iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Jesse M. Keenan @jessemkeenan.com · 09/12/2025

See my commentary @washingtonpost.com in re changing patterns for climate risk "information" among consumers. The seasonal dimension does seem important, if it holds up statistically. It is nice to see Redfin engaged. www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Hurricanes and wildfires influence homebuyers, if only for a minute

Interest in climate risk surges after disasters, according to the real estate platform Redfin, but soon diminishes.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

In addition to all of the other benefits already reported about NYC congestion pricing, "In the first six months of the program, air pollution – in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller – dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)" news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...

news.cornell.edu

Congestion pricing improved air quality in NYC and suburbs | Cornell Chronicle

Cornell researchers tallied the environmental benefits of New York City’s congestion pricing program and found air pollution dropped by 22% in Manhattan, with additional declines across the city’s fiv...

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

As more communities are wrestling with energy affordability, new research from colleagues Anne Junod, @oriyacohen.bsky.social and Kameron Lloyd helps identify where solar investments reduce energy burdens www.urban.org/research/pub...

urban.org

Where Can Solar Investments Reduce Energy Burdens?

Rooftop solar offers households an opportunity to bring down energy costs and improve quality of life, but not all communities are well-positioned to act on …

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

New research from my colleagues @andrewrumbach.bsky.social and Kameron Lloyd explores *how* to rebuild with attention to energy efficiency, resilience and affordability, by looking closely at the Rebuilding Better program following the devastating Marshall Fire in 2021 www.urban.org/research/pub...

urban.org

Rebuilding Better after the Marshall Fire

This case study describes the Rebuilding Better program and key lessons learned by recovery officials about its design and implementation.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Climate injustice: “…in the aftermath of extreme weather events, lower-income neighbourhoods are less likely to rebuild and do not return to their pre-disaster state, whereas higher-income areas rebuild and tend to improve compared with their pre-disaster state…”

nature.com

Built environment disparities are amplified during extreme weather recovery - Nature

Higher-income neighbourhoods rebuild and improve after disasters while lower-income areas do not return to pre-disaster conditions.

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Zillow’s climate score rollback is a wake-up call: build open, future‑conditions federal flood maps -- gold‑standard, trustworthy data for building codes, mortgages, and our future. Column today: open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

open.substack.com

Zillow’s climate risk reversal looks like a setback. It’s really a wake‑up call.

When private models sow confusion, it’s a flashing warning sign that Washington needs to fix federal flood maps,

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Andrew Rumbach @andrewrumbach.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Interesting and some similar findings as our recent surveys in Colorado. In the US context, particularly troubling, given the attack on institutional emergency management.

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 14/08/2025

Research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social shows that federal government's sweep of homelessness in DC & other cities is a fool's errand. Criminalization & forced relocation: —Are an ineffective deterrent —Disrupt resources access —Prolong homelessness —Cost a lot of $ What solves homelessness? Housing.

urban.org

The National Guard Won’t End Homelessness. Housing Resources Can.

Despite a nationwide trend toward criminalizing people experiencing homelessness, decades of research show that housing resources and other supports remain the best solution to helping people exit hom...

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Mitchell Thorson @mitchellthorson.com · 13/08/2025

Excited to share this new piece from @urbaninstitute.bsky.social @wcurrangroome.bsky.social @andrewrumbach.bsky.social @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social and team that gives an excellent data-driven overview of the last 20 years of natural disasters and federal spending in Gulf Coast states. Lots of 📊!

A county-level map of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida showing the number of major natural disasters since Katrina. The text reads:

Every County in the Gulf Coast Has Suffered at Least 3 Major Disasters since Katrina, and Many Have Experienced 10 or More

Major disaster declarations by county, 2005–24

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency, “OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2”, accessed July 18, 2025, https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/disaster-declarations-summaries-v2.

Notes: Only major disaster declarations (DR) for natural hazard events are included in this analysis.

A time-series chart that shows the cumulative disaster-related property damage from 1992-2023 in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. There are annotations that show that sharp increases in damage align with well-known storms like Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Harvey, and Hurricane Ian.

The text reads:
Disaster Damages Continue to Rise in the Gulf Coast Twenty Years after Katrina

Cumulative disaster-related property damage, 1992–2023 ($)

Source: Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Arizona State University, 2025, “Spatial Hazard Events and Losses Database for the United States, Version 23.0,” accessed July 14, 2025.

Notes: All dollar amounts are in 2024 dollars. All per capita figures are calculated based on 2023 population estimates.

A time-based stacked column chart that shows the amount of FEMA pre-disaster hazard mitigation assistance funcing by program from 2005-2024, broken out into the following programs: SRL, RFC, FMA, PDM, BRIC, LPDM. The amount of funding trends upwards over time, with large totals over $800 million in 2022 and 23.

The text reads:
FEMA Has Granted Nearly $10 Billion for Hazard Mitigation, Mostly in Coastal Counties

FEMA pre-disaster hazard mitigation assistance funding by program, 2005–24 ($)

Source: FEMA, “OpenFEMA Dataset: Hazard Mitigation Assistance Projects – v4”, accessed July 20, 2025, https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/hazard-mitigation-assistance-projects-v4.

Notes: BRIC = Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities; FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency; FMA = Flood Mitigation Assistance; LPDM = Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation program; PDM = Pre-Disaster Mitgation grant program; RFC = Repetitive Flood Claims program; SRL = Severe Repetitive Loss grant program. All dollar amounts are in 2024 dollars. All per capita figures are calculated based on 2023 population estimates. Statewide and other multicounty projects’ funding amounts were attributed to the county level proportionate to county populations.

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

So often research in our field tells us how the policy *did* but not how it came to be. Super excited to dig into to the findings from my colleagues @yonahfreemark.com, Annie Rosenow, and Lydia Lo. Similar research in the hazard mitigation/climate resilience space desperately needed.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Andrew Rumbach @andrewrumbach.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Whether we call it 'reforming' or 'eliminating' FEMA, the Trump Administration intends to shrink the role of the federal government in disaster management. Do states have the fiscal capacity to take on additional responsibilities? New analysis and state-by-state data: www.urban.org/urban-wire/t...

urban.org

The Trump Administration Wants to Shrink the Federal Government’s Role in Disaster Management. Do States Have the Fiscal Capacity to Weather the Storm?

Taking on more disaster management responsibilities would be toughest for states at high risk of disasters with low fiscal capacity, such as Louisiana and North Carolina.

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Sarah Labowitz @sarahlabo.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

#2 The administration hasn’t approved a single request for Hazard Mitigation since 2/17/25. 31 requests are either denied or pending.

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Good news stories can feel few and far between, so it was pleasure to the amplify the message and share the evidence that social housing is a climate solution via @npr.org's @juliaradio.bsky.social Climate Solutions Week Sunday Story about Vienna's Green Social Housing. www.npr.org/2025/06/15/n...

npr.org

Could this city be the model for how to tackle the housing crisis and climate change?

Vienna has a way to make affordable housing and combat climate change all at the same time. Now U.S. cities want in, and they're building their own green housing.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Steve Bowen @stevebowen.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Updated all-time costliest National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) events on record. Note: Helene now sits at #4 ($6.18B), though nearly all of those payouts have come in Florida ($5.8B). North Carolina only at ~$0.2B. Most Americans living inland from the coast have no flood insurance coverage.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Zoë Schlanger @zoeschlanger.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Many close watchers of FEMA do think the agency needs a dramatic shake-up and that states should be responsible for more of the financial burden of catastrophe. This, however, is not what they meant. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

theatlantic.com

Last Call at the Disaster Department

Trump has signaled an end date for FEMA.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

yessenia funes @yessfun.com · 29/05/2025

this week's newsletter is out. it's all about trump's spending bill and how cuts to healthcare threaten the health of Americans as climate disasters make us sicker www.possibilities.news/trump-spendi...

possibilities.news

An American Tragedy

The president wants to pass a spending bill that threatens health coverage Americans desperately need in a climate-ravaged world.

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

This story illustrates post-fire moves with recent change of address data, but also relies heavily on first hand accounts from renters and homeowners alike. Appreciate the deep dive on the very human-angle of navigating loss and new beginnings

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Dana Drugmand @danad1012.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Great reporting from HEATED on Hawaii's first-in-the-nation "green fee" on tourists to help fund climate resiliency efforts heated.world/p/the-realit...

heated.world

The reality of Hawaii's tourist climate tax

A .75% tax will not destroy Hawaii's economy. But unchecked climate change will.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

News — David Richardson, Assistant Secretary for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, has been named the new Senior Official at FEMA.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Dr. Jeff Masters @drjeffmasters.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

A major loss to our understanding of how extreme weather events are affecting us. There are 3 alternative databases I will be using: Gallagher Re: www.ajg.com/gallagherre/... Aon: img.clients.aonunited.com/Web/Aon5/%7B... EM-DAT: www.emdat.be

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

As FEMA reforms roll out from the administration at a rapid speed, Congress has a different vision for the agency as laid out in the discussion draft bill by Graves, Larsen transportation.house.gov/uploadedfile...

transportation.house.gov

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · 07/05/2025

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 07/05/2025

Huge & exciting progress in Chicago, where a new public social housing agency will use a low-cost revolving loan fund to support green, mixed-income housing throughout the city.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Andrew Rumbach @andrewrumbach.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

I was losing track of all the changes to FEMA, and decided to write them down. Hope it is useful, and please let me know what I've missed! open.substack.com/pub/andrewru...

open.substack.com

100 Dizzying Days for FEMA

A summary of the Trump Administration 2.0's changes to the federal emergency management system

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

WIRED @wired.com · 05/05/2025

SCOOP: FEMA workers will stop knocking on doors to provide aid to survivors in disaster areas, per a memo obtained by WIRED. This comes as the agency is shifting responsibility for recovery efforts to local authorities. Oh, and it's hurricane preparedness week, btw.

wired.com

FEMA Is Ending Door-to-Door Canvassing in Disaster Areas

As it shifts responsibility for recovery efforts to local authorities, FEMA workers will stop knocking on doors to provide aid to survivors in disaster areas, per a memo obtained by WIRED.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Andrew Rumbach @andrewrumbach.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Curious how your state could be impacted by FEMA changing the threshold for federal disaster declarations? We provide a state-by-state analysis, based on disaster data spanning 17 years and multiple administrations: www.urban.org/urban-wire/p...

urban.org

Proposed Cuts to Federal Disaster Assistance Will Hit States Just as Hurricane Season Ramps Up

In the lead up to hurricane season, the Trump administration has proposed changes to federal disaster assistance, which would result in fewer disasters qualifying for federal aid and state and local g...

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 02/05/2025

Trump Admin has released its proposed budget for FY 2026. The cuts proposed to housing would be brutal, eliminating: —$26.7 b for affordable housing assistance —All community development block grants and the HOME program ($4.55 b) —The PRO Housing program ($100 m) www.whitehouse.gov/omb/informat...

Trump Admin's FY 2026 budget: Proposes cuts to state rental assistance block grant of $26.7 billion. In the text:

The Budget empowers States by transforming the current Federal dysfunctional rental assistance programs into a State-based formula grant which would allow States to design their own rental assistance programs based on their unique needs and preferences. The Budget would also newly institute a two-year cap on rental assistance for able bodied adults, and would ensure a majority of rental assistance funding through States would go to the elderly and disabled. A State-based formula program would also lead to significant terminations of Federal regulations. In combination with efforts related to opening up Federal lands, this model would incentivize States and the private sector to provide affordable housing. This proposal would encourage States to provide funding to share in the responsibility to ensure that similar levels of recipients can benefit from the block grant. The Budget includes $25 million in housing grants for youth aging out of foster care.

The FY 2026 Trump budget proposes eliminating the CDBG and HOME programs entirely, as well as reducing native american programs, homeless assistance programs, the lead hazard program, and self-sufficiency programs.

The FY 2026 Trump budget would kill the PRO Housing program and fair housing grants.

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

With big changes proposed to reduce federal role in disaster recovery, our team crunched the numbers from past disasters to see what these changes could mean for federal disaster spending, recovery, and state and local government budgets. Analysis here w/ state data: www.urban.org/urban-wire/p... 🧵

urban.org

Proposed Cuts to Federal Disaster Assistance Will Hit States Just as Hurricane Season Ramps Up

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

There's a substantial chance 2025 could be an unthinkably expensive disaster year in the US, says Swiss Re. But we keep building more expensive sandcastles along the beach, because developers vehemently oppose changes in how and where we build - new post today: open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

open.substack.com

Extraordinary coastal growth means 2025 could be a unthinkably expensive disaster year

Swiss Re warns there's a 1-in-10 chance this could be a year of $300 billion in disaster payouts -- but we keep building sandcastles on the beach

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Must read from @ruthygourevitch.bsky.social in @shelterforce.bsky.social on the impact of climate-fueled disasters on renters and how tenant unions can help push towards more equitable recovery and safer/more resilient housing shelterforce.org/2025/04/04/t...

shelterforce.org

The Climate Crisis Hits Tenants Hardest. They're Fighting Back.

From California to North Carolina, tenants are organizing to demand protections from natural disasters.

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Corbin Hiar @corbinhiar.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A government-backed green building rating system is for the first time ordering project developers to consider climate impacts. The move follows an E&E News investigation that found hundreds of new LEED-certified buildings are at risk of flooding. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

subscriber.politicopro.com

E&E News: New LEED building rules focus on climate disasters

The U.S. Green Building Council is updating its standards to account for rising seas and other effects of higher temperatures.

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Mark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Kids are anxious about the climate, don't trust their government to help, and increasingly don't want to have kids of their own. There's a simple solution, and it's the opposite of what Trump is doing Gift link to my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

bloomberg.com

Kids Are Anxious. Ignoring It Won’t Help.

Keeping climate change out of the classroom doesn’t make it go away.

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Greg Pierce @gregspierce.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

As bleak as this series is on struggling small water + sewer systems, I'm afraid its accurate on the state of play in most parts of the U.S. If we actually want safe, reliable and affordable water and sanitation for all, we need transformation in both governance and finance.

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Moira Birss @moira.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Great data analysis here, which shows how GOP-led states have reaped great benefits from the disaster risk reduction programs that the Trump regime is eliminating.

Table showing Louisiana and Texas received the most FMA funds between 2020-2024, with $511M and $395M respectively; other states received significantly less funding.

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Warning, rare personal post ... but WTF is going on with drivers in DC. Today, I was almost hit by a car backing up into a crosswalk after blocking an intersection... all while I was walking my partner home from a physical therapy appointment to recover from being hit by a car last month.🫠

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americaadapts.org @americaadapts.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

I’m re-releasing a popular pod with Madison Condon, where we explored the expanding world of #climate modeling. But now, the landscape has shifted. The federal government is gutting the public data infrastructure we all rely on. So I brought Madison back for a quick follow-up. #climatechange

americaadapts.org

The Wild, Wild West of Climate Modeling…Just Got Wilder — AMERICA ADAPTS The Climate Change Podcast

The Wild Wild West of Climate Modeling…Just Got Wilder. Ep. 227.

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

For a little self-care today, getting lost under the sun in another chapter of @ayanaeliza.bsky.social's must-read "What if we get it right?"

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Sara McTarnaghan @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

This 🌍 Earth Day 🌍 I'm thinking about how changes within the housing sector can advance better outcomes for people, planet and communities to both mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The headwinds are challenging (to say the least) but....

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Reposted by Sara McTarnaghan

Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

🧵Twelve conceptual 'problems' that make dealing with climate change super difficult:

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