"Buildings, particularly older ones and those with poor energy efficiency, account for 31 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. ... On Thursday, the U.S. Climate Alliance, an association of 25 governors of states accounting for half of the country’s population, announced a major move to reduce those emissions, cut utility bills, and create jobs."

"The New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, signed an emergency declaration for the city on Friday amid concerns about saltwater from the the Gulf of Mexico that has been creeping up the drought-hit Mississippi River in Louisiana."

"The power regularly cuts out on the 500-member Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, throwing the reservation’s casino, community center, and homes into the dark."

"Congressional Democrats are vowing to defend President Joe Biden’s new federal green jobs program from future Republican attacks."

"Promising to end the practice of piling on more environmental burdens to the same South and West Side communities, Mayor Brandon Johnson is proposing a series of reforms aimed at changing city practices after federal investigators last year determined Chicago violates the civil rights of its residents by concentrating polluting businesses in Black and Brown communities."

"President Joe Biden is launching a new federal program that aims to put more than 20,000 young people to work in jobs that promote renewable energy and combat climate change."

"They claim the offshore wind is responsible for a spike in whale deaths. Experts don’t buy it, but interest groups backed by fossil fuel money are spreading false information."

"The Biden administration announced Tuesday it will open applications for the first tranche of funding — $400 million — to help states and territories take up energy-efficient building codes.

A senior administration official told reporters Monday that under the codes, new buildings and major renovations would be done with better construction and in a way that is more efficient and resilient.

The Energy Department said in a press release announcing the funding that homes built using modern energy codes are 40 percent more efficient than homes built 15 years ago."