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A brightly colored illustration showing a green hydrogen hub. A container ship on a waterway and a hydrogen production and storage facility are in the foreground, a solar panel array and wind turbines are in the mid-ground, and a city and sunset sky are in the distance.

Can Hydrogen Help Combat the Climate Crisis?

ExplainerUnited StatesSusan Cosier
Hydrogen hubs across the country seek to fuel high-emission industries with cleaner energy.
Aerial view of the National Petroleum Reserve in northwestern Alaska

The Biden Administration Protects Millions of Acres of Arctic Alaska

Latest NewsAlaskaJenny Shalant
The new Special Areas Rule in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska could boost biodiversity and empower Indigenous Peoples to defend the lands they’ve relied on for generations.
Two adults and a child walk along a sandy shoreline

“Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home

ExplainerUnited StatesMolly M. Ginty, Courtney Lindwall
These toxic chemicals are so common in consumer products and manufacturing that they’re everywhere—including inside our bodies.

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Weaker Building Codes in North Carolina's Future.

Expert BlogNorth CarolinaRob Moore
North Carolina already has some of the weakest building codes in the nation when it comes to protecting people from hazards and disasters, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Division of Building Sciences. But the state’s legislature is determined…

Accurate Flood Maps are Essential for Climate Adaptation

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore
FEMA received three recommendations from an advisory panel that would greatly improve the reliability of its flood maps and put an end to the practice of fill and build – if the recommendations are implemented.

Vermont Floods Illustrate the Need for Reforms by FEMA and State

Expert BlogVermontRob Moore
Flooding in Vermont has once again exposed serious weaknesses in the state and federal policies that govern floodplain development and ensure that information is provided to people about the risks of flooding. Because Vermont and FEMA’s flood policies fail to…

Ian and Congressional Failure to Reform Flood Insurance

Expert BlogFloridaRob Moore

Hurricane Ian has cost the lives of at least 120 people as of this writing, displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes, and impacted over a million more people due to flooding, loss of power, water, or sewer…

IPCC: Sea Level Rise Adaptation Is Essential, Not Optional

Expert BlogUnited States, InternationalRob Moore

Climate change has already locked in almost a foot of sea level rise by 2050 and more in the decades beyond. All levels of government in the United States need to recognize the peril they face and act accordingly.

Climate Change Demands New Paradigm for Disaster Management

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore
As climate change makes catastrophic events like Hurricane Ida, the Caldor and Dixie fires in California, and prolonged drought in the southwestern United States more likely and more severe (and recovery more costly), we need an overhaul of how we…

Infrastructure Package Should Include $50b for Resilience

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

With the climate emergency creating dangerous weather across the nation, from historic droughts in the Southwest to a withering heat dome across the Midwest to an earlier heat dome in the Pacific Northwest, Congress is working on much-needed investments in…

The Promise of Climate Resilience and Biden’s Jobs Plan

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore
President Biden is unveiling his American Jobs Plan today, laying out a much-anticipated and bold vision for creating jobs, addressing inequity and inequality, and setting in motion one of the biggest single investments in the nation’s infrastructure of all time…

House Climate Plan Takes Aim at Flooding and Sea Level Rise

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis has some solid recommendations for how the nation can address flooding and sea level rise. Better codes and standards, insurance, and major reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program are among the…

NC's Missing the Big Picture on Climate Resilience

Expert BlogNorth CarolinaRob Moore

NC is applying for $168 million from HUD's CDBG-MIT fund. But NC is proposing to focus on a narrow range of projects and missing the larger opportunity to use these funds to make much-needed changes to a range of local…

$6.875 Billion Available for Climate Resilience from HUD

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

The long-awaited funding will go to nine states and five local jurisdictions to support activities like home buyouts, more resilient housing, and infrastructure that can withstand future climate-driven disasters. 

Midwest Floods May Lead Illinois to New Solutions

Expert BlogUnited States, IllinoisRob Moore

The Midwest floods of 2019 have caused hardship and loss but, Illinois has not seen much in the way of damages. Part of the reason is because Illinois has strong floodplain management regulations, something Governor Pritzker is expected to keep…

Congress Wants to Know Why FEMA Buyouts Take So Long

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

FEMA-backed home buyouts can take years to complete, leaving homeowners caught in limbo worrying whether another flood will strike and waiting to learn if and when they’ll be able to move. The Promoting Flood Risk Mitigation Act (H.R. 5846) seeks…

New Legislation Would Require Review of FEMA Buyout Efforts

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

A bi-partisan group of Senators and Members of House of Representatives have introduced legislation to determine why it so difficult for repeatedly flooded-homeowners to obtain assistance to move to higher ground. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tim Scott (R-SC) have…

States Need to Go Back to the Well and Leverage SRF Dollars

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

Over the next few decades, the United States is facing a $1 trillion shortfall in water infrastructure funding. To close this gap, more federal funding is needed. States could be doing much more to leverage federal funding they already have…