Fort Lauderdale is investing $200 million in flood adaptation improvements to upgrade inadequate infrastructure and contend with sea level rise and more extreme rainfall. The funds will expand the number of pump stations from four to eight across seven different neighborhoods in the city. Read more.
Image: Road inundated with flood waters in the Florida Keys Monroe County has completed its Regional Roads Adaptation and Capital Plan study, which provides information on which of the county’s more than 300 miles of roadways need to be elevated or have drainage added in order to adapt to projected sea level rise (SLR). The
Extreme heat is increasingly understood as one of the most serious climate change risks in the Compact region. In Broward County, the average temperature in 2021 was 3.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was in 1921. Given this increasing risk to communities, Broward has advanced educational initiatives including a workshop over the summer, as well
In August, the state announced the distribution of more than $68 million in funding, made available via the Volkswagen Settlement Fund, toward the purchase of electric transit buses to replace existing diesel transit buses. The funding will support electric bus conversion in 13 Florida counties – including all four compact counties. In sum, the Compact
In August, the White House signed the most significant climate legislation ever passed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA includes $369 billion in clean energy and climate investments over the next decade and will provide an unprecedented opportunity to local governments to accelerate emission reduction and resilience goals. According to the nonpartisan
Florida’s Office of Energy has released the first statewide energy equity study to review the systemic inequalities, barriers, and limited access to public and private resources programs for LMI households. The study examines the demography and geography of low-to-moderate income populations and how their energy burdens intersect with environmental justice, energy efficiency programs, and transportation-related
The Inflation Reduction Act has been lauded as the most ambitious climate legislation in U.S. history, securing $369B in energy and climate spending and placing the nation on a path to roughly 40% emissions reduction by 2030. Learn more about how the Inflation Reduction Act will significantly advance affordable clean energy and resilience objectives in
In November, the Miami City Commission voted unanimously to grant final approval to its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction plan Miami Forever Carbon Neutral, committing the city to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The city envisions that its carbon mitigation and climate adaptation commitments are directly aligned with its goals to reduce socioeconomic disparities and increase
Last year, through Senate Bill 1954, the Resilient Florida Grant Program was established to support communities in their efforts to prepare for sea level rise and increased flooding. To fund this effort, Governor DeSantis directed $404 million of COVID-19 relief dollars via the federal American Rescue Plan championed by the Biden Administration to 113 projects
Last summer, the Compact invited the 111 local and tribal governments in the region to respond to a voluntary annual survey in order to inform a baseline understanding of regional progress toward the 11 climate mitigation and adaptation priorities identified in the Compact Climate Assessment Tool (C-CAT), and how equity was embedded for each priority