Growing Returns

EDF Celebrates the Passing of the NY Bond Act.

By Kate Boicourt / Bio / Published: November 9, 2022

In the climate policy world, states and localities are often laboratories of innovation and progress. However, with the devastating impacts of hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves, residents are already experiencing the costly impacts of climate change. To mitigate these costs, EDF supports innovative funding and financing strategies — especially in areas that are most vulnerable to climate impacts. One example of this is EDF’s work on a ballot measure in New York State.

This week, voters passed the historic Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act ballot measure. This comes on the heels of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, ushering in a variety of new flood resilience projects aimed at mitigating these risks to communities.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged clean water, climate resilience, Coast, coastal resilience, Coasts, ecosystems, environmental justice, green jobs, New York, NY Bond Act | Comments are closed

New report provides a science roadmap for natural climate solutions

By Emily Oldfield / Published: October 31, 2022

Natural climate solutions, such as reforestation and wetland restoration, can help slow climate change and increase resilience in the face of climate impacts we can’t avoid.

These approaches have substantial and growing support from bipartisan lawmakers, the private sector and environmental nonprofits. However, big questions remain: Where are these strategies most effective? To what extent can they meaningfully remove and reduce greenhouse gases? How will increased drought, fire and pest outbreaks impact their ability to stave off climate change?

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged climate change, climate mitigation, climate res, ecosystems, natural climate solutions | Comments are closed

My perspectives on how we can inspire the next generation of Black climate leaders.

By Guest Author / Published: October 26, 2022

By Arianna Mackey, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Summer 2022 Intern

I became aware of my community’s lack of environmental awareness at a very young age. Growing up in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, my family and I visited the Nauticus museum often. One afternoon, after spending time in the flooding exhibit, I explained to my mom that due to increased flooding, Virginia Beach would be inhabitable in the future, with standing water reaching the front door following a storm. She brushed me off by saying it was an “over-exaggeration” and our community was fine. That encounter piqued my interest in environmentalism. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged climate change, coastal, coastal communities, Coasts, ecosystems, environmental justice, flood risk, resilience, virginia coast, virginia flooding, water quality | Comments are closed

A conservation win and groundwater loss: Arizona ends 2022 session with mixed water record

By Christopher Kuzdas / Bio / Published: July 20, 2022

The Verde River, one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Southwest, remains unprotected after another year of in action to address rural groundwater pumping in Arizona.

After months of negotiations, the Arizona Legislature passed a major water spending plan last month with funding for new conservation efforts to address deteriorating water supplies. However, for the fourth year in a row, state leaders failed to pass legislation to address unlimited groundwater pumping, missing an opportunity to enable a water secure future for 1.5 million rural residents and the state as a whole.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged agriculture, Arizona, colorado river, drought, ecosystems, farmers, groundwater, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, water use, western water | Comments are closed

50 years is too long! Now is our time to go bold or go home.

By Bobbie Green / Published: May 12, 2022

Dr. Robert Bullard and Dr. Beverly Wright, Photo provided by Joseph Video Production and TJ Images.

“50 Years is Enough!”

That was the theme at this year’s 8^th Annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Climate Change Conference in New Orleans. 50 years of indiscriminate toxic dumping, 50 years of hazardous waste sites in frontline communities, 50 years of land-use decisions that harm communities of color – enough! It’s a searing message for attendees and a reminder that shines a light on the emergence of the movement from the 1960s and 1970s, in reaction to discriminatory environmental practices.

The conference began with a painful trip down memory lane, focused on the trials of environmental racism that befell Black communities in the 1960s. Event organizers discussed how imperative it is for policymakers to act in a way that helps ensure that communities have agency and ownership of their own future. The conference highlighted the long history of systemic racism that lies behind the environmental injustices that communities have faced for so many years. It also fueled a fire inside the movement’s trailblazers who spoke at the conference, forcing them to declare that enough is enough. We are fighting back! Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged climate resilience, environmental justice, flood risk reduction, natural infrastructure | Comments are closed

How credit and climate change collide for Black farmers in Georgia

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 18, 2022

Earlier this week, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund hosted a listening session for its Black farmer-members in Georgia in collaboration with Environmental Defense Fund. The federation is a nonprofit cooperative association of Black farmers, landowners and cooperatives based primarily in the Southern states. In the listening session, 15 farmers discussed their ongoing concerns about access to credit and climate change impacts, as well as how coalition building and advocacy can support them in continuing to farm. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged Black farmers, climate-smart agriculture, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Georgia, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

Nearly 1 million Virginians are at risk of flooding by 2080. The state just released a plan to address that risk.

By Emily Steinhilber / Published: December 20, 2021

Last week, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam released the commonwealth’s first Coastal Resilience Master Plan, the result of a multiyear effort to guide action to address flood risk to better protect communities, businesses and vital natural resources against sea level rise and climate change.

Here are four ways the plan provides a foundation and path forward for Virginia to comprehensively meet the urgency of its flood crisis in a coordinated, equitable way.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged ecosystems, virginia coast, virginia coastal flooding, virginia flooding, virginia infrastructure | Comments are closed

5 ways FEMA and states can leverage financial tools to build resilience, fast

By Natalie Snider / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: August 26, 2021

This blog is co-authored by Eric Letsinger, CEO, Quantified Ventures.

Climate change is exacerbating flooding, leaving many regions increasingly vulnerable. The recent IPCC report indicates seas will rise 6 to 12 inches by 2050, and climate change is fueling more intense storms and increased precipitation.

States must act fast to finance and implement solutions that address these risks now and in the future.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged FEMA, natural infrastructure, State Revolving Load Funds, STORM Act | Read 1 Response

First-of-its-kind insurance report confronts climate risk

By Katelyn Roedner Sutter / Bio / Published: July 23, 2021

As many of us are witnessing across the globe this summer, the impacts of climate change are already upon us: the increasing severity of wildfires, more frequent and widespread extreme heat events, and the looming risk of floods and sea level rise even during a drought.

This is especially true for California, where wildfires fueled by a historic drought have already scorched three times as much land as they did in the same period of last year’s record-breaking season.

These climate impacts are not evenly distributed. They fall disproportionately on people with lower incomes, people of color, older adults, children and people with chronic health conditions.

Building community resilience to fire and heat is an immediate imperative. Read more: Heat, fire, smoke and blackouts: How to live with our new reality.

As the destruction wrought by climate change continues to accelerate, state leaders and the insurance industry are exploring ways to make communities more resilient, especially the residents who are most vulnerable to climate impacts. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged California Insurance Commissioner, climate risk, insurance, wildfire | Comments are closed

Virginia is taking bold climate action to address flood risk across the state

By Emily Steinhilber / Published: June 10, 2021

Climate change poses a significant threat to Virginia’s communities, infrastructure and economy. The state has the highest rates of sea level rise on the Atlantic seaboard with more than 34,000 buildings and 534 square miles of coastal land at risk of flooding by 2060, while more intense rainfall is also increasing flood risk statewide.

Virginia’s state leadership is moving diligently to mitigate current and future flood threats by funding and implementing risk reduction and resilience projects across the commonwealth.

Here’s how the state is tackling its flood risk problem with thoughtful planning and long-term funding. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged climate action, coastal climate, Coasts, flood risk, Virginia climate, virginia coastal flood, virginia flood | Comments are closed