In The News

The Climate Safe Neighborhoods partnership has been making headlines across the country. Catch up on the latest articles, webinars, and podcasts featuring the program and our partners.

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The link between racist housing policies of the past and the climate risks of today Yale Climate Connections - March 2021 Groundwork USA, a network of environmental justice organizations, is exploring the connection between formerly redlined neighborhoods and the climate crisis today. As part of its Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative, Groundwork overlaid historic redlining maps from nine U.S. cities (created by Lawrence Hoffman at Groundwork Milwaukee) with data about tree cover, heat, and impervious surfaces such as asphalt and concrete. Yale Climate Connections spoke with Cate Mingoya, director of capacity building at Groundwork USA, about what the mapping data reveals and how the group is helping local residents respond. Read More
Mapping Project Explores Links Between Historic Redlining And Future Climate Vulnerability WBUR - March 2021 Redlining may also be making people more vulnerable to climate change – specifically, to extreme heat and flooding. Two years ago, an environmental justice nonprofit called Groundwork USA started to research this theory in detail, overlaying the old redlining maps with things like heat data from NASA and flood-risk maps from FEMA. Two recently-completed cities in their Climate Safe Neighborhoods mapping project are Haverhill and Lawrence. Read More
Thinking Beyond World Wildlife Fund - January 2021 Climate change will be seen across the city and region but neighborhoods won't be impacted equally. Vulnerable populations - lower-income communities of color- have disproportionately felt the effects of climate change and will continue to suffer from greater severity unless action is taken. Read More
Redlining’s Impact on Environmental Justice National Center for Civil and Human Rights - December 2020 Join The Center for a conversation with Cate Mingoya, Director of Capacity Building at Groundwork USA, Dr. Robert K. Nelson, Director of the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond, and Dr. Vivek Shandas, Director of the Sustaining Urban Places Research Lab for a conversation about the impact of redlining on climate vulnerability and what can be done about it. Read More
How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering The New York Times – October 2020

In Gilpin, VA the average life expectancy is 63 years. Just a short drive over the James River sits Westover Hills, a largely white, middle-income neighborhood that greets visitors with rows of massive oak trees spreading their leaves over quiet boulevards. Life expectancy there is 83 years. This isn't an accident. Decades of racist housing policies have left many communities vulnerable to extreme heat and other social factors that impact health. While many are optimistic about Richmond's efforts to focus on racial equity in the urban landscape, there still much work to be done.

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Episode 129: Climate Change, Housing, and Systemic Racism Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah - October 2020 Together, we talked about redlining, how this issue still alive is today and its consequences, and what this has to do with the environment. Plus, Cate took us through the solutions that exist and the intersectional dynamics to consider when addressing climate change, housing, and systemic racism. Read More
How Cities Can Fight Inequality and Climate Change at Once U.S. News – August 2020 It is no surprise that our greatest existential challenge – climate change – also reflects racial disparities and the widening gulf between rich and poor.  Climate change does not affect all people equally: low-income communities and people of color are hit first and worst by climate impacts. While climate change illuminates our nation’s racial and class divides, the steps we take to  address it offer opportunities to build a fairer future. Read More
Population of Top 10 Counties for Disasters: 81% Minority E&E News – June 2020 Communities with large minority populations are among the most  vulnerable in the U.S. to the effects of climate change and could become  more threatened as the coronavirus pandemic weakens their resilience to  disasters, according to experts and federal data. It's the result of long-lived  policies that clustered minorities in undesirable areas such as floodplains  and denied them amenities like green spaces and tree canopies that can  mitigate some effects of climate change. Read More
Disaster Responders Grapple with Planning for Extreme Weather in the Time of COVID-19 The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine - May 2020 Economic decline, COVID-19, and summer weather events will create a threefold threat that could hit some especially hard. Neighborhoods of color are most likely to be exposed not only to the effects of climate change, such as heat and flooding but also to COVID-19 and the widespread economic instability that has followed in its wake, according to Groundwork USA. Read More
Redlining & Climate Change: A Deadly Combination News Beat - April 2020 The areas victimized by racist federal housing policies in the 1930s are now  among the most vulnerable to the severe impacts of climate change,  according to a landmark study released in January. And although the Fair  Housing Act of 1968 banned redlining and housing discrimination in  general, three out of four redlined communities rated "hazardous" 80 years  ago are struggling economically today. Read More
In a Pandemic, We Need Green Spaces More Than Ever Ensia - March 2020 My beloved hometown of Somerville, Massachusetts, is one of the densest cities in New England with little green space compared with other cities in the state. The sparse tree canopies and extensive pavement in my city have little to do with neighborhood preference and everything to do with a  long history of federally backed housing segregation. Read More
Climate Safe Neighborhoods MIT Department of Urban Planning - March 2020 As climate change threatens to make cities hotter and wetter, not all cities or even neighborhoods within a city will be impacted equally. What do many of the most vulnerable urban communities have in common? During the 1930s and 1940s, these neighborhoods were intentionally segregated via federal redlining policies. Read More
Urban Heat Islands Are Not An Accident Sierra Magazine - Feb 2020 As climate change makes cities warmer, low-income neighborhoods of color can be up to 13°F hotter than their wealthier, whiter counterparts, with deadly consequences, according to a recent study in the journal Climate. Read More
Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands? YaleEnvironment360 – September 2019 By understanding in detail where hot spots are located, cities can address  extreme heat neighborhood-by-neighborhood, choosing from a variety of  strategies that include removing or whitewashing black asphalt or roof  surfaces, adding more trees for shade, requiring developers to vary the  heights of new buildings to increase airflow, and opening more public air conditioned spaces. Read More