huffingtonpost.com - by Alexander C. Kaufman - December 14, 2018
In a little over a month, the so-called Green New Deal has won endorsements from more than three dozen sitting or incoming federal lawmakers as Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) makes a high-profile bid to shift debate over climate change toward policy on the scale of the crisis.
On Friday, the effort got a boost from 311 state and local officials.
Forty-four mayors, 63 county and state legislators and 116 city council members were among the officials from 40 states ― including some top oil and gas producers ― who signed an open letter issuing a sweeping, full-throated call for the phaseout of fossil fuels and adoption of Green New Deal-style climate policies.
Hurricane Floyd submerged the Greenville, North Carolina, water treatment plant in 1999. Following that event, the city used a federal grant to construct a berm and pumping station to protect the plant. Dave Gatley/Federal Emergency Management Agency
Mitigation projects yield positive return on investment in coastal, inland states
pewtrusts.org - by Forbes Tompkins - November 20, 2018
From elevating roadways in Nebraska to moving wastewater treatment plants away from flood plains in Iowa, proactive measures before flooding can provide a major return on investment, according to a new report from the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). The report, “Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: Utilities and Transportation Infrastructure,” provides analysis and key examples that underscore the benefits of investing in mitigation measures.
fastcompany.com - by Katharine Schwab - November 15, 2018
. . . One Concern is launching a machine learning platform that provides cities with specialized maps to help emergency crews decide where to focus their efforts in a flood. The maps update in real-time based on data about where water is flowing to estimate where people need help the most. It’s the latest in a wave of AI-powered tools aimed at helping cities prepare for an era of severe, and increasingly frequent, disasters.
theverge.com - by Angela Chen - September 27, 2018
Solar energy is becoming more and more popular as prices drop, yet a home powered by the Sun isn’t free from the grid because solar panels don’t store energy for later. Now, researchers have refined a device that can both harvest and store solar energy, and they hope it will one day bring electricity to rural and underdeveloped areas.
The problem of energy storage has led to many creative solutions, like giant batteries. For a paper published today in the journal Chem, scientists trying to improve the solar cells themselves developed an integrated battery that works in three different ways.
Solar installers could make a better business case for panels bundled with heat pumps and other electric devices that offset natural-gas use, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute. Here, Luminalt solar installer Pam Quan moves a solar panel during an installation on the roof of a home on May 9, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Solar installers could offer rooftop customers even more savings by bundling solar panels with heat pumps and other electric appliances, according to a recent study by the Rocky Mountain Institute.
RMI studied the carbon benefits and financial costs of electrification of home heating in four U.S. cities. The carbon reductions were pronounced in three of the four. The financial costs were harder to overcome—unless the electricity comes not from the grid, but from the rooftop.
As hurricane activity starts to ramp up, Meteorologist Bobby Deskins is tracking a wave in the Windward Islands that's expected to bring heavy rain to the Southeast early next week. USA TODAY
usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - August 29, 2018
The sleeping giant may be about to awaken.
Hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico is forecast to ramp up over the next couple of weeks. "Weather models have flipped the switch on the Atlantic hurricane season and see multiple areas of development possible, starting mainly this weekend," weather.us meteorologist Ryan Maue said.