Climate Action... Now? After Years of Neglect, Omaha Officials Promise This Time Will Be Different

A decade after California established its forest offset program as a way to incentivize saving trees to store carbon, a new analysis shows that it might not be working. Loopholes in the program allow for people to claim credits for trees that aren’t delivering the carbon benefits they should and ultimately results in companies emitting more pollution than is being stored. While this program has provided economic benefits for several Indigenous tribes, some argue that “the program creates the false appearance of progress when in fact it makes the climate problem worse.”

Since 2022, Denver has given out almost 15,000 electric bike rebates via an online portal to make them a more accessible transportation option. The applications are so popular they’re gone in seconds, and they can only be redeemed in person at participating local bike shops.

The United States Envrionmental Protection Agency is distributing grant money to help tribes like the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma start and grow recycling programs, as funding is often a massive hurdle. The tribe was able to purchase equipment like a semi-truck and compactor with the funds.

Local governments in the United States are taking the lead on carbon removal projects to meet net-zero goals, which could help bring down the cost of the technology to make it more widely accessible. A coalition of governments in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, for example, awarded grants to projects that store carbon dioxide in concrete.

Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act set a limit on greenhouse gas emissions and created an emissions market to incentivize emission reductions while generating money for climate change mitigation. Carbon emission allowances are auctioned off to businesses, and set percentages of the income are designated for projects like electrifying public transit.

Local governments in France are educating residents about waste reduction and finding ways to incentivize the behavior change necessary to meet the country’s ambitious zero-waste goals. Roubaix, for example, teaches residents simple lifestyle changes that will also save them money. Whereas, Smicval transitioned from door-to-door waste collection to a central collection point where residents drop off trash themselves.

Federal tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act and added incentives from the state of Colorado and its municipalities is drawing in clean energy companies, creating new jobs, and helping the state meet its decarbonization goals.

In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act uses tax credits to encourage the adaptation of and investment in renewable energy across the country.

Alongside clean energy, wind farms built on property leased from locals in Nebraska are generating jobs, income, and local taxes that keep small towns like Petersburg afloat.

Stuttgart is using a “nature-based response” to climate change by leveraging earth-cooling tools already available in the natural world. The city has created a vast network of ventilation channels – green parkways and corridors of water and trees – designed to funnel cooler breezes into the city at night and naturally lower air temperatures.