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.
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.
Nitrate pollution is likely to force more water-use restrictions. Iowa’s problems are uniquely severe: It has plenty of water, but bans on car washing and lawn watering underscore the state’s long struggle with high nitrate levels.
Even where abundantly available, the costs of clean water are rising faster than the CPI. Where it’s scarce, there’s double trouble. Ultimately, securing enough clean and affordable water will require state laws mandating realistic long-term pricing.
A slew of measures that passed the Senate failed to come up for a vote in the Assembly. Advocates blame Speaker Carl Heastie, who says they’ve failed to build up support for legislation.
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.
The incinerated town of Lahaina has barely begun to recover. Policymakers have scrambled to ease inflexible laws and regulations but rebuilding would be happening much more quickly if that had happened before the fires.
Because reporting practices and requirements vary so much, extreme weather’s true damage cost is often a mystery. There are several ways to get better numbers.
While efforts to address climate change have faced a setback in Congress, state agencies, communities and citizens continue to plan and initiate projects that implement the state’s Climate Action Framework.
The administration will end protections for roughly half the 23-million-acre reserve, reopening the area for possible oil and gas drilling.
The plan is to provide more public transportation to move people out of private vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. Critics call the approach heavily restrictive.
Texas property owners can use nearly as much water under their land as they want. That’s unlikely to change even as the state approaches a crisis.
Decatur, Ill., has been losing factory jobs for years. A training program at a local community college promises renewal and provides training for students from disenfranchised communities.
They’re tearing through communities just about everywhere between the Rockies and the Appalachians. The U.S. has seen a broad shift in tornadoes to the east, to earlier in the year and clustered into larger outbreaks.
Climate models aren't generally specific enough to capture the reasons some urban neighborhoods are prone to flooding. A study in Chicago is examining both causes and remedies.
The Yorba Linda, Calif., water district has the country’s largest PFAS treatment facility of its kind. The drinking water it delivers to customers is free of these unwanted “forever chemicals.”
Concerned about pollution and health effects at a time when the feds are deregulating, cities and counties are using lawsuits and regulations to delay or cancel some energy projects.
A new law shifts both funding and focus away from game animals, while overhauling the governance structure for the state's primary wildlife agency.
State lawmakers are considering more proactive approaches to resilience after learning from community responses to disasters.
Each home and the overall layout of a San Diego County subdivision meet wildfire-resilient standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.
The governors of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming have agreed to create cooperative agreements between their scientific institutions to promote nuclear development.
Data centers are the driver of near-term growth in electricity use. Electric vehicles will drive future growth.
Business owners complained it was impossible to comply with energy reduction targets. Denver has modified its rules and Colorado lawmakers may follow suit statewide
There are a number of steps that state and local leaders could take to narrow the funding gap by tens of billions, making the most of the money that is available to keep the faucets flowing.
Most of Alabama may be covered in forests, but asphalt still reigns on school playgrounds. The Alabama Forestry Foundation wants to change that.
A working group of mayors believes climate resilience and economic security go hand in hand.
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.
El Paso has one of the largest water desalination plants in the world. Its efforts will inform Texas’ efforts to use desalination to address its water shortage.
A new executive order directs the attorney general to identify and stop enforcement of state-level climate laws. The order says such laws hinder American energy dominance.
Legal challenges, economic factors and Trump administration policies are all creating problems for commercial wind farms.
The jury found the oil giant liable for environmental damages from decades ago. Business groups said the decision could have a chilling effect on the state's oil and gas industry.
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.
