The Impact Newsfeed

Daily news digest from the world of affordable housing and impact investing

To Ensure the Homeowner Assistance Fund Offers Relief to Struggling Native Homeowners, Center Their Needs and Voices

Federal assistance is critical but is not a one-shot solution for Native homeowners.

Three Obstacles Federally Assisted Housing Programs Need to Overcome to Better Serve Residents with Disabilities

Advancing disability equity in federally assisted housing requires adequate resources and an inclusive approach.

Aligning Federal Investments in Transportation with Land-Use Planning Could Create More Equitable and Sustainable Communities

If policymakers want to prioritize equity and sustainability, they should ensure future investments in transportation align with land-use planning of the surrounding areas.

Three Ways to Support Homeowners in Distress Instead of Cutting Monthly Mortgage Payments

Instead of pursuing the politically popular across-the-board monthly mortgage insurance premium cut, policymakers can enact these three policy solutions to reduce the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund surplus and help homebuyers build wealth.

Why US Cities Are Investing in Safer, More-Connected Cycling Infrastructure

As more cities invest in well-connected and safe cycling infrastructure, more people can feel secure when biking, which can create more access to social and health benefits.

How Place-Based Special Purpose Credit Programs Can Reduce the Racial Homeownership Gap

By targeting areas based on racial composition, mortgage financing programs could unwind the impacts of decades of racial and spatial disinvestment.

In Chicago, Neighborhoods Have Stark Differences in Economic Opportunity

New Urban research shows that, at the local level, neighborhoods in northeast Chicago hold more wealth than neighborhoods in the south and west, which hold little or negative wealth.

Here's an overlooked option for long-term energy storage for renewables

Batteries get all the hype, but they are not the only way to provide continuous electricity.

Combining offshore wind with carbon removal

Offshore wind farms could help capture carbon from air and store it long-term — using energy that would otherwise go to waste

How to finance Scope 3 emissions reductions on farms

A new report from Field to Market outlines how to open up funding for farmers switching to sustainable agriculture techniques.

Community solar’s star is on the rise

The community solar market had a record year in 2020, accounting for 37 percent of annual non-residential solar capacity — up from just 13 percent in 2016.

Carbon markets: how to realize climate and ESG goals

Sponsored: Carbon credits advance regenerative ag and help companies offset Scope 3 emissions but are confusing, requiring tools to inform investment decisions.

Washington state could lead the nation on building electrification codes

New proposals for heat pumps for space and water heating could eliminate 8.1 million tons of CO2 by 2050.

Cue the qubits: Where quantum computing intersects ESG

From an ESG standpoint, quantum computing technology has the potential to affect pretty much all of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

ESG data is a public good. Let’s open it up

Climate risk analysis should not be an “investment edge,” but a “public good.”