by Jeff Peterson The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released a discouraging new assessment of sea-level rise along the American coast. Press reports focused on the near-term estimates of up to 2 feet of sea-level rise by 2050. Hundreds of thousands of homes and parts of hundreds of communities will be…

by Laurie Mazur The Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative was created with communities like Highland Park, Michigan, in mind. Launched in 2021, Justice40 aims to deliver 40% of federal investments in climate resilience and clean energy to “disadvantaged communities.” By some definitions, Highland Park qualifies as “disadvantaged.” A municipality outside the City of Detroit…

by Samantha Hamilton Climate change affects all Americans, but people of color and low-income communities are hit first and worst. For Emma Woods of Springfield, Massachusetts, this wasn’t news. Woods’ working class, predominantly African American and Latinx neighbors already suffer from higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and diabetes than those in whiter…

by Vihaan Mathur and Odessa Zhang On the day he was sworn into office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared he would pull Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate effort to cap carbon emissions from power plants. The question is: Does anybody care? Why has Youngkin faced so little resistance, especially from young people…

by Mark Rupp Last month, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report. At the core of the report is a stark warning that, to date, our efforts to adapt to the changing climate are not enough to protect people and ecosystems around the globe. But here in the…

by Katie Huffling Too often, health professionals are called on to treat patients with conditions that could have been prevented — with quality primary care, lifestyle and environment changes, or (these days, especially) vaccines. Frustrated and exhausted, we seek “upstream” solutions to the problems that fill our hospitals and waiting rooms. That is…

by John Kamp and James Rojas The great irony of our polarized times is that virtually no one believes that they themselves are contributing to polarization. “Well, what I’m saying is TRUE,” we think, “so of course I have to say it, and of course those who disagree with me are wrong.” Cue the current state…

by Dan Kaplan The Problem Like the climate and public health crises, the current housing affordability crisis is a result of decades-long neglect, supercharged by the global Covid-19 pandemic. In New York, the situation is dire and a perennial source of angst. Prior to the pandemic, the housing affordability crisis was at a fever pitch…

by Elizabeth Sawin Cities, towns and regions are creating jobs, improving health and making communities more livable. Many of them are doing so as part of their strategy to address climate change. This is an approach called “multisolving,” and examples of it are becoming more common. Case in point: Home weatherization programs reduce…