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.
Cooperative federalism recognizes that states are best positioned to balance environmental goals with the practical realities of keeping the lights on. A few states are showing the way.
Water providers say rebates for residential areas are costly and many people refuse to remove their lawns. The rules aim to save enough water for more than a million households a year.
Echo Heights, one of the city’s predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, is worse than 91 percent of the country for proximity to hazardous waste. The ZIP code’s average life expectancy in 2019 was just 73.4 years, well below the average for the county.
When a wildfire or storm strikes, the elderly die at twice or three times the rate of other age groups. There’s much that could be done to make them less vulnerable.
The people of Fort Myers Beach mostly survived. How many can afford to stay remains an open question.
By investing in solar arrays, building efficiency and other clean energy infrastructure, schools could save billions annually while significantly cutting carbon pollution. And federal money is available to help with the upfront costs.
Nearly 5 million properties in the Western U.S. could see higher insurance rates or claim nonrenewals due to wildfire danger alone in the next 30 years. Experts worry this is just one factor that could cause a housing bubble.
World Rivers Day 2023 comes with a push to better understand the health of these life-giving resources.
A coalition of organizations have accused Southern California regulators of allowing heavy smog-emitting companies to avoid millions of dollars in federally mandated penalties.
Gov. Maura Healey announced on Monday, Sept. 18, that the state will ban the purchase of single-use plastics by state agencies with an executive order that will be effective immediately upon issue.
The funding comes from President Joe Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act and marks the act’s largest investment to date in urban and community forests. Overall, $1 billion will be distributed for urban canopy improvements.
Energy efficiency can save customers and utilities money, keep supply stable and reduce emissions. But a new survey finds that utilities are doing less to support it.
Nationally, heat was the underlying or contributing cause of about 1,670 deaths last year, making it the highest heat-related death rate in at least two decades. Substance use, the housing crisis and an aging population contribute to the problem.
The state’s fourth carbon emissions allowances auction brought the program’s revenue to an all-time high in the first year, far outpacing early estimates. The state is still deciding how the money will be spent.
There’s no reason to think the consequences of dumping water contaminated by a nuclear accident into the ocean would be only local or only short-term. No one's drinking that ocean water, but the sea does feed billions of people.
As Chicago residents have spent the last few months hounded by wildfire smoke, experts have a variety of recommendations on how to avoid the bad air quality, including recirculating indoor air, using HEPA filters and creating a clean room.
It saw the 10th highest rate of 911 calls for heat of any state in August. This summer has been particularly hot and temperatures are likely to continue to rise in coming years, according to the N.C. Climate Science Report.
The island, one of the eight Channel Islands off of California, was ready to evacuate its 3,500 permanent residents if Tropical Storm Hilary became too unruly. But their comprehensive emergency plan was not needed in the end.
Despite an unusually wet winter, the state is considering making permanent a temporary ban on watering “ornamental turf” at corporate, industrial or government properties with potable water.
As funds flow from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects across the country, getting the full benefit of this landmark law will depend on governors seizing the moment.
The city’s air quality index hovered between 170 and 190 on Sunday evening and was ranked the worst in the world as smoke from ongoing wildfires in British Columbia, Eastern Washington and the Cascades enveloped the city.
California is one of the few states that requires farmworkers working in the heat to have shade, water and rest, but those rules are often not followed. Additionally, 39 percent of workers reported having problems keeping their own homes cool.
The federal agency found Alabama’s program of managing its own coal ash is “significantly” less protective than what the federal rules require. For many the decision is evidence that other states, like Georgia, need to adjust their plans.
A recent study found that reused water is not only safe but it’s actually cleaner than conventionally sourced water, but proponents are still fighting an uphill battle against the “yuck” factor.
Fast-moving wildfires have torn through the historic Hawaiian city of 12,000 and have damaged or destroyed approximately 270 structures. So far, more than 11,000 people have been flown off the island since the fires began earlier this week.
The agency will address its plan to clean an industrial site that is leaking cancer-causing chemicals and contaminating approximately 80 homes in the predominantly low-income neighborhood of North Texas.
State officials are considering the development of hydrogen fueling stations across the state with a potential focus on a 23-mile stretch near Savannah. The cost of the proposed hydrogen fueling network is not yet known.
A Los Angeles County superior court judge implemented a preliminary injunction that will halt the city’s removal of 36 Indian laurel figs after advocates touted the shade benefits the trees offer in a warming world.
A report from the state comptroller’s office found that the state would need to increase its renewable energy generation by over 200 percent to achieve its goal of 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030.
Heat indexes in Orlando have surpassed 100 degrees 32 times so far this year, making this year especially dangerous for unhoused residents. There has been a 75 percent increase in unsheltered people in Central Florida since 2019.
To avoid putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some companies are using pipelines to inject the gas underground. But environmentalists and landowners are concerned about gaps in health and safety regulations.
