VX News is the editorial voice of the annual VerdeXchange Conference, featuring in-depth interviews with industry leaders and policymakers driving innovation in clean energy, water, transportation, and climate policy.
VX Excerpt: Beyond Watershed Planning – Engaging Communities to Improve Outcomes of the LA County’s “Safe Clean Water Program”
As stormwater capture becomes Los Angeles County's principal strategy for managing flood risk, water quality, and local supply, the question of whether Measure W dollars are being deployed at watershed scale – or project by project – has become central to the program's next decade. VX News here excerpts Beyond Watershed Planning, Los Angeles Waterkeeper's assessment of the LA County Flood Control District's Safe Clean Water Program, drawn from five community workshops across four watersheds, which finds the $280-million-a-year program too reactive in structure and recommends a proactive 20-year investment cycle, clearer metrics, stronger greening targets, and deeper community and Tribal engagement.
Two cities burned in LA fires settle YIMBY lawsuit
VX News here excerpts a CalMatters’ Ben Christopher feature that reports: homeowners in Malibu and Pasadena, who saw their neighborhoods burn in the Eaton and Palisades fires last year, will soon be able to build up to four units on their properties now that the two fire-scarred cities have settled a lawsuit brought by pro-development activists. In the settlement: both Malibu and Altadena agreed to repeal their local anti-duplex ordinances suspending SB 9 in post-fire very high fire hazard severity zones and accept all pending and future applications filed under the law. That five-year-old housing law makes it easier for single-family home owners to divide up their parcels and build duplexes on each lot, potentially allowing as many as four small units where local rules once allowed only one. Find the CalMatters original, here.
VX Excerpt: National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Attributes Extreme Weather and Climate Events & Their Impacts to Human Caused Climate Change
As extreme weather grows more frequent and costly, the scientific ability to link a specific heat wave, flood, or drought to human-caused climate change has become central to how governments, insurers, and courts assess responsibility and risk. VX News here excerpts Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's 2026 consensus study, chaired by James W. Hurrell of Colorado State University, which updates the Academies' 2016 assessment of extreme event attribution (EEA) science and extends the analysis into the emerging field of extreme event impact attribution (EEIA) — evaluating how much climate change shapes not just an event's physical severity, but its human and economic toll.
Pete Rose on Delivering Hydro-Québec Power to New York City: VX 2026
In this excerpt from VX2026's plenary "Can We Still Build Big Things?" Pete Rose, Senior Director for Stakeholder Relations at the Champlain Hudson Power Express sets the table with a case study in what it actually takes to build big: a 375-mile buried high-voltage line from a substation outside Montreal into the heart of New York City. Read along as Rose recounts the fourteen years it took to bring the project to life. A recording of the entire plenary can be found here.
California’s Energy Future: A Conversation with Chair David Hochschild
As California confronts rising demand, wildfire-driven costs, and federal policy uncertainty, VX News spoke with California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild on the state’s entry into a new phase of energy deployment—defined by speed, scale, and resilience.
Water’s Global Challenge: Booky Oren on De-Risking Innovation to Scale Implementation
Water doesn’t fail for lack of technology—it fails for lack of implementation. In this VX News interview, Booky Oren, former executive chair of Israel’s national water utility and CEO and founder of Booky Oren Global Water Technologies, explains why scaling proven water solutions remains so difficult, what utilities actually need to manage risk, and how global knowledge-sharing can accelerate resilience.
Why Post-Fire Soil Sampling Matters — And How to Do It Smartly
In a VX News Op-Ed, Sokolow shares ten points to keep in mind for the post-fire soil sampling process, which includes reminders to check for car location, household and pool chemical storage, Asbestos, and more.
LA Metro’s State of the Agency (2025): CEO Stephanie Wiggins & Incoming Chair, Fernando Dutra
VX News shares this excerpt from LA Metro’s 2025 State of the Agency, with CEO Stephanie Wiggins and incoming Board Chair, Whittier Councilmember, Fernando Dutra, who reflect on the agency's efforts to build a safer, more resilient, customer-centered, and inclusive regional transit provider. Highlighting a 53% increase in ridership and an 87% customer satisfaction rate, Wiggins emphasized safety gains, equity-driven initiatives, and system-wide service improvements as Metro prepares for the global stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games. Dutra, committing to on-time capital delivery and workforce development, affirmed Metro’s unified goal: to deliver world-class mobility worthy of every community it serves.
SCAG’s Kome Ajise on Local Government’s Role in Regional Resilience
VX News interviewed Kome Ajise, Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), to elaborate on the challenges and priorities shaping regional planning in the aftermath of the Eaton & Palisades fires.
Plant Prefab’s Steve Glenn: Benefits of Prefab & Modular Design in Expediting Reconstruction After Disaster
With Plant Prefab’s new automated facility operating in Tejon Ranch with capacity to build up to 2,000 homes in a year, TPR checked in with Steve Glenn, founder of Plant Prefab, to elaborate on the benefits of custom designed prefabricated and modular homes could offer for expediting rebuilding efforts.