The Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium put on its first Teen Climate Summit on December 7, 2024 and invited MARC, along with staff from the City of Kansas City, Mo,, Missouri Department of Conservation and ScrapsKC, to share information about their respective work. MARC presented to students hailing from high schools all over the region...
Every few years, MARC updates its population and employment forecast. This work supports a large planning effort to develop the regional transportation plan, ConnectedKC 2050. Understanding the future growth of our region helps transportation decision-makers plan for future transportation investments. Employment and population forecasts (and ultimately, where we will see the most employment and population...
The Climate and Environment Council (CEC) was created to move the implementation of the Kansas City Regional Climate Action Plan forward. The CEC sets a broad agenda on climate resilience and sustainability and focuses on the following core functions to carry out this purpose: Strategy: Develop near-term regional climate action work plans. Coordination: Prioritize, support and coordinate...
This month, MARC will launch a new planning effort that will guide the strategic implementation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the region. The planning effort will help prepare local leaders for the growing number of electric vehicles on our region’s roadways by providing a vision for the expansion of charging networks, along with actionable...
The ozone season lasts from March 1 to October 31 and captures the warmest parts of the year when ozone production is more likely. Throughout the season, the MARC Air Quality Program tracks ozone readings and works with a team of meteorologists to produce the SkyCast—the daily ozone forecast. This forecast is communicated to the...
Douglas County, Kansas has been developing a plan to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The plan and development process were designed to meet community’s priorities, account for assets and vulnerabilities, and recommend short and long-term policies and program development to respond to the realities of a changing climate. Lawrence...
On September 7th and 8th, MARC hosted two half-day workshops on the topics of resilience and mitigation. The workshops identified community-centered goals and potential projects to inform the development of regional Climate Action Plan priorities. Those priorities, reflecting all sectors of the Mid-America region, will be adapted for a grant application (due April 1) through...
The public comment period is open from now through June 30, 2023. This spring, MARC held a call for project applications seeking funds through the Carbon Reduction Program. MARC received a total of 26 projects from 16 local governments and nonprofits. Now MARC is asking for public comments on the submitted applications. In July, MARC...
Each year, MARC’s Air and Water Quality programs conduct public awareness surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs’ annual public awareness campaigns and outreach initiatives. In the last few years, MARC staff have included several climate change questions in these surveys to identify overall trends in concern for climate change, level of priority placed...
On April 24, 2023, MARC will convene professionals from local governments and other public organizations who are working on sustainability and resilience initiatives for a peer exchange and networking opportunity. At this meet-up, participants will learn about relevant regional initiatives, share about their local priorities and projects and discuss collaboration opportunities. MARC intends to bring...
