Climate Crisis [Wiki]: Why and How Code for America is Involved

What does Code for America have to do with the climate crisis? What might we do to help? Where is the fit?

Carl (OpenSavannah, NAC): To me, there is no more universally pressing issues for all U.S. cities in 2019 than the climate crisis. As I write this, California is reeling from wildfire recovery and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake; the Midwest is just getting respite from historical flooding; and the Atlantic Hurricane season is kicking off already. With the current inaction from federal levels of government, it really is up to us in cities to lead the way. To answer some of @jamescmarchā€™s queries:

  1. The climate crisis and social justice are inextricably intertwined. Climate justice is social/racial justice, and social/racial equity must be at the forefront of the discussions of mitigation and adaptation. See last weekā€™s chilling piece in NYT regarding ā€˜what cities shoudl get savedā€™ and which should be left behind.

  2. Vulnerable communities are at the greatest and most immediate risks. If the mission of CfA is to make government work for those who need it most, we are mission-bound to ensure that service delivery and environmental justice is prioritized in our cities.

  3. Itā€™s about more than just sea-level rise.


This ā€œprojectā€ is a collection of discussions, lists of resources, and exploration of why and how Code for America and the Brigades might support efforts to address the effects of the climate crisis. For example: How will the climate crisis effect social justice? How will government respond in a way that is equitable and democratic? What can the people and local, state, and national government do to best serve the people?

This project came out of the Summit 2019 ā€œunconferenceā€ session.

This project is discussed in the June 6th 2019 Medium article by Rob Davis.

This project is related to the planning for a south region event.

The Code for America Slack channel for this project is #climate-crisis.

List of Related Code for America / Brigade Projects

List of Potentially Related Projects (add non-CfA projects here):

Project Name (with any links):
Short Description:
Contact (Organization / Person):

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