• Electric cars shouldn’t distract us from changes to the built environment

    News that mining of lithium comes up short to solve the climate crisis highlights a need for walkability and micromobility.
    Governments and car manufacturers are touting electric vehicles (EVs) as the wonder antidote to climate change. EVs will need abundant mined lithium, a key component of EV batteries. A recent report by the Climate and Community Project at the University of California, Davis, Achieving Zero...Read more

  • Receiving zones and adaptation villages: A vision for climate change

    Korkut Onaran, author of Urbanism for a Difficult Future, has developed community planning ideas around self-sufficient places that rely on local technology.
    “ Receiver places ” are often conceived as communities in safe regions of the country, less subject to storms, floods, wildfires, and droughts associated with climate change. The name refers to the likelihood that such places will gain migrants from more dangerous regions. Korkut Onaran, an...Read more

  • It’s time to be honest about the impending costs of climate change

    The passage of the Biden Administration’s climate change package , the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” has predictably split along partisan lines, with Republicans characterizing the bill as an act of reckless government spending, certain to raise taxes and fuel further inflation. But does...Read more

  • City seeks quality of life in the face of flood risk

    A levee, with promenade, would connect Norfolk’s citizens to the waterfront and protect against rising seas. The city is developing a comprehensive vision for how to “thrive” with climate change.
    Of all of US coastal cities, the climate change issues faced by Norfolk, Virginia, are among the most challenging. Norfolk faces the double whammy of sea level rise and land that is sinking at a rate of about a half a foot per century. It’s a very low-lying city, and one of the most vulnerable in...Read more