Climate & Resilience: Page 3

  • A person pushes a gurney with a person on it into a vehicle
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    John Moore via Getty Images
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    Cities assert tenants’ right to cooling in a warming world

    Grappling with fatal heat waves, local governments are passing laws that make landlords provide working air conditioning. Financial and other challenges remain, however.

    By • Aug. 27, 2024
  • Two people carry equipment into a building on a busy city sidewalk.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    Q&A

    Will New York City make landlords provide air conditioning? Its climate chief is optimistic.

    Coordinating any such mandate with the city's building decarbonization law requirements could reduce the burden it might create for building owners, Rohit Aggarwala explained.

    By • Aug. 26, 2024
  • smart city, smart cities Explore the Trendline➔
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    jamesteohart via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

    From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
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    xiaoliangge/stock.adobe.com

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    Sponsored by Dow

    Resilient renewable infrastructure needs reliable materials

    Expand the possibilities of long-distance renewable energy transmission with the right materials. 

    Aug. 26, 2024
  • A person stands in between bookshelves looking up at a transparent ceiling, behind which are tall city buildings.
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    Ron Wurzer/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Seattle libraries get $5.5M for air conditioning in FEMA grant offered post-pandemic

    The city is betting on the upgraded facilities to serve as cooling and clean-air centers to protect residents from the rising danger of extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

    By • Aug. 23, 2024
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom and others walk past a brightly-painted electric commuter train.
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    Courtesy of Caltrain
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    2 California commuter railroads implement zero-emission trains

    Caltrain and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority join other commuter rail lines in replacing diesel-powered trains with battery, electric or hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

    By • Aug. 22, 2024
  • View of a back alley lined with trash carts in Baltimore, with utility lines and tree branches overhead
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    peeterv via Getty Images
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    Focus on heat illness intensifies after death of Baltimore sanitation worker

    In the wake of the death of Ronald Silver II, a city employee, labor groups are calling for more heat safety protections — and fast. Pending state and federal heat standards could help.

    By Megan Quinn • Aug. 22, 2024
  • Window AC units in a large building from the outside.
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    Johan_Spinnell via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    An air conditioning law, the first in its region, changed tenants’ rights in this Maryland county

    Montgomery County began requiring landlords to provide AC in 2020 amid climate concerns and renter complaints. Despite a shaky start, officials say things are going smoothly now.

    By • Aug. 22, 2024
  • A person walks down a path in a forest.
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    GomezDavid via Getty Images
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    Urban forests are ‘critical but underfunded.’ A report looks at how to fix that.

    Carbon credit programs, revolving funds and partnerships with conservancies could provide some of the money needed to prevent these green spaces from degrading, the Natural Areas Conservancy says.

    By • Aug. 21, 2024
  • A child watches as people enjoy a municipal swimming pool.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Municipal pools are popular, but they come at a price for cities

    Cities tout the numerous benefits public pools provide. As costs to maintain, operate and staff them grow, however, funding strategies become increasingly important.

    By Karen Kroll • Aug. 21, 2024
  • New Tesla vehicles parked on a car lot
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    More efficient electric vehicles can reduce grid stress, cut charging costs by almost a third: ACEEE

    Local governments can leverage registration fees and subsidies to encourage EV efficiency, says research published Tuesday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

    By Robert Walton • Aug. 20, 2024
  • A clear bag labeled "Plastic Film (Stretchy)" sits next to a bin branded with the logo of CompostNow on a front porch.
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    Permission granted by CompostNow
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    Composters add pickup services for hard-to-recycle items, addressing gap

    The small, independent haulers are partnering with recyclers in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts and elsewhere to divert materials. 

    By Jacob Wallace • Aug. 20, 2024
  • Three people speak with each other in front of a large multifamily building.
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    Kent J. Edwards/Reuters

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    Deep Dive

    Should tenants have a right to cooling? More cities say yes amid record heat.

    As rental cooling standards pop up around the country, experts warn that they aren’t a perfect solution to the rising danger of scorching temperatures.

    By • Aug. 20, 2024
  • People get sprayed by water on a city street lined with cars.
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    Adam Gray/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    With 10 new climate resilience centers, DOE aims to translate research into local action

    Researchers will work on actionable science and tools to help local stakeholders combat extreme heat, flooding, drought and more, the U.S. Department of Energy announced last week.

    By • Aug. 19, 2024
  • Ocean water comes up against houses and palm trees. The sky is stormy and cloudy.
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    Joe Raedle/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Disaster-struck communities now have more time to apply for FEMA resilience grants

    Tight application deadlines were a barrier to accessing grants, state, local, tribal and territorial governments told the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    By • Aug. 16, 2024
  • People sit with laptops, pens and paper around a table in a room. On the walls are posters with words written on them in different colored markers.
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    (2022). "Las Vegas heat tabletop exercise" [Photograph]. Retrieved from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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    The US has its first national heat strategy. Here’s what to know.

    Relatedly, the Biden administration launched a competition for communities to plan simulated heat emergency drills. Winners will get at least $20,000 each.

    By • Aug. 15, 2024
  • A black lidded trash can sits in front of a building in a fenced-off area. Next to it are a bike rack and covered moped.
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    Jacob Wallace/Smart Cities Dive
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    Large, stationary trash bins for buildings’ waste are coming to New York City streets. Are they the right fit?

    As the city inks an up-to-$7 million contract, zero-waste advocates and landlord groups are frustrated by a proposal to require small residential buildings to use individual bins for waste collection.

    By Jacob Wallace • Aug. 13, 2024
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    EPA unveils labels for green construction materials

    Materials that earn the label will be listed in a central, publicly accessible registry, making it easier to identify and purchase them, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    By Julie Strupp • Aug. 12, 2024
  • A rendering of people playing sports in a recreation center with basketball hoops and an upper level. The building is made of wood and has large windows with sunlight streaming through.
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    Permission granted by Marvel, TYLin | Silman Structural Solutions, NYC Department of Design and Construction and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
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    Want more mass timber buildings in your city? This industry group could help.

    New York City, Boston and Atlanta have launched programs to spur mass timber construction, which proponents say can lower buildings’ embodied carbon. The Softwood Lumber Board wants to fund more of such efforts.

    By • Aug. 12, 2024
  • A plus shaped pool in the river in front of a city skyline. A path leads out to the pool from the riverbank.
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    Permission granted by Friends of + POOL
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    Floating pool in Manhattan’s East River gets a step closer to reality

    As climate change drives more heat waves, New York state and city officials unveiled the location of a multiuse swimming facility they hope will bring residents some relief.

    By • Updated Aug. 8, 2024
  • A battery-electric bus on a street.
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    Courtesy of NFI Group Inc.
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    Zero-emission bus demand adds to New Flyer backlog

    Supply chain issues are easing, says the transit bus maker's CEO, as the company works to fill market gaps left by competitors.

    By • Aug. 7, 2024
  • An interior of a lake source cooling system at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
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    Retrieved from Cornell University on August 06, 2024
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    Thermal energy networks can slash water use in buildings, study shows

    With thermal energy networks poised to expand in coming years, water usage data must be standardized and publicly available, the Building Decarbonization Coalition said.

    By Nish Amarnath • Aug. 7, 2024
  • A man works in the sun at a construction site during a heat wave on July 27, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
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    Spencer Platt/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    OSHA’s proposed worker heat safety rule: What to know

    Legal experts say regardless of whether the standard will be adopted, it’s a helpful tool and provides insight into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s views on heat safety.

    By Zachary Phillips • Aug. 2, 2024
  • Two people wearing yellow wide-brimmed hats and orange work gloves hold a solar panel leaning on a home's roof.
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    $36M for low-income housing energy efficiency available from US DOE grants

    Local governments and other entities can get up to $2 million each for weatherization and workforce training efforts.

    By • Aug. 1, 2024
  • Workers install solar panels on a roof.
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    ArtistGNDphotography via Getty Images
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    Clean energy tax credits are tough. This new tool could help.

    The free online navigator from Lawyers for Good Government can help cities determine if a project qualifies for Inflation Reduction Act direct-pay incentives.

    By • July 31, 2024
  • ExxonMobil
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    David McNew via Getty Images
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    ExxonMobil climate liability case to proceed in Connecticut

    A judge allowed the state to move ahead with its lawsuit, marking the latest victory for states and local governments looking to hold Big Oil accountable for climate change.

    By Zoya Mirza • July 31, 2024