Federal funding cuts threaten Lawrence climate adaptation plans

Douglas County’s projects to fight climate change are in trouble as federal funding supporting local sustainability efforts faces an uncertain future. Lawrence officials and environmental advocates have been working on projects that weatherize homes, improve public transit and expand green infrastructure. Current federal budget cuts threaten these projects that would make the county more climate resilient.

Jamie Hofling, the Douglas County sustainability impact analyst, said the county applied for a $12 million grant through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to fund energy-efficient home upgrades. However, with the Trump administration pushing to cut climate-focused spending, she’s unsure if the funding will come through.

“Having that money go away, and so rapidly as it looks at this moment, is shocking to say the least,” Hofling said.

The Douglas County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, adopted in 2024, was built on the belief that federal funding would be available to support sustainability initiatives. The plan focuses on four key areas: energy, mobility, living systems and community resilience. Each piece is designed to help Lawrence withstand climate extremes, but federal budget cuts could derail its progress.

Hofling said without proper funding, efforts to modify homes with better insulation, improved windows and energy-efficient appliances could stall. 

“We’ll be looking at our own budgets to see if we can use our own funding to pay for things like that,” Hofling said.

Many older buildings in Lawrence lack proper weather-proofing, leading to high energy bills and increased strain on the electrical grid. Higher demand for heating and cooling drives up utility costs and increases reliance on fossil fuels, contributing to climate change.

Transportation is another major area of concern. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, extreme heat causes cracks in roadways and weakens connections in pavement, leading to accidents. As the year progresses, water seeps into the cracks and freezes, creating larger gaps. Extreme cold can also cause issues with public buses, as Lawrence has already seen.

Ward Lyles, a KU urban planning professor who helped develop the county’s climate plan, said Lawrence’s historical development patterns have made it difficult to reduce reliance on cars.

“We spent 70 years building to segregate housing from jobs, to segregate housing based on income, and to make everyone car-dependent,” Lyles said.

The climate plan calls for improvements to public transit, pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and more tree cover along travel routes. Without federal funding, large investments in greener transportation options may be out of reach. Long-term funding for transit projects is hard to find, and without support from the federal government, Lawrence’s transit systems could struggle to improve.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, green spaces play crucial roles in climate adaptation. Tree cover specifically helps decrease urban heat and reduces flood risks. Hofling said the county has been working to increase the use of native trees and prairie grasses better suited to the ecosystem’s changing climate. However, expanding green infrastructure requires investment, and without IRA funding, projects making Lawrence’s landscape climate-resilient could be scaled back.

Beyond infrastructure, the climate plan emphasizes community resilience by preparing for climate threats and handling public health risks related to extreme weather. Lyles said that lower-income residents, often the most affected by climate change, can lack the time and resources to express their needs to local governments. He said the climate plan tried to counterbalance this by traveling into the community to meet with people.

Hofling also brought up community outreach and described the county’s efforts to engage with a broad range of residents during the climate plan’s development. She said she met with county residents in urban and rural areas and across diverse age ranges.

As Douglas County moves forward, local leaders will push for solutions, but uncertainty about federal support casts doubt on the ability to execute the climate plan. In a political environment increasingly hostile to environmental action, Lawrence’s sustainability efforts must be as resilient as the native prairie grass.

This article was edited by News Editor Emily Harter. If the information in this article needs to be corrected, please contact emily.harter@ku.edu. We want to hear from you!