Airplanes sink in melted asphalt, trains derail along kinked tracks, highways buckle over dry soil; these aren't scenes from a science fiction film depicting a future plagued by global warming. Climate change is here, and it's taxing our grid.
Matthew L. Wald and John Schwartz describe the rapid changes in weather patterns effecting the nation's infrastructure - from roads to rails to power plants - and taxing the minds of engineers and officials across the county, as extreme weather is the new normal and no area of the country is spared from its effects. "In general, nobody in charge of anything made of steel and concrete can
plan based on past trends, said Vicki Arroyo, who heads the Georgetown Climate Center at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, a clearinghouse on climate-change adaptation strategies."
Although cities and towns across North America are devising and implementing climate adaptation strategies (North Carolina, are you paying attention?), David Behar, the
climate program director for the San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission, believes that, "Even as the effects of weather extremes become more evident, precisely
how to react is still largely an open question."
"Ms. Arroyo of Georgetown said the federal government must do more. 'They
are not acknowledging that the future will look different from the
past,' she said, 'and so we keep putting people and infrastructure in
harm's way.'"
FULL STORY: Weather Extremes Leave Parts of U.S. Grid Buckling

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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