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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.

Flood events are bigger and more frequent. Governments can’t change the weather, but they can invest in infrastructure that is better able to handle it.
After more than 1 million deaths, opioid mortality is dropping fast.
Arizona has seen more turnover in its election offices than most states. A fellowship program showed a path for attracting young workers to these jobs.
It won’t be easy, but former mayors Michael Tubbs and Aja Brown hope to prevent displaced lower income Altadena residents from being displaced for good.
Oregon has enacted a law that's the first of its kind, protecting doctors from corporate interference over medical decision-making.
Threats and harassment are on the rise, but strategies exist to bring down the temperature and reduce the likelihood of deadly outcomes.
It could slow growth in crucial sectors and cost states jobs across industries, according to a new report.
Like other states, North Dakota urgently needs more teachers. It’s among the first to adopt a model other sectors have used for decades.
Hundreds of Alabama church leaders are being certified as substance use support specialists, gaining insight into the nature of these disorders and connections with professionals who treat them.
The public health department in New York is one of the largest agencies of its kind. In addition to local health challenges, the city is a place where new diseases can enter the country.