Missouri lawmakers took a step toward improving conditions in some Missouri prisons last year by setting aside millions to install air conditioning in one of the state’s 17 prisons. That cooler air is still a year and a half away. That decision came as global temperatures broke summertime heat records. Prisoner rights advocates celebrated the […]
climate change
Posted inKansas City
Kansas City home builders push back on energy efficiency rules, blame them for housing crunch
Correction: This story originally misstated which emissions reduction target is related to the city’s energy efficiency goals. It also misstated the number of permits Kansas City issued under the new building code. The Kansas City Council gave homebuilders new rules last year designed to make housing easier on the environment. Those rules told them what kind […]
Posted inHealth
How the Kansas City heat this week, this summer and beyond threatens your health
The sort of heat wave baking Kansas City looks to be increasingly common, and increasingly dangerous.
“The climate crisis isn’t one single moment of disaster,” said Laela Zaidi, an organizer with Sunrise Movement KC, a group fighting climate change. “It’s also days and weeks of extreme heat, of drought, of failing infrastructure.”
Here’s why severe heat is so dangerous and what you can do to keep yourself, your neighbors and your loved ones safe.
Posted inEnvironment, Health
Wichita’s not just an allergy capital — it’s a triple crown of pollen
Allergies in Wichita are no joke. Just ask comedian Nate Bargatze. A TikTok video shot in October shows him returning from a jog with itchy hands and feet. He said he could feel his lips swelling. The comedian was experiencing a severe and sudden case of what many Wichitans live with for months every year […]
Posted inEnvironment, State Government
Missouri Republicans go after ‘woke’ investing to prevent state funds from being used in the fight against climate change
Some Missouri officeholders want to make sure that state funds aren’t used to promote “woke political agendas.” An effort is underway to ban state involvement with banks that prioritize climate action or other socially driven investments. Conservative legislators have joined peers in other Republican-run states in a movement against environmental, social and governance investing. Known […]
Posted inEnvironment
How new building codes could help fight climate change
William Davies thinks action on climate change is urgent, and adopting new building codes in Kansas City would be a step in the right direction. “Folks are looking to Kansas City for leadership and we shouldn’t shy away from that,” said Davies, an organizer with the Sierra Club. “We’re not saying that this is the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Climate change, habitat loss — local groups are helping birds survive these threats
When Mary Nemecek learned a group of Arctic birds weren’t able to breed because warm weather never arrived in Greenland, she wondered if she would ever see a dunlin, a kind of Arctic shorebird, again. “I feel like we’re sitting on a precipice where there are some of these species that are fragile, and they’re […]
Posted inEnvironment
Meet the young activists pushing for KCMO climate accountability
When Alex Teasley found out Kansas City, Missouri, was prioritizing action on climate change, they were hopeful. Teasley, 17, is a part of Sunrise Movement KC, a local chapter of the national nonprofit organization, which was founded in 2017 shortly before an international rise in climate change protests. The chapter advocates for the Green New […]
Posted inEnvironment
How climate change affects tornado season — and how it doesn’t
“Especially here, there’s so much variability from year to year to what causes our weather,” Bowman said. “I don’t think you can draw any kind of conclusion on any one, two or three years. You have to look at a multi-decade study.”