Climate change

In Texas, the Austin City Council set a climate bond election for no later than November 2026, while an Arizona water authority is dealing with a funding drought.

The new rule will require FEMA to consider climate change's impact on future flood patterns in determining how and sometimes if to build back after flooding. 

Neither presidential candidate is talking enough about the "unsustainable" U.S. deficit, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said.

FEMA's rule is among the first adopted by a federal agency that will require federally funded projects to be sited and designed with future climate impacts in mind, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

After the west abutment on the Rapidan Dam partially failed last week, it's up to the Blue Earth County board of commissioners to pursue repair or removal.

To meet the ambitious goals of the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, innovative financing models can be adapted from established municipal finance systems.

Passed every two years since 2016, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 hits on many of President Biden's climate and resiliency goals.

A pair of infrastructure experts are proposing a $25 billion federal appropriation to create state bond banks across the country.

As the public finance landscape evolves with increased philanthropic interest and a focus on climate resilience and community health, it's time for traditional market participants to align their investments with impactful outcomes to drive systemic change and foster equitable growth.

Population growth has spurred economic growth in the South. But the changing climate, and risks climate change poses there, may turn that equation on its head.

The steady demand for municipal bonds in high-risk areas underscores the complex relationship between climate change and financial markets.

Municipal analysts have been tracking the challenges faced by home insurers in California and other states plagued with extreme weather events as a harbinger of credit risk.

Enviva's $353 million in tax-exempt bonds currently are among the liabilities at stake in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Climate change presents a higher risk for muni bonds, compared to other investments, because the debt often has longer maturities and therefore, higher vulnerability to the long-term effects of climate change, said S&P' Sustainable1's global head of research and methodology.

The extension of the current solar net metering system could lower revenue for the utility.

"The financial and engineering industries need to align to get the owners to do what it is they need to do to make sure it's a durable asset," said Maria Lehman, immediate past president of ASCE.

Major headwinds for the muni market include climate change, growing federal debt, shrinkage of the workforce, the impact of remote work, cybersecurity attacks, and political polarization. And they are poised to be costly for states and municipalities.

The grants come from the IRA's flagship Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program, which separately provides $7 billion for states and cities that has yet to be announced.

In "my nearly 50 years in finance, I've never seen more demand for energy infrastructure," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in his latest investor letter.

The loan is part of an Inflation Reduction Act program that finances the restart of renewable energy projects that have ceased operations.