Andrew Small
Andrew Small is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C., and author of the CityLab Daily newsletter (subscribe here). He was previously an editorial fellow at CityLab.
Also: Gentrification didn’t displace NYC’s most vulnerable children, and a “storefront tracker” tries to address vacancy.
What We’re Following
It’s not easy being green: Over the past two nights, CNN’s Democratic presidential debates dedicated a combined 20 minutes to climate change. That represents the most time spent discussing the issue on the national debate stage so far, after the network’s viewers told pollsters it was their top issue (New Republic). As candidates talk about their plans to decarbonize the U.S. economy to take on this urgent threat, cities have been taking action and setting their own ambitious goals to switch to renewable energy.
But there’s an awful lot more to be done, according to a new clean energy scorecard that ranks U.S. cities’ efforts to improve their energy efficiency. All in all, 48 cities have set goals to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, but only 11 are on track to meet those goals. A whopping 21 cities still lack sufficient data to even track their progress. The hope is that this new scorecard can help cities pick up the pace and do more to find energy savings. CityLab’s Linda Poon has the story: How American Cities Score on Clean Energy
More on CityLab
What We’re Reading
Lyft pulls electric bikes in San Francisco after batteries catch fire (The Verge)
The dying gasp of one local newspaper (New York Times)
Did the fire come to Paradise, or did Paradise go to the fire? (California Sunday)
The highway was supposed to save this city. Can tearing it down fix the sins of the past? (Jalopnik)
Air travel is a huge contributor to climate change. Now a global movement wants you to be ashamed to fly (Vox)
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About the Author
