As ferocious wildfires swept through Los Angeles in January, the Trump Administration ignited its own deadly firestorm with an assault on climate change policy: the laws, plans, and funds aimed at reducing the substantial risks of a warming planet. Global warming was “a major factor” behind the extreme weather that resulted in the conflagration in LA (World Weather Attribution)—as well as more than two dozen billion-dollar disasters last year alone (NOAA).
Despite the steady drumbeat of more frequent and more intense disasters, Trump froze federal grants for research and programs that reduce climate risks—from battery factories to electric school buses—and issued executive orders that halted renewable energy projects. His administration is now working to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and stop the investment of hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy technologies and community preparedness. In Georgia, $1 billion in much-needed projects to modernize the power grid are currently on hold, as are funds to help the city of Atlanta implement its climate plans.
Little about the administration’s attack on the health and safety of every American has been a surprise, except the speed and recklessness of implementation. The 2025 Presidential Transition Project made clear that the next conservative president would do all in his power to stop global climate action and promote the burning of fossil fuels. Trump reinforced that message throughout his campaign.
Role of Cities
While it will be difficult—if not impossible—to achieve any meaningful climate action at the federal level in the next few years, there are places where we can focus our energy: cities. Urban areas may be the last line of defense to manage the accelerating climate risks. The life-threatening impacts of extreme heat, too much or too little water, and critical infrastructure failure are hyperlocal, as are the solutions.
Fifteen years ago, Mayor Shirley Franklin created Atlanta’s first office of sustainability, recognizing the need to prepare our city for severe weather events that could alter services and place residents in harm’s way. Kasim Reed built significantly on her legacy when he was mayor.
Keisha Lance Bottoms virtually destroyed climate action programs during her subsequent administration, burying the office and its critical mission deep within city government. It’s now up to Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta City Council to do everything they can to safeguard our lives, property, and futures.
Extreme Heat and Flooding
Extreme temperatures and humidity are responsible for more deaths annually in the U.S. than all other forms of extreme weather combined. Atlanta is now the third fastest warming municipality in the country (Georgia Tech).
A citywide heat risk assessment conducted by Georgia Tech’s Brian Stone found that heat and flood risks are “overwhelmingly concentrated” in vulnerable neighborhoods to the west and south of downtown Atlanta. These are the same areas where the energy burden—percentage of household income spent on utilities—is high, or greater than 6 percent. Astonishingly, 50,000 households in the city are energy burdened. This untenable situation contributes to more evictions and displacements.
Stone’s study calculates the impacts of a blackout occurring over five days during a heat wave—not an improbable scenario, since blackouts nationwide have more than doubled in the past ten years. According to the data, about 12,500 people would seek emergency care in a city with less than 2,000 emergency beds. Nor is it clear that Atlanta has sufficient cooling centers with backup generators.
The “rain bomb” that fell on Downtown Atlanta in the fall of 2023, stunned officials with its volume and intensity. For those familiar with the city’s woefully underfunded and undermanaged stormwater programs, the results were not a surprise. Neither was the flooding last fall from Hurricane Helene—when Atlanta avoided a direct hit from the climate-intensified monster storm, but recorded eleven inches of rain in 48 hours. Severe flooding is what happens when the earth is covered with pavement and rooftops, when the city’s famous tree canopy begins to disappear, and when city officials fail to implement bold, well-funded sustainability plans.
Atlanta must prepare all of its citizens and businesses and infrastructure for what is coming—for what is already here—as we also prioritize deeply rooted societal issues, such as affordable housing and the city’s wealth gap: one of the largest in the country.
Dickens Climate Plans
When Andre Dickens became Atlanta’s mayor in 2022, he revived the city’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience, created a Cabinet-level position for its chief officer, and appointed Chandra Farley to that position. A capable and persistent woman who calls herself “an activist at heart,” she has reset and advanced efforts to reach the city’s primary climate goal: 100% clean energy for all Atlantans by 2035. Much less clear is whether progress has been made to prepare for climate change.
Over the past two years, Farley has filled half a dozen vacancies; however, the office is still not up to Reed administration staffing levels. She has created advisory boards, strengthened partnerships, and developed a framework for the emerging Climate Resilience Action Plan: an update and expansion of the current, decade-old plan. She and her team are working to engage citizens in the planning process.
Seeking opportunities offered through the Inflation Reduction Act, Farley secured several major grants to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and build resilience. Those dollars are currently frozen by the Trump Administration. Referring to the uncertain funding situation, she recently told the City Council: “It’s a day-by-day situation.” Without enough money, Atlanta simply cannot manage the increasing risks.
After talking to a dozen officials, academic experts, consultants, and activists, I kept returning to three climate solutions that could yield significant results with no need for federal assistance. These solutions will require Mayor Dicken’s full-throated support and political influence.
- Pass the newly revised Tree Protection Ordinance, when it comes to a City Council vote this spring. Nearly a decade has passed while ordinance supporters and opponents have debated the adoption of measures to protect and grow Atlanta’s tree canopy. Trees naturally cool the air and reduce stormwater flow.
- Tell the city’s Watershed Department to finalize its draft plan to establish a stormwater utility—a mechanism to employ funds to address flooding—and present the plan for review and passage.
- Make the city’s Community Energy Trust Fund the powerful tool that was originally envisioned with an infusion of $10 million. The current funding of $500,000 will only start the task at hand: installation of energy efficiency measures in low-income housing.
When Mayor Dickens, the City Council, and Atlanta’s corporate community join together, they find the money and political will to accomplish their goals, as we’ve seen in recent years. Preparing for a hotter, wetter future must be the lens through which all city decisions are made.