Oh, my gosh, I signed up for the Environmental and Energy Study Institute’s newsletter and got my first one. So! Many! Things!
Just a couple of examples:
Building Green: How Affordable Housing Can Tackle Justice and Sustainability by Sydney O’Shaughnessy.
It’s no secret that housing takes up around 50% of low-income workers’ paychecks, or that older buildings tend to be less well-insulated, resulting in higher energy costs. But some cities are retrofitting older buildings with green technology to bring down energy costs, including renovating abandoned buildings to increase the housing available.
With President Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan, green affordable housing for all may be on the horizon. In addition to increasing wages for frontline workers, the bill outlines a plan to retrofit over two million buildings to create energy-efficient and resilient housing. Biden called the plan a “once-in-a-generation investment in America.”
Sydney O’Shaughnessy
This one by Hamzah Jhaveri sounds kind of dry: Improving National Infrastructure Through Resilience and Pre-Disaster Mitigation, but it sure isn’t! As Roy Wright, President and CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, said, “Housing is infrastructure,” so it was good to read:
A focus on social and economic equity punctuated the hearing. Wright said that resilience should not be a luxury item for homeowners. In response to a question from Rep. Titus on better ways to build resilience in underserved communities, Wright expressed concerns about the ability of low-income communities to match federal grants when they lack sufficient local revenue. More private investment must target high-poverty communities, which are typically more vulnerable to climate change impacts, according to Wright. Smith proposed a needs-based sliding scale that could better address cost-sharing inequities between localities.
Hamzah Jhaveri
Many solutions are brewing, and nobody must be left behind.
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write about a substandard house, human or animal or alien.
MA
