The Resilience Roundup highlights announcements and events along with links to the previous month's state, regional, and national resilience news.
|
|
Our Year in Review
Like most organizations, CIRCA continued adapting to challenging times in 2021. Following are highlights from our Institute's work over the past year:
If you have questions or want more information about any of the above topics, please send us an email ([email protected]). We look forward to sustaining our partnerships while building new working relationships for a more Resilient Connecticut in 2022.
Wishing you a healthy and bright new year!
|
|
Municipal Resilience Grant Program - 2022 Funds Available
CIRCA is pleased to announce new Municipal Resilience Grant Program (MRGP) funding. Proposals are now being accepted from municipal governments, non-governmental organizations in partnership with municipalities, and councils of governments. Up to $150,000 is available in each of two tracks that advance the following climate activities: 1) implementing stormwater authorities, and 2) developing a resilience “project pipeline.” This new round of MRGP funding supports implementation of CT's climate priorities identified by the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3) and in PA 21-115, An Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation. For more information and to apply, visit the Municipal Grants webpage. Applications are due February 1, 2022
A webinar to learn more about this grant funding will be held on January 7, 2022 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Register to attend and hear more about how to apply.
|
|
CIRCA is Hiring - Join Our Climate Research Team
Postdoctoral Research Associate Climatologist
The Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) will work on a team developing science that supports the climate resilience framework for Connecticut. The PDRA will gain experience working in a research team environment at CIRCA and have opportunities for professional development. With the supervision of the Assistant Director of Research, the PDRA will work to determine the potential impact of global warming on the communities of Connecticut using measurements, data analysis and models. Applications close 1/15/22.
Oceanographic Research Assistant 2
The University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences (DMS), and the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) seek a candidate for the position of Oceanographic Research Assistant to work as a member of a team of scientists based at the Avery Point Campus that deploy and maintain a wide variety of instruments to measure conditions in the coastal environment. Work on ships and small boats in challenging conditions and in all types of weather, and several multi-day trips per year will be required. Applications close 1/15/22.
|
|
Governor Lamont Signs Executive Order Directing Connecticut State Agencies To Implement Actions That Reduce Carbon Emissions and Adapt to Climate Crisis
Governor Ned Lamont announced that he signed an executive order (Executive Order No. 21-3) directing Connecticut executive branch state agencies to take significant actions within their authority to reduce carbon emissions and prepare for the impacts of the climate crisis. Connecticut is increasingly experiencing the effects of the changing climate, and precious little time remains to take action to mitigate the impacts the state will experience in the future.
|
|
Urban Forestry Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is requesting proposals for the Urban Forestry Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program. The grant application process is open to 501(c)3 non-profits and municipalities. The funding allocation for the grants will be $5,000 – 10,000 over a one-year project timeframe. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from January 1 - March 15, 2022.
|
|
The Urban Forestry Climate Change Grant Program
The CT Urban Forest Council is pleased to announce the offering of its Urban Forestry Climate Change Grants. This grant program is to support projects based in urban forestry that also address the local effects of climate change and include equity and environmental justice considerations. The grants awarded will be for a maximum of $37,000. All grant projects must be within the State of Connecticut. Municipalities and 501(c)3 non-profits are eligible. All grants much be matched by at least a 25% contribution towards the total value of the project. The application period for this second set of grants is now open, with applications due by February 2, 2022.
|
|
CT DEEP Climate Solutions Webinar:
Governor's Executive Order 21-3 on Climate
January 4, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Governor Lamont signed Executive Order No. 21-3 addressing the climate crisis using the full authority of the executive branch, informed by GC3 recommendations. This webinar will describe the 23 wide-ranging actions of the order which are informed by the best available climate science, promote equity and environmental justice, and align with 30+ near-term actions of the GC3. The EO actions cut across agencies and sectors in the areas of buildings and infrastructure; community climate resilience; clean transportation; health, equity and environmental justice; jobs and the economy; and natural and working lands.
|
|
EBC Infrastructure Leadership Webinar: Regional DOT Leadership on Transportation Goals for New England
January 6, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
This EBC Infrastructure Leadership Webinar will include briefings from multiple New England transportation agency leaders about regional transportation initiatives, goals, and priorities going into 2022. Transportation leaders from around New England (including CT DOT's Garrett Eucalitto) will speak about state transportation agency plans to address issues such as climate adaptation and resiliency, plans to accommodate the growth of the electric vehicle fleet; and plans for investment in upgraded transit, commuter rail, and highway infrastructure.
|
|
EBC Climate Change Webinar: Exploring Climate Impacts
on Natural Systems
January 13, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Recently, the climate adaptation field has placed significant focus on the impacts of climate change on the built environment; however, we know that natural resources and systems are also being significantly affected. It is important to understand how climate change is changing natural resources so that we can anticipate and account for these changes into projects being planned today and help natural systems adapt. This EBC webinar will include researchers and practitioners studying these impacts in New England and incorporating them into their work. Speakers will address a range of natural resources from wetlands, forests, soils, biodiversity, and more.
|
|
MA MVP Winter Webinar #1:
Local and Regional Climate Adaptation Tools
January 19, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Join the MA Municipal Vulnerability Program to learn about existing tools that you can access to support the implementation of nature-based solutions and climate resilient regulations. Local land use policies and planning decisions can help build climate resilience for your community and your neighboring communities. Fortunately, each town doesn't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to developing climate resilient land use strategies and nature-based solutions. This is the first in a three part webinar series where you can learn about existing resources and how you can incorporate them into your daily practice.
|
|
Fact Sheet: How Can Revolving Loan Funds
Make Our Coasts More Resilient?
The Environment and Study Institute (ESSI) has published a fact sheet on how revolving loan funds can increase coastal resilience. A revolving loan fund (RLF) is a self-replenishing financing mechanism that can be used to fund programs, ranging from small business development to clean water infrastructure. The fact sheet includes two case studies and explains that revolving loan funds "start with a base level of capital, often consisting of private investment or grants from the federal government or state. This capital is then loaned out to several borrowers."
|
|
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Sustainable Solutions Lab Release Working Paper on the Climate and Housing Crisis
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, in partnership with the Sustainable Solutions Lab at UMass Boston, has released a working paper entitled "Climate and Housing Crisis: A Research Agenda for Urban Communities". This product identifies some key research questions that could substantially advance our ability to make investments that support housing stability and respond to climate change at the same time.
|
|
A Guidebook for Community Conversations on Climate Migration
The Climigration Network, supported by the Georgetown Climate Center, has released "Lead with Listening: A Guidebook for Community Conversations on Climate Migration". The guidebook summarizes lessons learned from interviews with more than 40 individuals. It is intended to help practitioners and community leaders begin conversations about climate migration with an equity mindset.
|
|
CCRI Risk and Resilience Report:
Addressing Physical Climate Risks in Infrastructure Investment
This paper focuses on the need to incorporate physical climate risks in infrastructure design and investment decision-making. It presents how the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI) is addressing the ‘climate resilience market failure’ through the implementation of tools, methodologies and principles to help various stakeholders involved in infrastructure planning, including the financial industry, build resilience to a changing climate.
|
|
UCLA Study: Adapting to Extreme Heat in California
A comprehensive statewide approach would better protect Californians from the Golden State’s deadliest climate change side effect: extreme heat. That’s according to Adapting to Extreme Heat in California: Assessing Gaps in State-level Policies & Funding Opportunities, a new study by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. The authors note that California is planning to spend $800 million over the next two years to address extreme heat and is also developing a framework for heat preparedness.
|
|
FEMA Releases New Strategic Plan
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell released the agency’s “2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan”, outlining a bold vision and three ambitious goals designed to address key challenges the agency faces during a pivotal moment in the field of emergency management. The goals are to instill equity as a foundation of emergency management, lead the whole of community in climate resilience and promote and sustain a ready FEMA and prepared nation.
|
|
State and Regional News Clips |
|
Closer Collaboration and Community Outreach for Urban Sustainability, Together at Hartford Campus
UCONN Today - December 9, 2021
Two prominent UConn units focused on applying scholarship to urgent social needs, the Sustainable Global Cities Initiative (SGCI), and the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) are partnering to use their expertise and resources in addressing some of the major challenges facing cities in the 21st century.The partnership between CIRCA and SCGI aims to help build more environmentally sustainable and resilient cities.
|
|
Maine Coastal Towns Join to Prevent Flooding
Using Nature-based Methods
Engineering News Record - December 12, 2021
Eleven coastal communities on Maine's Casco Bay are joining to use nature-based infrastructure to mitigate coastal flooding caused by the climate crisis. A $250,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $250,000 in matching funds from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, as well as and other grants and non-cash contributions, will support the two-year project that “aims to engage people whose livelihoods are affected by coastal flooding and help … plan for nature-based solutions to flooding,” said the Greater Portland Council of Governments.
|
|
Murphy Administration Advances Efforts to Sequester Carbon, Fight Climate Change with Release of Framework to Guide Management of Natural and Working Lands
NJ Gov - December 13, 2021
Complementing the Murphy Administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build greater climate resilience, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) have released for public review the outline of a strategy for managing natural and working lands that is intended to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere contributing to global warming.
|
|
Vulnerable to Climate Change, New York Constructs Seawall
PHYS Org - December 14, 2021
After major storms highlighted New York's weaknesses in the face of climate change, the city is erecting a $1.45-billion system of walls and floodgates to protect it from rising sea levels. Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was the trigger for establishing the East Coast Resiliency Project (ESCR), running 2.5 miles (four kilometers) along the shoreline of Lower Manhattan. Hurricane Ida, which ravaged parts of the city this year, added further urgency.
|
|
Greenwich official seeks to finish study on rising sea levels: ‘we need to get a move on’
Greenwich Time - December 16, 2021
GREENWICH — A town effort to plan for rising sea levels needs additional money to complete a study mapping out the possible impacts on the shoreline, and the COVID-19 pandemic is partially to blame for the cost overruns. “Getting this report finished and then to start implementing its recommendations is very important,” Town Director of Environmental Affairs Patricia Sesto told Greenwich Time.
|
|
Lamont Aims to Succeed on Climate Where the Legislature Failed
CT Mirror - December 16, 2021
Facing an election year with an environmental track record far skimpier than he may have wanted, Gov. Ned Lamont Thursday unveiled a massive climate change-focused executive order that could make up for some legislative shortcomings. It could also help reverse the state’s current trajectory that falls short of its 2030 greenhouse gas emission targets.
|
|
Maine Marks One Year of Ambitious Climate Plan with $25M in New Local Grant Programs
BDN Climate - December 18, 2021
One year into Maine’s Climate Action Plan, officials are launching new programs to help towns cut carbon emissions and adapt to the effects of warming temperatures. The four-year plan aims to get the state to net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, among other goals in line with what scientists say is necessary to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
|
|
Billions for Climate Protection Fuel New Debate:
Who Deserves It Most
New York Times - December 3, 2021
WASHINGTON — The new infrastructure law signed by President Biden includes almost $50 billion to protect communities against climate change, the largest such investment in United States history and a recognition that the effects of warming are outpacing America’s ability to cope. Mr. Biden has insisted that at least 40 percent of the benefits of federal climate spending will reach underserved places, which tend to be low income, rural, communities of color, or some combination of the three.
|
|
Carbon Trading Gets a Green Light from the U.N.,
and Brazil Hopes to Earn Billions
NPR - December 6, 2021
Carbon emissions trading is poised to go global, and billions of dollars — maybe even trillions — could be at stake. That's thanks to last month's U.N. climate summit, which approved a new international trading system where companies pay for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else, rather than doing it themselves. In theory, it's a more efficient way to fight climate change, paying for clean energy or forest preservation in countries that lack the resources to do it on their own.
|
|
Explainer: Was Tornado Outbreak Related to Climate Change?
AP News - December 12, 2021
Scientists say figuring out how climate change is affecting the frequency of tornadoes is complicated and their understanding is still evolving. But they do say the atmospheric conditions that give rise to such outbreaks are intensifying in the winter as the planet warms. And tornado alley is shifting farther east away from the Kansas-Oklahoma area and into states where Friday’s killers hit.
|
|
2021 Was a Remarkable Year for Earth’s Climate
Yale Climate Connections - December 14, 2021
This was a year full of climate-fueled extreme weather events, the publication of important new climate research and synthesis reports, and a crucial international climate negotiation. It ends with anticipation and uncertainty over whether the U.S. Congress will pass the country’s first-ever major climate change legislation.
|
|
What Losing Build Back Better Means for Climate Change
NPR - December 20, 2021
With billions of dollars for clean energy, the Build Back Better legislation has the potential to substantially and rapidly cut heat-trapping emissions in the U.S. But Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., rejected the bill on Sunday, and that means Build Back Better is effectively dead at a time when scientists say the world can't afford to wait on climate change. The policies are crucial for President Biden's goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50%-52% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
|
|
From Floods and Wildfires to inaction and urgency: These are the top climate and weather stories of 2021
CNN - December 22, 2021
The climate crisis took a catastrophic toll across the globe in 2021. From the Arctic to Louisiana and to China's Henan province, signs that climate change is already altering our weather were everywhere. This year's disasters are proof the climate crisis is intensifying and that the window is rapidly closing to slash our reliance on fossil fuels and to prevent changes that would transform life as we know it. This article summarizes the top 10 climate crisis stories of 2021.
|
|
In 2021, Climate Ambitions Soared and Crashed in the U.S.
and Around the World
NPR - December 22, 2021
After four years of near-silence about climate change in the White House, 2021 brought an abrupt shift. President Biden turned it into one of the defining issues of his presidency, proposing ambitious efforts to replace fossil fuels with clean energy sources and lead a global campaign to cut greenhouse gases. But as the year ended, it appeared that the most significant of those proposals had crashed into a wall of opposition from Republicans in Congress and one notable Democrat — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. And at a global summit, efforts to fight climate change lagged well behind promises to do so.
|
|
The Resilience Roundup highlights CIRCA's presence in the news, provides links to recent local/state/national news articles related to resilience and adaptation, and announces upcoming events and seminars.
The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation's (CIRCA) mission is to increase the resilience and sustainability of vulnerable communities along Connecticut's coast and inland waterways to the growing impacts of climate change and extreme weather on the natural, built, and human environment. The institute is located at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus and includes faculty from across the university. CIRCA is a partnership between UConn and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP).
|
|
State and Regional News Clips |
|
|
|
|
|
|
