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State of Montana Executive Order 8-2019: Creating the Montana Climate Solutions Council and Joining the State of Montana to the U.S. Climate Alliance
July 1, 2019
On July 1, 2019, Montana Governor Steve Bullock signed Executive Order 8-2019, establishing the Montana Climate Solutions Council and committing the state to the U. S. Climate Alliance. The Executive Order directs the Council to work with state agencies to incorporate climate adaptation and resilience strategies into state plans and operations, and to put forth recommendations for reducing Montana’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, the EO requires that future state planning efforts include adaptation strategies and considerations for better preparing the state for climate-related risks and disasters, and that, where necessary, agencies prepare a Supplemental Climate Plan on adaptation and resilience for current and future state plans.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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Equitable Recovery, Equitable Resilience
August 2020
This white paper from Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) describes the roles that community organizations play in responding to natural disasters, as well as the accomplishments and challenges relating to this work. With natural disasters related to climate change occuring at increasingly frequent rates, community organizations provide critical emergency aid and recovery services. Furthermore, these services can help reduce the recovery gap within communities, as underlying economic, social, and housing factors and public policy decisions create disparities which are exacerbated through natural disasters. Drawing on interviews with various organizations in California, Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas, this paper reviews the different strategies that these groups use and puts forth some recommendations for policy changes that may be necessary to advance equity in recovery and resilience.
Resource Category: Solutions
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From Newtok to Mertarvik: A Native Alaskan Tribal Village Relocation
Several tribal villages in Alaska are facing impending community-wide climate impacts of permafrost degradation, sea level rise, erosion, and flooding — which require immediate adaptation measures, including the potential of managed retreat. However, only one, the Village of Newtok, is in the process of actively relocating to a new site, Mertarvik, which was conveyed to Newtok through a federal land grant. The Newtok team — composed of federal, state, and local tribal representatives — is prioritizing the development of housing, roads, energy, and an evacuation center in the near-term. The project goal is to relocate everyone in Newtok to Mertarvik by 2023. The Newtok relocation has been funded by a patchwork of federal and state agencies for over 20 years. This case study can highlight one approach and ongoing lessons learned for state and local jurisdictions confronting larger-scale questions about managed retreat, and the process of transitioning entire communities to higher ground.
Resource Category: Solutions
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Preserving Our Place — A Community Field Guide to Engagement, Resilience, and Resettlement: Community Regeneration in the Face of Environmental and Developmental Pressures
2019
In 2019, the Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe (IDJC) collaborated with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to release a field guide, Preserving Our Place — A Community Field Guide to Engagement, Resilience, and Resettlement: Community Regeneration in the Face of Environmental and Developmental Pressures. IDJC is in the process of relocating from the Louisiana coast to a new community further inland due to significant land loss and flooding impacts. The field guide was developed to serve dual purposes: first, to document the community engagement process that IDJC has developed throughout its resettlement planning process; and second, to provide procedural guidance and lessons learned for communities that are also contemplating large-scale relocation. The field guide can be used by other tribal or frontline coastal communities that are considering potential larger-scale managed retreat or relocation strategies to adapt to climate change impacts like sea-level rise and other stressors and pressures, like environmental justice and encroaching development.
Resource Category: Solutions
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Ask the Climate Question: Adapting to Climate Change Impacts in Urban Regions
June 2009
This report highlights the innovative measures local governments are implementing to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Developed by the Center for Clean Air Policy's (CCAP) Urban Leaders Adaptation Initiative, the report offers best practices for how cities and counties throughout the country should be thinking about the actions and strategies that can reduce their communities' vulnerability to the dangers of a changing climate. Additionally, guidance recommendations for the planning process are synthesized, as are recommendations for the federal government to support local adaptation efforts.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Ashley Lowe, Josh Foster, Steve Winkelman
Resource Category: Solutions
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Planning for Climate and Energy Equity in Maryland
December 2015
Funded by the Town Creek Foundation of Maryland, Skeo Solutions evaluated Maryland’s 2013 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act Plan - to determine the effects of the plan on state programs and disadvantaged communities. Aimed at enhancing social equity outcomes in Maryland’s climate planning, the programs were analyzed as to whether they benefit or reduce impacts on vulnerable communities - in order to identify programatic improvements, and the need for new initiatives. In addition, a number of long-term recommendations are offered to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate adaptation planning.
Author or Affiliated User: Marcus Griswold
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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Opportunities for Equitable Adaptation in Cities: A Workshop Summary Report
February 15, 2017
This summary report describes the conversations and discussions of participants during a two-day workshop help in April 2016 focusing on on city-level actions that would support social justice goals and better prepare communities for the effects of climate change. The workshop convened nearly 50 thought leaders on equity and climate adaptation, including city officials, representatives of environmental justice and social justice organizations, state and federal partners, and funders who support this work.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Melissa Deas, Jessica Grannis, James DeWeese, Sara Hoverter
Resource Category: Planning
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Toward Climate Resilience: A Framework and Principles for Science-Based Adaptation
July 13, 2016
The Union of Concerned Scientists present a climate resilience framework with 15 principles that decisionmakers can use to inform their climate resilience planning and actions. The 15 principles are divided into three categories: science-based decisionmaking, equitable outcomes, and common-sense approaches. The 15 principles described by the report are summarized below.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Erika Spanger-Siegfried, Jason Funk, Rachel Cleetus, Melissa Deas, Juliet Christian-Smith
Resource Category: Planning
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State Innovation on Climate Change: Reducing Emissions from Key Sectors While Preparing for a “New Normal” (GCC)
July 2016
From the Georgetown Climate Center (GCC), this Harvard Law and Policy Review article describes innovative actions being taken by states to encourage mitigation and adaptation. The paper explains that some states have taken on a leadership role in adaptation and mitigation in the absence of federal drivers. The adaptation section of the paper (beginning on page 415), provides an overview of the state’s role in encouraging adaptation at the local level and in taking steps to integrate adaptation in state planning, programs, and asset management.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Vicki Arroyo, Kate Zyla, Gabe Pacyniak, Melissa Deas
Resource Category: Planning
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The Value of Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Adaptation
February 2011
In this paper the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) provides information on the costs and benefits of “green” infrastructure solutions for bolstering local adaptation to climate change. The report provides examples of a variety of approaches to incorporating green practices as well as the benefits to urban communities, such as improvements in land value, quality of life, public health, hazard mitigation, and regulatory compliance. A selection of green infrastructure solutions are evaluated for their performance and benefits, discerning their value for climate adaptation.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Josh Foster, Ashley Lowe, Steve Winkelman
Resource Category: Solutions
