Washington state wants to make homes for its most vulnerable residents greener and healthier.
It started with a needs assessment from the Department of Commerce on housing energy resilience to figure out what it will take.
Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, policy and partnerships manager for Firelands Workers Action, a group in rural western Washington organizing on issues such as housing, said improving housing will not just make the house more energy resilient, but also remove health concerns lurking inside.
“People have been told by their doctor, ‘Hey, the bronchitis you have is caused by the mold in your house. You’ve got spots in your lungs that will never go away because of the indoor air quality of the place where you live,’ ” Schromen-Wawrin observed.
Schromen-Wawrin noted about 0.3% of houses in Washington are being weatherized or upgraded each year. The state’s goal is 10%. His organization has submitted an application to help the state scale up the program.
Schromen-Wawrin argued making home improvements would not only create healthier, more energy-efficient places to live, but also help the state tackle its growing housing crisis. He explained it is common for older Washingtonians who age in place to stop maintaining their housing out of lack of funds or resources.
“If we lose existing housing, then we’re just going to get further and further behind,” Schromen-Wawrin cautioned. “We can lose housing through people not being able to maintain their housing. You know, if your roof leaks, you’re basically rotting out the structure.”
On improvements to save energy, Schromen-Wawrin noted there are a number of options. Ductless heat pumps, for instance, will be important as summers in the Northwest warm up, since they can both heat and cool homes. He added it is important to get a wider perspective.
“Really, we have to think of housing, and the electrical grid as a whole, as something that we all collectively share,” Schromen-Wawrin emphasized.
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A federal court’s decision to require the Department of Interior to consider the potential health and climate impacts of coal mining on public lands could finally give sovereign tribes in Wyoming a seat at the table.
Connie Wilbert, director of the Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter, said until now, federal agencies just paid lip service to concerns raised by tribes about impacts to drinking water, air quality and their way of life.
“This is a big step towards requiring much more serious consideration and full disclosure of all of the impacts that coal leasing on federal land will have on tribes,” Wilbert contended.
Coal industry groups warned the decision would put a question mark on future plans. The ruling reinstates a moratorium on federal coal leasing established under the Obama administration, a pause intended to give agencies time to investigate the cumulative impacts of coal mining. The moratorium has been opposed by industry groups and state officials concerned about possible lost jobs and tax revenues.
Wilbert argued getting off coal will be far less expensive than the financial and human costs brought on by more frequent and intense wildfires, floods and prolonged drought. She believes the way to help workers and communities dependent on the fossil-fuel industry is not to pretend climate change is not happening.
“It’s to find ways to change our economy, our economic activity in this state and other states, in ways that aren’t so harmful to us all,” Wilbert asserted.
Coal operators hold enough leases to continue mining through the next decade, but according to a 2021 analysis, 90% of coal must remain in the ground in order to avert the worst-case projections of leading scientists.
Wilbert emphasized recent court rulings, along with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in Congress to boost clean energy production, makes it obvious the age of coal is coming to an end.
“We have to stop using fossil fuels as an energy source as quickly as we can to avert the worst of climate change,” Wilbert stressed. “We don’t need to start 10 years from now, we need to start today.”
Disclosure: The Sierra Club’s Wyoming Chapter contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, and Energy Policy. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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Congress has passed legislation making the largest investment in clean energy in U.S. history.
It has grassroots organizations like Northern Plains Resource Council ecstatic.
Joanie Kresich, board chair of the Council, which represents family agriculture in Montana, said the Inflation Reduction Act is historic for the groups pushing for action on climate change.
“We’ve never wavered from a vision for a clean energy future, and we feel that vision is within reach now,” Kresich asserted. “It’s really exciting: Finally, after decades of hope, to have real legislation that’s going to help us do what we need to do.”
The bill the U.S. House passed over the weekend was slimmed down, compared to earlier versions of the legislation. But it still includes $370 billion for clean-energy programs and is estimated to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 40% by 2030. The bill passed along party lines, with Republicans saying it only expands the deficit and size of government.
Kresich noted the legislation also invests in farmers and ranchers. She pointed out they are on the front lines of climate change and depend on a reliable climate for their work.
“Now we’re going to get some really significant federal help, and that’s really exciting,” Kresich emphasized.
Kresich stressed the changing climate is affecting Montana, and pointed to the recent flooding on the Yellowstone River, which destroyed houses in places like Livingston.
“The kind of damage that happened is a reminder of why we’re doing this,” Kresich explained. “Why we’re trying to make this transition to a clean-energy future.”
Disclosure: The Northern Plains Resource Council contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, and Rural/Farming Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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In the wake of historic summer floods in the Midwest and Appalachia, there are calls for a new national plan to reduce risks from disasters.
The bipartisan National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act would help reduce inefficiencies within the federal government in natural-disaster recovery and preparedness programs.
Mathew Sanders, senior manager of The Pew Charitable Trusts “Flood-Prepared Communities” project, explained it would create a White House Chief Resilience Officer who would help coordinate efforts between the federal, state and local levels.
“We have to have a larger volume and more high-quality and comprehensive plan that puts us in a better place with respect to all these disaster events, compared to where we are today,” said Sanders. “That would be a huge benefit, to Ohio and every other state.”
Currently, federal disaster-recovery programs are spread across at least 17 federal agencies. The National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate in January.
More than 15 states now have climate resilience planning initiatives, as do several cities. In Cincinnati, Councilwoman Meeka Owens chairs the Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Committee.
“The science and the data is telling us what’s happening,” said Owens. “And so cities like Cincinnati have to be prepared with storm-water mitigation, with resiliency around access to food, with how we are improving health metrics as a result.”
Owens contended that additional federal resources would be a catalyst for local efforts to address climate change.
“We really can’t afford not to act on a broad scale,” said Owens. “There is a cost to inaction and so, for every dollar that we can spend in mitigating an issue like this, we’ll also save money in the long run.”
A recent report suggests cities in Ohio will need to spend between $2 billion and $6 billion in the next half-century to address the effects of climate change.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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