City Climate Corner Abby Finis, Larry Kraft

YoGo BikeShare is launching a new e-bike micro-mobility platform in Youngstown, a city of about 60,000 in population. We interview YoGo President Ronnel Elkins and VP of Operations Corey Patrick, and learn about their vision, the obstacles they've faced, and how the service will address the first and last mile problem of public transportation.

There's a heat pump revolution happening in Maine. Already over 100,000 of the 600,000 homes in Maine have heat pumps, and their plan is to be over 300,000 by 2027. One out of every 14 heat pumps in the U.S. is going to Maine, though it is only 0.42% of the US's population. We talk to Andy Meyer, Senior Program Manager at Efficiency Maine, to learn how they've done it, and how it's saving Maine residents a lot of money, even in a cold-weather climate.

Lincoln Nebraska may not be the first city that comes to mind when you think of climate action, but maybe it should be. We interview Kim Morrow, Chief Sustainability Officer for Lincoln, about some exciting city programs, including EV infrastructure, an innovative approach to Rental Rehabilitation using Tax Increment Financing (TIF), heat pump rebates, and biochar as well as their approach to Climate Pollution Reduction Grants.

There's a lot of exciting things happening in the world of geothermal power. We explore geothermal in general and examine a novel approach leveraging groundwater to substantially reduce the footprint needed. We interview Darcy Solutions CTO Dan King about how their technology is being used by some cities to provide carbon free heating and cooling.

Abby, Larry, and Isaiah review 2023 and talk about what's coming in 2024.

On the shores of Lake Superior, Duluth has received publicity as a "climate proof city" though faces distinct challenges with its cold weather climate. With grants, they are pursuing exciting approaches to creating a geothermal district heating system from their waste water treatment plant and separately, creating resilience in their building stock with solar plus storage and microgrids. We interview Sustainability Officer Mindy Granley, Community Resilience Project Coordinator Bret Crecelius, and Americorps service member Ella Stewart about Duluth's unique 5-year at a time approach to climate planning.