Extreme flooding has struck almost every corner of the country over the past year, from rural areas in Tennessee and California to the Michigan suburbs and the streets of Brooklyn, New York. Floods have always been by far the most widespread and costliest weather disaster in the U.S., and they have only gotten worse as […]
Tag: cities
How NYC’s public housing authority plans to transform the market for clean heat
In the late 1990s, the New York City public housing authority, NYCHA, challenged manufacturers to design a new energy-efficient refrigerator. While suburban homeowners had their pick of energy-saving fridges, no one was selling an efficient model that was small enough for a typical urban apartment. A 1995 New York Times article referred to the refrigerators […]
This coastal town needs federal aid for climate adaptation. Instead it’ll get a military truck.
Surfside Beach, South Carolina is on the frontlines of climate change. Rising sea levels have left daunting prospects for the city’s heavily tourism-dependent economy. In a population of 4,000, roughly half of the workforce is centered on the business of tourism: retail, food service, and entertainment. Five years ago, Hurricane Matthew destroyed the main tourism […]
December’s tornadoes show a country desperately in need of disaster reform
In less than a week in mid-December, two enormous storm systems plowed through the South, Midwest, and Great Plains, spawning 17 tornadoes and killing almost 100 people between them. The worst of the wreckage occurred in western Kentucky, where a tornado packing 190-mile-per-hour winds and bearing a footprint nearly a mile wide etched a 163-mile […]
EPA cuts through the smog with the strongest-ever clean car standards
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, finalized new greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks produced through model year 2026 on Monday, a move that will cut carbon emissions and air pollution and lay some of the groundwork for a transition to electric vehicles. The new standards arrive on the heels of West Virginia […]
Toxic Tides: Climate change expected to cause 400 toxic California sites to flood by 2100
To many Americans, California is defined by its ranging coastline and the sandy beaches and multi-million dollar homes that line its 840-mile stretch. As sea levels continue to rise, it’s no secret then, that the state and its inhabitants are facing a crisis. Hollywood knows this, too, as movie after movie over the last decade […]
Black and Latino neighborhoods pay more for energy despite far lower emissions
Meet 60623, the Chicago zip code containing the North Lawndale and Little Village neighborhoods, one of the country’s biggest frontlines in the battle for environmental justice. Tucked into the city’s Southwest Side, the once-industrial corridor is now a part of the region’s quickly growing warehouse and logistics network. What does that lead to? Air pollution. […]
A freeway ripped the heart out of Black life in Detroit. Now Michigan wants to tear it down.
This story is published in collaboration with BridgeDetroit. In 1945 in Detroit, Michigan, a man who is believed to be the first African-American independent record producer opened up a blues and gospel record store called Joe’s Record Shop. The store was lined with vinyl records and music posters, with a big, upright piano in the back. […]
Here’s how the bipartisan infrastructure deal could promote environmental justice
After months of negotiation, President Joe Biden finally signed the long-awaited $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law on Monday afternoon. While the bill has been whittled down considerably compared to Biden’s initial $2 trillion proposal, the bipartisan agreement is a much-needed victory for the president — in part because, in the administration’s view, it commits […]
The environmental justice fight to block the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles
Every four years, thousands of Olympic athletes representing more than 200 countries push the limits of the human body. Close to 4 billion people — more than half the world’s population — have tuned in for each Olympic Games since 2004. But the Olympics can highlight or exacerbate social and environmental challenges plaguing their host […]