Cities and counties from across the nation are pioneering new clean energy solutions that could help end our nation’s oil addiction and create good jobs, according to the most recent report from the Apollo Alliance. Four Ohio municipalities: Bowling Green, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, are highlighted in the national report. Policy Matters Ohio, Apollo’s Ohio partner, is thrilled that New Energy for Cities highlights dozens of representative municipal programs that promote renewable power, reduce oil consumption, make buildings more efficient and promote smart growth. The mission of Ohio Apollo is to work with Ohio’s cities to adopt these policies and create jobs through environmentally sound and energy efficient solutions.

Our economy, our communities, our workforce, and our environment are at a crossroads. Past practices and policies of the conventional energy economy produced an economy with vast amounts of waste and low road economic development that left our workers behind, our communities impoverished, our residents dependent on fossil fuels imported from out of state, and our environment polluted.

More than 7,317 properties in the city of Cleveland are vacant and distressed – considered likely to require demolition.1 The nonprofit Thriving Communities Institute – part of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy -- estimates there are more than 25,000 vacant properties in Cuyahoga County.2 Few of these lots are green spaces, a tragic loss of opportunity for their neighborhoods. Green spaces include neighborhood gardens, pocket parks, vineyards, and orchards – something more than a green lawn. Greening vacant lots deliberately and with frequent upkeep can raise the standard of living. Green spaces encourage business investment, inhibit crime, improve environmental health and maintain the community in a neighborhood.

The goal of the Reuse Roadmap is to develop a high-level approach to help guide utilities and industry decision-makers in issues to address when considering water reuse Like the Energy and Nutrients roadmaps, the Water Reuse roadmap is brief and high level to be accessible to all types of stakeholders, including public officials, utility managers, operators, engineers, and regulators The roadmap will not "reinvent the wheel," with all of the great technical resources available. Rather, the focus will be to help decision-makers to quickly understand the strategic issues inherent in a water reuse effort

The scope and severity of flood risk and flood-related damages in the Chatham community are among the worst in Sangamon County, Illinois. At the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), our water program promotes practical changes in the way people manage water as a resource and changes that are good for residents, good for businesses, and good for the environment. Through programs like our RainReadySM Initiative, we help homeowners and municipalities save money by installing green infrastructure solutions like rain gardens and bioswales for stormwater management. Much of our work is done to prevent and alleviate flood issues which includes community outreach and development of the RainReady Midlothian Plan and six community plans in Illinois.

Chatham, a village in central Illinois, has been susceptible to flooding since the area was first developed in the 1860s. Today, many Chatham residents and business owners experience chronic basement flooding, which is caused by backups in the city sewer system and seepage through below-ground floors and walls, both of which contribute to mold problems and structural damage. Flooding is also common in yards and streets.

A guide to the Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard for municipalities interested in sustainability and struggling with existing infrastructure and stormwater management needs.

This report examines the resources that several U.S. cities are devoting to “green infrastructure” and analyzes their early experiences with alternative stormwater management. This report defines and describes green infrastructure; discusses barriers to green infrastructure implementation by local governments; and reviews the funding and personnel devoted to green infrastructure by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, City of Chicago, City of Philadelphia, City of Seattle, and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

The relationship between water and energy is a close one. Water requires a tremendous amount of energy to move from a reservoir or well, through the treatment process, and out into a distribution system. In addition, energy is required to process wastewater and recycle or discharge it. The energy required to operate the water and wastewater system is often called embedded energy. Despite this strong connection, the energy intensity of water and wastewater systems is relatively undocumented. There are few data sources and reports analyzing the energy required to move and treat water, and the data generally are not publicly available. ACEEE has been working to gain a better understanding of the energy embedded in water in order to help water utilities reduce costs, improve energy efficiency, and quantify the avoided energy and pollution savings that accrue as a result of water conservation programs. As part of an ongoing effort to advance the understanding of the water-energy nexus and bring attention to possible opportunities, the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) collaborated on a new research project to gather primary information on the amount of energy required to treat and distribute water. ACEEE and NAWC jointly produced a survey for NAWC's member companies related to their energy use and water processing. NAWC has over 100 member water and wastewater companies of varying sizes throughout the United States.

In the face of climate change crisis, it is urgent for policymakers at state, local, and city level to make transition to clean and renewable energy. However, the construction of renewable projects is usually capital-intensive and requires bank’s upfront investment. Green banks help these green projects by managing and investing public capital based on following principles: supporting small projects, de-risking new technologies, and reducing perceived risks. Existing green banks have already proven that their public investment can catalyze private co-investment, and these projects earn economic benefits for private investors and consumers. The green banks could be further empowered by the establishment of National Climate Bank.