This article details the ever-pressing housing crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. That being said, even while specific and targeted assistance was set aside for homeless and transient homeless people, it was limited to only half a million counted homeless people, when in reality...Read more
This article was interesting in that it provided a somewhat technical report on how prepared PJM is for the summer weather. PJM is the largest electricity grid in the U.S., providing service in thirteen states, include PA. It's also the transmission operator for PECO in Philadelphia -- and I...Read more
This article discusses a recent public official's mishandling of WAP (Weatherization Assistance Program) marketing. As often discussed by the Energy Vulnerability Project, energy assistance programs are not often widely known by those who need it. Such limited knowledge of the assistance...Read more
Water rates have inflated four times faster since 2017. In city’s neighborhoods, 1 in 5 customers spent 10% or more of their income on water. PWSA (Pittsburgh’s local water supplier) has sent shutoff notices to 20% of their nearly 8000 customers who fell behind on their bills. Payment...Read more
This article briefly notes the devastating effects the tropical storm Isaias and the ways in which the storm has swept the East coast entirely. Underlying vulnerabilities to think about are preparedness on the part of the municipalities, housing stock, and its vulnerability to a heavy storm like...Read more
This article provides a very clear and specific overview of the pandemic's impact on communities, especially low-income, communities of color. In this article, writers of the DNRC discuss how, despite assistance specifically set aside for the pandemic, households continued to face evictions and...Read more
This article talks about the repercussions of the storm as it hit Massachusetts. Although outages were felt across the East coast, Massachusetts had not witnessed as many outages as Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, which were among the worst hit. That said, companies like Eversource...Read more
This article disscusses how cities may protect vulnerable residents from the risks of extreme heat during the COVID19 pandemic. Read more
On an opposite scale of what SNAP directors have been asking of Seattle residents, Lucy Preatt of Hopelink, an energy assistance organization, says they have more money than they can think of as a result of COVID-19 assistance. As with SNAP in Seattle, however, they are urging everyone who is...Read more
SNAP directors are urging those in crisis to apply right away whilst asking those who can cope to wait a little longer before applying. The question here is: is it ethical to ask anyone who needs help (regardless of critical or non-critical status) to wait to apply? Shouldn't it be the...Read more
More to come...Read more