Last week, the management council of the Solid Waste Management District hosted speakers Richard Mabion and Jeff Severin. Mabion is founder of Building a Sustainable Earth Community and a member of EPA Region 7 National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). Severin is the Senior Program Manager of the Heartland Environmental Justice Center at Wichita State...
A packed Kauffman Foundation Conference Center was host to in-depth discussions from local stakeholders across several key categories for climate action funding. MARC Environmental programs capped off weeks of public input on the next phase of the KC Regional Climate Action Plan on Friday with a three-hour workshop reviewing the framework developed from prior stakeholder meetings. The...
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...
Overland Park is updating its codes to make room for native landscapes that have long been classified as “weeds”. The move could mean front yard gardens featuring formerly banned plants like milkweed, blue sage, native flowers and other species that once dominated northeastern Kansas. Native plants like milkweed have deeper root systems that infiltrate the...
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 Mid-America Regional Council and Climate Action KC are looking for new members to join the 2024-2026 cohort of Climate and Environment Council (CEC).
The passage of the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has created the most significant opportunity for transformational infrastructure investment in a generation. Mobilizing this scale of funding will require increased local and regional coordination and the development of larger-scale projects. The existing KC Regional Climate Action Plan is...
Name Gloria Fisher What is your work and how did you end up focusing on the work you do? I am the Executive Director for Westside Housing Organization/ WSH. We are the largest community Development Corporation in KC MO. We deliver a $1.5M minor home repair program each year. I ended up in the group...
You’ve probably noticed the air quality over the past few weeks – the region has been experiencing higher-than-usual numbers of ozone alerts and exceedances. “I’m afraid that we are in for a very rough ozone season,” said Doug Norsby, senior environmental planner for the Mid-America Regional Council Air Quality Program. “We’ve been hit twice now...
