Laurie Mazur

Maryland

Urban Resilience Editor and Writer at Freelance

Writer @ intersection of people @ planet.

Articles

Justice40: Getting federal funds to communities that need it most

Aug 19, 2024 | americancityandcounty.com | Laurie Mazur

President Biden may have had Jonestown, Md., in mind when he created his landmark Justice40 initiative. Launched in 2021, Justice40 aims to deliver 40 percent of federal climate and clean energy investments to “disadvantaged” communities. You could say that Jonestown fits the bill. Founded by free African Americans in the mid-19th century, this unincorporated village on Maryland’s rural eastern shore has long been overlooked for investment.
Some Cities Are Actually Cutting Transportation Emissions. Here’s How.

May 20, 2024 | governing.com | Laurie Mazur |Carl Smith

Our nation’s climate-changing carbon emissions have declined overall since 1990, but one sector — transportation — is headed in the opposite direction. Transportation remains the largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for 29 percent of the country’s total. After a brief, pandemic-related drop of 13 percent in 2020, transportation emissions accelerated in 2021, increasing by 12 percent.
Resiliency Hub Provides Safety, Self-sufficiency In Disinvested Commmunity

Mar 28, 2024 | popularresistance.org | Laurie Mazur

Above photo: Queen Shabazz (left) with solar power + storage system at the Resiliency Hub. Kelley Lynch. Queen Shabazz became an activist three decades ago, when her young son contracted lead poisoning in their rental home. She soon learned that “lead wasn’t the only problem out there”: her low-income, disinvested community in Petersburg, Virginia, contends with more than its share of environmental hazards — from air pollution to toxic waste.
Resiliency Hub provides safety and self-sufficiency in a disinvested community

Mar 27, 2024 | resilience.org | Laurie Mazur

Queen Shabazz became an activist three decades ago, when her young son contracted lead poisoning in their rental home. She soon learned that “lead wasn’t the only problem out there”: her low-income, disinvested community in Petersburg, Virginia, contends with more than its share of environmental hazards — from air pollution to toxic waste. Increasingly, those hazards are compounded by climate change.
Resiliency Hub provides safety and self-sufficiency in a disinvested community

Mar 26, 2024 | energycentral.com | Laurie Mazur

image credit: Kelley Lynch Online Marketing Manager, Island Press Member since 2018 7 items added with 39,999 views Mar 27, 2024Mar 26, 2024 8:55 pm GMT3 views Queen Shabazz became an activist three decades ago, when her young son contracted lead poisoning in their rental home.
How Climate Resilience Can Curb a Crisis in Homeowners’ Insurance

Mar 8, 2024 | usnews.com | Laurie Mazur

From the fire-scorched hills of California to the storm-battered Florida coast, Americans struggle to obtain – or afford – insurance coverage for their homes. When disaster strikes, these homeowners face the loss of shelter, safety and their major financial asset. READ: ‘Unbuilding’ to Weather Climate HazardsThis deepening crisis in homeowners’ insurance is fundamentally about risk.
Free Island Press E-book on Making a Way in the Age of Extremes

Mar 6, 2024 | resilience.org | Laurie Mazur

It’s not a stretch to say that we live in an age of extremes. 2023 was – by far – the hottest year since humans have been keeping records; scientists say it was the hottest in 100,000 years. The signs are everywhere: from the Southwestern heat dome that smashed 2,300 temperature records over the summer, to the hellish wildfire in that incinerated Maui in August. We have entered what UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls “the era of global boiling.”Our politics are boiling, as well.
Preparing Underinvested Communities for New Funding

Oct 6, 2023 | shelterforce.org | Laurie Mazur

This article was written as a collaboration between the Island Press Urban Resilience Project and the Center for Community Investment. Earlier in her career, Robin Hacke believed that money alone could solve the problem of underinvested communities. As Hacke observed in a Center for Community Investment video, she thought, “They don’t have the money to do the projects and deals that they would like to do. We’re going to bring money—presto!—problem solved.”Turns out it isn’t that simple.
Susanne Moser On Facing the Biggest Challenge of Our Times

Sep 19, 2023 | earthisland.org | Laurie Mazur

It’s critical that we name the existential crisis that we are in, and relearn our interconnectedness, says Susanne Moser. Back in 2019, in what we now fondly remember as The Before Times, Earth Island Journal published a conversation I had with scientist Susanne Moser. That article, “Despairing about the Climate Crisis? Read This,” went somewhat viral.
Utility Efficiency Goes Down as Temperature and Fossil Fuel Prices Go Up

Sep 18, 2023 | governing.com | Carl Smith |Zoe Manzanetti |Laurie Mazur |Jared Brey

Energy conservation is an emission-reduction strategy that has benefits for all stakeholders. It is largely driven by utility programs. A new survey by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy finds that utility energy efficiency decreased between 2018 and 2021. Utility performance is primarily a reflection of the guidelines and incentives put in place by state legislators. As of Sept.