Earth Economics Selects Eight Communities for Innovative Green Infrastructure Labs

Earth Economics Selects Eight Communities
for Innovative Urban Green Infrastructure (GI) Labs

This fall, Earth Economics will lead labs in eight communities across the United States that aim to scale-up investment in and adoption of green infrastructure to increase urban resilience. Earth Economics staff and industry partners will bring these labs to three distinct regions that all face critical stormwater and other service-delivery challenges that are poised to increase in the face of climate change: the Pacific Northwest, the Southeast, and the Northeast.

The one-day, interactive labs will provide public- and private-sector leaders the catalyst and tools to create and sustain a portfolio of urban green infrastructure assets — everything from pervious streets, to living roofs, to parks and open spaces — to manage stormwater runoff, bolster climate resilience, beautify neighborhoods, create recreation spaces, and address other community needs. Earth Economics’ hands-on exercises will help participants craft a shared vision and goals for green infrastructure, identify challenge and opportunity areas, explore model regulations and incentives, and assess effective financing and values-based communications strategies.

The labs build on The Blueprint for Increased Investment in Green Infrastructure, an action plan for city leaders looking to bring their green infrastructure to scale. The Blueprint is based on ten months of extensive research, including practitioner interviews across the nation, literature review, process mapping, and econometric modeling.

The communities include:

1. Snohomish County, WA

2. City of Sandy, OR

3. City of Little Rock, AR

4. Palm Beach County, FL

5. Broward County, FL

6. Metropolitan Area Planning Council (Boston, MA)

7. City of New Bedford, MA

8. Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (Springfield, MA)

View fullsize

Communities: Getting Green to Scale
Key: Green = Urban GI Labs, Blue = Blueprint Interview Communities
Click to Enlarge

---

To learn about how Earth Economics could support green infrastructure investment and adoption in your community,
please visit our Urban GI project page or contact Project Director Rebecca Page.

Earth Economics Report Cited in Thomson Reuters Foundation Article

Earth Economics report cited
in Thomson Reuters Foundation article

Earth Economics’ research is cited in a new Thomson Reuters Foundation News article about sovereign tribes’ call for representation alongside the United States and Canada in the renegotiation of a 1964 treaty that governs management of the Columbia River Basin, which stretches across seven U.S. states and one Canadian province. The 2017 Earth Economics report, The Value of Natural Capital in the Columbia Reservation, concludes that improved management of the Columbia River could produce economic gains of $1.5 billion annually.

View fullsize

---

For more information, please contact Managing Director Maya Kocian.

Earth Economics report cited by Emerald Alliance to make the case for public lands restoration and recreation investments.

Earth Economics report cited by Emerald Alliance to make the case for public lands restoration and recreation investments.

The Emerald Alliance, which advocates for sustainable and equitable land-conservation practices in the Central Puget Sound Region, cited in a recent blog post Earth Economics’ report Gem of the Emerald Corridor: Nature’s Value in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The Alliance, citing the 2018 report, explained that investments in restoring the Green and White River watersheds that encompass a wide swath of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, will “pay us back in critical ecosystem services 3000-fold every single year.” Such ecosystem services include flood risk-reduction, maintaining water quality and supply, recreation, and important fish and wildlife habitat.

The Alliance explained in its post that the fast-growing Central Puget Sound Region’s residents have a unique opportunity to influence the management of national forests and other public lands — from restoration activities to recreation opportunities. Stewardship of these lands affects not only the ecological, social, and cultural communities living and passing through them but also those far downstream — from urban and suburban cities to southern resident killer whales, the blog post explained. 

Read the full article, It All Flows Downstream: Unique opportunity to plan for the future of our public lands in Central Puget Sound, by Jen Watkins of Conservation Northwest and Kitty Craig of The Wilderness Society.

View fullsize

---

Here at Earth Economics, we are focused on providing tailored support to cities, utilities, and environmental justice organizations alike on building the case for, financing, and ensuring equitable prioritization of green infrastructure.

For more information, please contact Research Lead Johnny Mojica.

FEMA Funding can Support Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Hazards and Improve Community Resilience

FEMA Funding can Support Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Hazards and Improve Community Resilience

Earth Economics Explains How and Why in New Article

Parks, open spaces, and conservation lands help buffer U.S. communities from damages caused by hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural hazards — and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is beginning to recognize the role of such nature-based solutions to build community resilience, according to a recent article written by Earth Economics and published by the non-profit National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).

Recent policy updates make it easier to access FEMA mitigation funding for land conservation (especially in floodplains) and other cost-effective nature-based solutions, such as post-wildfire restoration of forested lands, aquifer storage and recovery, wetland and riparian restoration, and green infrastructure. Cities, park agencies, and private nonprofit land trusts are eligible to apply for these funds, according to the article, published in NRPA’s monthly magazine, Parks & Recreation. FEMA is also placing greater emphasis on proactive investments before disasters occur, underscored by the 2018 Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), which passed in Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. 

View fullsize

---

Earth Economics collaborates with partners around the world to include nature in economic decision-making through analysis of scientific and economic data. Contact us to discuss questions or your FEMA-related project ideas.

For more information, please contact Program Director Rowan Schmidt

Project to Quantify Impacts of Replacing At-Risk Culverts in Southwest Washington

Project to Quantify Impacts of
Replacing At-Risk Culverts in Southwest Washington

A changing climate is raising the risk of more frequent and intense storms in Western Washington. But the thousands of culverts around the state that are designed to convey water, and provide fish passage, are often degraded, blocked, or undersized, putting the public at risk. The social, economic, and environmental impacts are many — ranging from flooded homes and roads, to decreased salmon runs and emergency response times. 

To help quantify such impacts — and ultimately mitigate the natural hazards that cause them — Earth Economics and a diverse array of interested partners formally launched a project this month in the Chehalis Basin. Representatives from nonprofits, tribes, and state and local governments — including the Washington Departments of Ecology and Fish & Wildlife — attended Earth Economics’ April 5 kick-off meeting on the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, southwest of Olympia. 

Over the next few months, Earth Economics will assess data to identify a range of quantifiable changes that follow from improved road stream-crossings in the Chehalis Basin. For example, in addition to expanding available habitat, replacing culverts has the potential to reduce risk of localized flooding and road washouts.  

Earth Economics’ work — to be presented in a technical report in late 2019 — will help property owners and other stakeholders within and beyond the Chehalis Basin more fully understand the costs and benefits of replacing at-risk culverts. Earth Economics also will provide stakeholders technical support for one or more applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program. 

View fullsize

Chehalis Basin Overview with Blocking Culverts
Click to Enlarge

Ken Cousins of Earth Economics, presenting to representatives from nonprofit, tribes, state and local government.

---

Here at Earth Economics, we are focused on providing tailored support to cities, utilities, and environmental justice organizations alike on building the case for, financing, and ensuring equitable prioritization of green infrastructure.

For more information, please contact Ecological Economist Ken Cousins.

Faced with Climate Impacts, Communities Turn to Green Infrastructure

Faced with Climate Impacts, Communities Turn to Green Infrastructure

Earth Economics named as “helpful organizations for communities seeking to finance their own [green infrastructure] plans and projects.”

“Climate change is causing seas to rise, flooding to worsen, and hurricanes and wildfires to become more destructive, all of which puts our infrastructure at greater risk. On top of that, America’s current infrastructure received a D+ grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in their latest scorecard. Increased risk from climate events and the massive backlog of maintenance projects means that our infrastructure has never been more vulnerable.

But for some forward-thinking communities, vulnerability means opportunity. For these communities facing climate impacts, the best way to protect themselves has been to move beyond the grey infrastructure of the past and transition to green infrastructure.”

Here at Earth Economics, we are focused on providing tailored support to cities, utilities, and environmental justice organizations alike on building the case for, financing, and ensuring equitable prioritization of green infrastructure.

Earth Economics’ Jordan Wildish named as 2018-2019 1 Hotels Fellow at E2

Earth Economics’ Jordan Wildish named
as 2018-2019 1 Hotels fellow at e2

Over the next year, these future leaders will work to advance policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment through 10 exciting clean energy projects.

The 1 Hotels Fellowship at E2 is a carefully selected group of emerging business leaders who dedicate themselves to advancing policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment. Wildish will be leading a project focused on creating a carbon offset toolkit, designed to help companies find and purchase carbon offsets, and help ranchers and foresters implement sustainable practices and sell carbon offsets. 

Earth Economics Presents at FEMA Region 10 Summit

Earth Economics Presents at FEMA Region 10 Summit

Program Director Rowan Schmidt and Research Lead Johnny Mojica are presented at FEMA’s Region 10 Mitigation Summit, in Lynnwood, Washington. The presentation showcase how FEMA’s environmental benefits policies and economics can be used to take a holistic approach to hazard mitigation by utilizing nature-based solutions.