Climate Change & Infrastructure

Sea level rise. Wildfires. Droughts. Floods. Extreme heat. These and other climate impacts affect our nation’s already-aging infrastructure, including roads, bridges, power grids, water, and wastewater systems. The toll on public health and safety is enormous. Investing in infrastructure presents an opportunity to avoid even more intense impacts, and to build a low-carbon economy. Our experts explain what the risks and opportunities are, how we can build community resilience, and what we can do to advance climate-smart infrastructure.


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Development to Meet San Joaquin Valley’s Population Growth, Extreme Temperature Must be Climate-Smart

, Western states senior climate analyst

November 6, 2019 5:42 PM EDT

Living in the San Joaquin Valley means living with heat, where historically July temperatures can regularly be 95-100°F. Over the next 30-70 years, it will get even hotter due to heat-trapping carbon emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels. These higher temperatures will place additional pressure on the region’s critical infrastructure and vulnerable populations, like children, the elderly, and outdoor workers. Hotter days and nights can also stress the infrastructure that people rely on to keep cool when it is dangerously hot outside, like the electricity grid and buildings. Read more >

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California’s Infrastructure Earns a C-. We Need More Equitable and Climate-Safe Infrastructure Now

, Western states senior climate analyst

May 17, 2019 5:18 PM EDT

I count on the quality and reliability of our roads, water and wastewater systems, and electric grid to help me keep my daughter safe from harm and provide an environment where she can thrive. Many other parents do, too. These expectations seem reasonable. They will, however, become even harder to meet in the face of continued underinvestment and disinvestment in communities and more frequent and severe climate-related extreme events here in California and beyond. These issues must be key considerations in infrastructure decisions and solutions moving forward. Read more >

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Photo: John Rogers

Three Ways Federal Infrastructure Policy Can Speed Up Our Clean Energy Transition

, senior energy analyst

May 14, 2019 3:36 PM EDT

May thirteenth marked the beginning of Infrastructure Week and, as you might have heard, there might be at least one thing that Republicans and Democrats agree on: the need to invest in our nation’s aging infrastructure to remain competitive and build a more resilient, equitable system. This includes the electricity sector, where we must decarbonize our electricity supply, address growing threats to system resilience from climate change, and invest in the research and development of technologies that will power our growing clean energy economy. Here’s three ways a federal infrastructure policy package could help make this happen. Read more >

Photo: John Rogers
Photo: James Ferguson/Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Derrick Jackson
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Photo: AWEA

How Big is Gridlock in our Electric Grid?

, Senior energy analyst

May 10, 2019 1:59 PM EDT

Progress in electric power, particularly the growth of renewable energy and consumer choice, is looking like gridlock.  Look closer and we can see three fundamental issues: state policy vs. federal policy; changing perspectives on reliability, and how electric grid planning should accommodate the ongoing transition to renewable energy. We even have gridlock in the appointment and continuity of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that oversees much of the decision making in these spaces.

Read more >

Photo: AWEA
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Three Climate Priorities the New Congress Can Actually Deliver On

, director of gov't affairs, Climate & Energy

January 17, 2019 11:34 AM EDT

What can actually get done right now? Read more >

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