Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP

Los Angeles struggles with inequality and the threat of natural disasters turbocharged by climate change. Its new resilience plan - Resilient Los Angeles - seeks to address both issues at once. Some of the longer-term actions reiterate the city's commitment to ongoing initiatives, such as its ambitious metro expansion and plans to produce 100,000 new housing units by 2021 and cut homelessness in half by 2022. While these might not appear connected to climate or disaster resilience at first glance, they help create a stronger social fabric by improving community health, safety, and economies. To prepare for extreme heat, the city plans to pave roads with cool pavements; mandate that new buildings have reflective roofs; and expand a neighborhood cooling-center program. L.A. also intends to plant more trees in tree-poor neighborhoods and integrate resilience into more of its government operations, adding chief resilience officers to 28 major city departments in addition to one already in the mayor's office. ( Link)

	Photo: AP/Gabi Gonzalez

The poorest one-third of U.S. counties sustain greater economic hardship than their wealthier counterparts from hurricanes, rising seas and higher temperatures. By disproportionately affecting the poorest people and communities, climate disasters deepen poverty and widen inequality. How can we prevent that from happening? As we plan for a changing climate, equity must be a top priority. That is the goal of the "climate justice" movement, a diverse coalition of national, regional and grassroots organizations. ( Link)

Photo: Terabass/Wikimedia Commons

UCLA researchers spent the past three years projecting how climate change will affect the Sierra Nevada. Key findings include a temperature rise of 7 to 10F at middle elevations between 5,000 and 8,000 feet, with loss of snow albedo exacerbating climate change. On average, snowpack across the entire Sierra on April 1 would be 64 percent less than between 1981 and 2000. The midpoint of peak snowmelt and runoff would occur 50 days earlier, on average. Longer, hotter dry seasons would follow wet seasons, drying out plants that grew in those water-rich months and making record wildfires such as the state saw in 2017 more common. ( Link)

	Photo: Rodger Bosch / AFP/Getty Images

Cape Town, South Africa, estimated earlier this year that it would run out of water on April 22, "Day Zero." But the city skirted the disaster - at least for now - by cutting individuals' water use in half. Wealthier families slashed their average water use by 80 percent, and low-income families scaled back by 40 percent. Households that exceeded water limits - 13 gallons per person per day - had restriction devices attached to their pipes. The savings could offer a lesson for California and other areas affected by drought. Californians used 109 gallons per person per day when its drought continued into the summer of 2016. ( LA Times)

Photo: Dr. Darsie/CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC

Dengue fever in New York? Trypanosomiasis in San Francisco? Climate change is spreading infectious disease farther and farther. Ecologist Dipika Kadaba carefully compiled data from multiple recent scientific studies into a heat map of 10 key diseases that could spread or worsen in the coming years thanks to climate change. The diseases include "just 10 of many possible diseases," including anaplasmosis, lyme, dengue, leishmaniasis, meat allergy, malaria, West Nile fever, trypanosomiasis, zika, and the plague. ( Link)

The world's first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks driving on it has been opened in Sweden. About 2km (1.2 miles) of electric rail has been embedded in a road near Stockholm, but the government has already drafted a national map for future expansion. The technology aims to solve the thorny problems of keeping EVs charged and their batteries affordable. Energy is transferred from two tracks of rail in the road via a movable arm attached to the bottom of a vehicle; should the vehicle overtake, the arm is automatically disconnected. Both current vehicles and roadways could be adapted to take advantage of the technology. ( Guardian)

The road to China's autonomous-driving future is paved with solar panels, mapping sensors and electric-battery rechargers as the nation tests an "intelligent highway" that could speed the transformation of the global transportation industry. The technologies will be embedded underneath transparent concrete on a 1.08km (3,540 ft) stretch of road, which can generate enough electricity to power highway lights and 800 homes. Coordinating the development of autonomous driving and intelligent road systems is a focus of the government. ( Bloomberg)

Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Cities nationwide are managing the devastating human and economic impacts of an increasing number of disasters, while working to address everyday challenges arising from changing economic systems, systemic disinvestment in vulnerable communities and accelerating population growth. This policy platform from 100 Resilient Cities contains a series of recommendations that, if enacted, would remove barriers and provide better access to federal resources that local governments use to foster thriving communities. The recommendations for federal policy focus on infrastructure, housing, economic development and public safety. ( Link)

This Legislative Analyst Office report makes recommendations to improve California's forest and watershed management, including increased funding for forest health projects (including investments from downstream water beneficiaries) and prioritizing project criteria that maximize benefits for fire risk reduction, water supply protection, and carbon sequestration. Other recommendations would allow timber sales without a timber management plan if the primary purpose is forest health, and support the development of non-traditional wood products. ( Link)

JUMP bike share is coming to the Sacramento region in spring 2018. JUMP will be launching an all-electric bike share system in the cities of Davis, Sacramento, and West Sacramento (including the CSUS and UC Davis campuses). There will be 900 bikes throughout the region. Community members are encouraged to provide feedback on potential hub locations using the JUMP interactive map.   This project is made possible by SACOG. ( Link)

The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) will provide an overview of their early successes and discuss what's on the horizon for the year ahead. They will cover ASAP's mission, vision, and core program areas; member-led activities and programs such as mentorship, ASAP hubs, and the Resilience Dialogues; and the Regional Adaptation Leadership Award. ( Register)

The California Air Resources Board will hold two teleconferences for applicants for its One-Stop-Shop Pilot Project Grant Solicitation. This solicitation focuses on the development and maintenance of a single application for low-income consumers to apply and qualify for CARB's Low-Income Transportation Equity Projects, streamlining access to clean-energy and transportation incentives for low-income communities. ( Link)

Learn how Salt Lake City's approach to sustainability issues has evolved over time and how local leaders are now focused on driving solutions and reducing emissions at scale. The city has a partnership with its investor-owned utility to achieve net-100 percent renewable electricity by 2032 while on its way to an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2040. ( Register)

How can communities best advance racial equity through housing policies? Grounded Solutions Network's inclusive growth toolkit presents housing policies available to promote economic and racial equity and the approaches that work best for each local context. Tune into the webinar to hear city panelists explain how the toolkit has helped their communities. ( Register)

This session will examine two transformative trends in transportation. The first is the rise of the sharing economy, private sector ride-hailing services, autonomous vehicles and associated web-based tools for trip planning, ride hailing and fare payment. The second is the emergence of new parking technologies like parking space sensors, automated vehicle identification and payment systems, and web-based tools for finding parking and for paying parking fees and fines. These trends are impacting parking demand and parking management in urban areas, but what do they have to offer in places like Lander WY, Twin Falls ID, or Livingston MT? ( Register)

Join the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento and Sacramento Area Congregations Together for their upcoming forum on environmental racism. The afternoon will be spent exploring the causes of environmental inequity, including racialized historical legacies and structural and institutional racism. The forum will explore ways to address the conditions created by this inequity as it relates to community health, transportation, pollution burden, climate impacts, food access, and housing. ( Link)