insurers leave the state.
The Fortify Homes Program gives $10,000 grants for installing hurricane-resistant roofs. According to the legislative auditor, participants have lowered insurance rates by 22 percent.
The share of electricity used by data centers is projected to triple by 2028. A Harvard study warns that consumers could end up subsidizing their utility bills.
When it opens in 2028, the advanced filtration plant will supply 10 million gallons a day, the first in the country to convert wastewater directly into drinking water.
Nevada lawmakers are pushing a bill that would require cities to update master plans with strategies to mitigate the effects of extreme heat, as Las Vegas and Reno experience rapid temperature increases.
A spate of new bills in California and other states would protect consumers from electricity rate hikes that subsidize data centers.
Flooding in Eastern Kentucky over the weekend caused widespread damage in Hazard, affecting homes and businesses. Recovery efforts are underway, but many will face weeks of cleanup.
If it remains in place, the president’s order will add deep uncertainty to the future of a nascent industry that could provide tens of thousands of jobs and significant clean energy that the grid requires.
The business group has sided with solar developers in multiple court cases and supports efforts to overhaul a state law that lets townships and counties block siting decisions.
Solutions include funding the federal agency properly, requiring states to share a larger burden of the responsibility and removing barriers to resilience.
Voters approved $9 billion in school construction bonds last fall. The district must rebuild schools destroyed or damaged by smoke or fire and intends to make them more resilient.
The program is designed to offer solar power to households in low-income and disadvantaged communities. Grant recipients received notice from the federal government that funding was put on pause with no indication when or if they might receive it.
President Trump, who calls FEMA “not good,” has issued an executive order and established a commission to look at ending the agency. He favors having states respond to their own disasters, but they may not have adequate resources.
The Eaton Fire consumed a home and community I had loved for decades. I went from writing about homelessness to living it.
Last month, the EPA issued a rule to step up monitoring and limit worker exposure to ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing molecule. But in his first term, Trump rolled back dozens of environmental rules, making residents of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” nervous.
The legislation would block foreclosures and allow homeowners who’ve suffered financially due to the L.A. fires to freeze payments without penalty. Several major lenders have already reached agreement with Gov. Gavin Newsom to provide voluntary relief.
The president noted the need to fight Los Angeles fires, but the water would go elsewhere in the state primarily to aid farmers. Environmentalists complained the move was unlawful.
The Trump administration has an opportunity to return authority over energy generation and natural resource development to the states.
