Terner Center for Housing Innovation’s Post

📢 Did you know the elected Commissioners at the Arizona Corporation Commission could create enormous value for Arizona? Instead, their actions are increasing environmental impacts and costs for ratepayers & taxpayers. Check out this article to learn more: bit.ly/3Sbwvfq You have the power to protect our future. #ClimateAction #VetsForward

Tampa Bay got it right More than 25 years ago the entire Tampa Bay region was embroiled in what was dubbed, “The Water Wars.” Surprised? Too many communities were too reliant on a single water supply. When an extended drought made the environmental consequences of water extraction intolerable, litigation engaged and lasted for years. The courts legally decided the issue, but the politics didn’t work. The solution was collaborative regional water supply development and management. And, all these years later and the billions invested in water supply and development and environmental recovery and Tampa Bay is in a good place, for now. What alternative supplies? Wetland #rehydration, #desalination, #reuse expansion, #surface water and, of course, #conservation. #waterwars #resolution #newwatersupplies #conservation Texas 2036 Texas Water Development Board Texas Association of Counties Texas City Management Association https://lnkd.in/ef_rP78W

We just notched a huge climate win in Virginia. A Virginia court has rejected the state’s move to drop its participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI. This ruling confirms that Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration illegally withdrew Virginia from this highly successful climate program. Prior to the unlawful action, this innovative carbon emissions trading program had been delivering remarkable benefits for Virginians, cutting power plant emissions by 22%, while providing over $800 million to help communities prepare for floods and lower energy bills for low-income households. Although the Attorney General has already announced their intention to appeal the decision, a process that may slow down Virginia’s reentry, we will do everything we can to defend our victory and get the state back into the program as quickly as possible. Kudos to my colleague senior attorney Nate Benforado who has led our RGGI team for at least six years, senior attorney Grayson Holmes, staff attorney Carroll Courtenay, associate attorney Kat King and former associate Tyler Demetriou, legal assistants Katherine (Katie) Morgan-Storer and Liam Cavanaugh, communications manager Tasha Durrett, and policy and outreach manager Emily Francis. Learn more about this great news, RGGI, and read the court's full opinion here: https://lnkd.in/ex6yVy2j #ClimateChange #ClimateAction #EnvironmentalPolicy

Sierra Club challenges SEC climate rule as too permissive While challengers thus far have called the rule an overreach, Sierra Club says it doesn’t go far enough. A new petition from Sierra Club and the Sierra Club Foundation, represented by Earthjustice, brings the D.C. Circuit into the fray over the SEC’s climate risk disclosure regulation. An energy company and a host of conservative-leaning state attorneys general have filed challenges to the rule in the Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits. In situations like this where petitions are filed in multiple courts of appeals, the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation randomly selects one of the courts to review the consolidated petitions ( Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation v. SEC, March 13, 2024). This story can be read in its entirety (no paywall) on the Wolters Kluwer Vital Law site at https://lnkd.in/gRxxdHR3. As reported by Anne Sherry.   #SEC #ClimateRiskDisclosureRule #GreenHouseGasEmissions #SierraClub

Read Dan Carney’s great letter to the editor below. Submit your own to your local newspaper to bring more awareness. Profitable Clean Water "I am a capitalistic, pro-business, environmentalist. Too many think that businesses and profits are automatically anti-environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. In Southwest Florida, we seem to take sides, pro-development or pro-environment. I ask you: How much is your property worth if your canal is filled with harmful algae blooms and you don’t want to go in your yard because of the stench of decay and airborne toxins? How much greater is your property worth if the water in your canal is clear, visited by dolphins, manatees, and other marine life? Unfortunately, the state of Florida and many local governments have made huge errors in judgement when it comes to creating value for its citizens. How many billions of taxpayer dollars have state, federal and local governments spent trying to fix what they broke? Unfortunately, they are still trying to take shortcuts with little accountability for the long-term impact on the value of existing properties and businesses. Instead of looking at greenspace to clean water and recharge our depleted aquifers, our government entities listen to developers’ plans for a quick buck and promised tax revenues. This does nothing to improve the value of our properties or lives. The good news is that you as a voting citizen can have a huge impact on your quality of life. There is a petition available called “The Right to Clean and Healthy Waters” Constitutional Amendment. Please go to the website, https://lnkd.in/eNBM4Ccs. Download and sign the petition. The future is up to you!" Well said, Dan!

The California State Assembly + State Senate recently passed #SB674, providing #data transparency for frontline communities near #OilRefineries. Gov. Gavin Newsom now needs to sign the bill into law. Earthjustice made an easy-to-use template so you can reach out to show your support of this bill, which will improve protections for #EnvironmentalJustice communities ⬇ https://lnkd.in/gkdS4cWD

Michigan Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is an option for maintaining #WaterTrails like the Shiawassee River. Water trails increase property values, bolster local economic development, support public health, and encourage environmental stewardship. A detailed report of TIF structure using geospatial, financial, equity, and legislative analyses. -- https://lnkd.in/gi4upjh5

Read Dan Carney’s great letter to the editor below. Submit your own to your local newspaper to bring more awareness. Profitable Clean Water "I am a capitalistic, pro-business, environmentalist. Too many think that businesses and profits are automatically anti-environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. In Southwest Florida, we seem to take sides, pro-development or pro-environment. I ask you: How much is your property worth if your canal is filled with harmful algae blooms and you don’t want to go in your yard because of the stench of decay and airborne toxins? How much greater is your property worth if the water in your canal is clear, visited by dolphins, manatees, and other marine life? Unfortunately, the state of Florida and many local governments have made huge errors in judgement when it comes to creating value for its citizens. How many billions of taxpayer dollars have state, federal and local governments spent trying to fix what they broke? Unfortunately, they are still trying to take shortcuts with little accountability for the long-term impact on the value of existing properties and businesses. Instead of looking at greenspace to clean water and recharge our depleted aquifers, our government entities listen to developers’ plans for a quick buck and promised tax revenues. This does nothing to improve the value of our properties or lives. The good news is that you as a voting citizen can have a huge impact on your quality of life. There is a petition available called “The Right to Clean and Healthy Waters” Constitutional Amendment. Please go to the website, https://lnkd.in/eFCeVxig. Download and sign the petition. The future is up to you!" Well said, Dan!

👉 Flight of the Ostrich Caucus: A US state just removed references to “climate change” from state law. Yesterday, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed legislation removing almost all references to climate change from state law. (References in the first comment.) Here’s more about the latest flight of the #ostrich_caucus.* 🔴 The legislation removes (according to the official House summary): • Language about discouraging energy waste and recognizing and addressing the potential impact of global climate change • A provision about playing a leading role in “promoting energy conservation, energy security, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions” • The ability of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish goals and strategies for increasing the use of renewable energy 🔵 The new law also repeals several energy efficiency grant programs and bars homeowners’ associations (HOAs) from prohibiting stoves that use natural gas, propane, and other fuels. (HOAs are corporations under Florida law, which means that the legislation stops private corporations from deciding what energy sources are allowed.)   🔴 This action came on the same day as South Florida broke six heat records. And two days after the National Weather Service highlighted the potential for high – and even dangerous – temperatures later in the week. And a year after Florida prohibited localities from establishing their own protections against heat for outdoor workers. And after the state’s warmest year since 1895. 👉 The health of Florida residents – and the planet they inhabit – should be topics that are outside of partisan politics. They’re not right now, but they should be. What you can do: • Align your company’s lobbying with your social and environmental commitments. • Join groups like the University of Michigan’s CPRT (https://lnkd.in/e6nxmNT2) that want to establish shared baselines of constitutional democracy and climate reality – even if group members disagree about what to do about it. • Where possible, engage with good faith actors who have different political perspectives, as Robert Eccles has done (e.g., his conversation with Danielle Butcher Franz) *Actually, ostriches don't fly and they don't bury their heads in the sand. But some people want to. As always, if you’d like to discuss how this might apply to your company or industry, just message me. #sustainability #values #ROI #Risk #ESG