Climate Change

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

From Planning to Action: How LA County Is Rethinking Climate Resilience
Chief Sustainability Officer Rita Kampalath outlines the County’s shift from planning to implementation in its climate resilience efforts, emphasizing cross-departmental coordination, updated recovery strategies, and the need for flexible funding.

USDOT Repeals Emissions Monitoring Rule
A Biden-era regulation required states to report and plan to reduce transportation-related emissions.

NRDC Releases State Transportation Scorecard
The Getting Transportation Right report highlights which states are making the most progress on reducing transportation emissions and improving access to clean transportation options.

FEMA Resilience Program Cuts Grant Funding
The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program funded projects from flood prevention to power station upgrades.

Which US Rail Agencies Are Buying Zero-Emissions Trains?
U.S. rail agencies are slowly making the shift to zero-emissions trains, which can travel longer distances without refueling and reduce air pollution.

Report Outlines Strategies for Resilient Wildfire Recovery in LA
Project Recovery offers a roadmap for rebuilding more sustainable and climate-resilient communities after wildfires and other disasters.

Public Parks as Climate Resilience Tools
Designed with green infrastructure, parks can mitigate flooding, reduce urban heat, and enhance climate resilience, offering cost-effective solutions to environmental challenges while benefiting communities.

Study: Drops in Transit Ridership Linked to Extreme Weather
Unsurprisingly, people are less likely to use transit during extreme weather events, which are becoming more common around the country.

A Lone Voice for Climate: How The Wild Robot Stands Apart in Hollywood
Among this year’s Oscar-nominated films, only The Wild Robot passed the Climate Reality Check, a test measuring climate change representation in storytelling, highlighting the ongoing lack of climate awareness in mainstream Hollywood films.

Planning Trends for 2025: Creative Housing Solutions, Ongoing Transit Woes, and the Ever-Creeping Tentacles of AI
Urban planners have no shortage of urgent issues to delve into, from a deepening housing crisis to an increasingly unpredictable climate to a new federal administration bent on slashing key funding for everything from electric cars to housing assistance.

Trump Administration Unfreezes Pennsylvania Climate Funding Amidst Lawsuits
Funding for air and water quality programs still at risk.

LA’s Trees Absorb More Carbon Than Expected, But Can’t Do It Alone
A USC study finds that Los Angeles’ urban trees absorb more carbon than expected, but while they provide crucial environmental benefits, they cannot replace the urgent need for systemic emissions reductions.

Elevating Environmental Journalism: A Masterclass in Climate Storytelling
Pulitzer Prize finalist Rosanna Xia visited the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, sharing her climate reporting expertise through sea level rise field tours, engaging storytelling workshops, and an inspiring public lecture.

Sustainability Expert Becomes Dean of USC’s School of Public Policy
Chris Boone, a sustainability leader, becomes dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy, where he aims to advance interdisciplinary solutions and sustainability initiatives while building on the school’s legacy of public policy leadership.

Building Resilient Communities: Insights from the LA County Cities Summit
The Los Angeles County Cities Summit convened local leaders to share strategies for advancing sustainability, addressing climate resilience, extreme heat, and other pressing environmental challenges through policy and community-driven solutions.

How to Make Manufactured Housing More Resilient
Manufactured housing builders must balance affordability with the need to protect housing against extreme weather events.

Parks as Community Lifelines: Supporting Residents During Times of Crisis
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation demonstrates how parks serve as vital community infrastructure by adapting to crises, offering public health services, disaster relief, and essential support for residents in need.

Is the Urban Form Sustainable?
One author offers a framework for resilience that rethinks common assumptions about the inevitability of cities as we know them.

Rising Above: Innovative Solutions for Waikīkī’s Sea-Level Challenges
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s award-winning Waikīkī sea-level rise adaptation project combines science, architecture, and community input to create scalable solutions for climate resilience and coastal flood mitigation.
Pagination
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service