"For the past 25 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has helped develop building codes, the construction standards that help houses survive hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes. Now, the Trump Administration has ordered that to stop, according to people involved with the work."
"President Trump intends to revoke federal approval of New York City’s congestion pricing program, fulfilling a campaign promise to reverse the policy that tolls drivers who enter Manhattan’s busiest streets to help finance repairs to mass transit."
Environmental journalists aiming to report local or regional stories on real estate climate risk should explore an impressive bit of data journalism on the subject; Reporter’s Toolbox lauds it not just for the exemplary work, but also because the project, from The Washington Post, allows them to look up a variety of risks in their own locales.
Whether fires in California or flooding in North Carolina, climate disasters are revealing a major fault line in U.S. emergency response — a serious insurance shortfall that may lead to financial catastrophe. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the risks of underinsured disasters, the limits to the national flood insurance programs and FEMA aid, and the predictable scapegoating that has created solution gridlock.
"Landlords and real estate agencies are jacking up the rent on houses as demand outstrips supply in fire-torn LA."
"The growth of homes in areas primed to burn played a major role in the disaster."
"President-elect Donald Trump will have wide authority over Los Angeles’ recovery from the wildfires that have decimated areas of the city — even though President Joe Biden approved disaster aid in the final days of his term."
"By learning the secrets of 2,000-year-old cement, researchers are trying to devise greener, more durable modern options."
"Black residents of Louisiana’s St. James Parish asked a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn a lower court ruling and give them the opportunity to argue at trial that local land-use policies are racist and have concentrated polluting industrial plants in their neighborhoods."
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