.png)
Findings
Our team has compiled environmental, social, and economic data about Cobb County in order to assess its overall sustainability. Read below to learn more information about each team's findings on assets and shortcomings as well as our recommendations about how to address the issues Cobb faces.
Environmental Aspects
Assets
Cobb County has many assets that help showcase the county administration’s dedication to environmental concerns. The county is certified platinum as a Green Community as of 2022, partially due to their participation in the Hefty Energy Bag Program for hard-to-recycle materials and opting into the Municipal Management Program for waste and recycling data tracking. Ordinances and policies like the Environmental Purchasing Policy and Tree Ordinance give a legal backbone to their environmental work, and resiliency measures such as stream buffers, increasing solar power offerings, and participation in the National Flood Insurance Program provide additional benefits to the county’s residents.
Figure 1: Solar Flower Garden
https://smartflower.com/blog/flower-power-comes-to-marietta-with-cobb-emcs-new-solar-flower-garden/
Risk Factors
Cobb County has experienced increasing temperatures and precipitation since 1895, with temperatures increasing at a rate of about 2x the national temperature rise. Drought and rainy periods have become longer, and the county has an elevated risk of natural disasters, including tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Urban Heat Island
99% of properties in Cobb County are assumed to be impacted by rising temperatures and urban heat island effect (The Risk Factor), which is the phenomenon that urban areas that are highly concentrated in impervious surfaces (asphalt, concrete, etc.) experience higher temperatures than surrounding areas (1-7 degrees F higher in the daytime and 2-5 degrees F at night time according to the EPA). Urban heat island increases risks such as: public health & mortality, places a higher burden on energy and water consumption, exacerbates air pollution, and poses threats to various supply chains including food supply.
Flooding and Stormwater
Due to rising temperatures, Cobb County is projected to receive over 5% more extreme weather and total precipitation by 2030. In addition to the current flooding hazards in the County, this will put about 1300 more properties at risk of significant flood damage. These threats are amplified by Cobb County’s high impervious surface cover, which lead to higher flood levels in the area. These impervious surfaces also impact the environment in non-flood conditions, adding roadway pollutants to runoff that enter and damage local stream ecosystems.
Air Quality
Air quality in Cobb County is of some concern, due in part to the natural atmospheric conditions of the region. High organic VOC levels interact with NOx emissions to readily form ground-level ozone, making controls for NOx emissions extremely important. The main sources of NOx emissions, at over 60% total, are roadway engines and the nearby airport and airfield. Roadway impacts may increase, as current commute times in Cobb County recently went over 30 minutes on average and are still rising. Protecting air quality from deterioration will require targeting emissions from these sources and closer monitoring of air quality in these areas of greatest concern.
Waste Management
Cobb County’s waste management procedures and practices are overseen by CCSWBD, which contracts out most of their services including recycling (WestRock), transfer and material handling operations (Advanced Disposal Services (ADS)), and yard and vegetative waste (TAG Grinding Services). There are no landfills in Cobb County, so most landfill-bound waste is taken by ADS to Alabama.
There are 43 environmentally-contaminated sites documented in Cobb County that are managed by either the US Environmental Protection Agency or the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. All of these sites are either in clean-up or have a preliminary plan to do so.
Energy
The percentage of household income spent on energy (i.e. heating, cooling, appliances) based on annual gross income is known as a household’s energy burden. According to the Department of Energy’s LEAD Tool, Cobb County at large has an energy burden of around 2%, average household income of $80,830, and a 9.2% poverty rate (according to Census Data). However, these are county-wide averages, and many Census tracts within Cobb County have much larger energy burdens and poverty rates comparatively. . Census tract 310.01 for example has: an energy burden of 6-9% (LEAD tool estimate & GIS Team estimate), average household income of $37,292, and poverty rate of 28.2% (Census, n.d.).
The majority of the county gets their energy from non-renewable sources but options for renewable energy are available and increasing. Georgia Power currently offers an energy mix of 63% fossil fuels, whereas Cobb EMC, an energy collective, offers an energy mix of 47% fossil fuels with the option to switch to renewable energy for an extra $0.01/kWh. Both companies plan to increase their renewable offerings by 2030. Marietta Power also plans to offer solar energy beginning in 2023 and already offers about 50% of their energy from nuclear or hydropower sources now.
Social Aspects
Housing Inequity
Assets:
Per the Fair Housing Law Title VIII, Cobb has policies and precedents that make sure that prospective homeowners are not prevented from viewing or buying houses due to their age, race, gender, or any other qualities. Cobb also has the Marietta Housing Authority which aims to develop housing that is affordable, mixed-use, and accessible from obsolete public housing or through buying out older properties. They also host a Family Self- Sufficiency program that makes a five year plan with families to become self-sufficient and set goals through their financial futures.
​
Challenges:
Although Cobb has measures and provisions to prevent housing discrimination, there are still reports on its existence embedded into Cobb. Specifically, tenants have reported landlords that would not accept Section 8 payments, and in areas with a majority of people of color especially, investors and businesses are buying out areas of affordable housing for lower-income communities. These two issues create a housing environment toxic to minorities and lower-income residents.
Food Insecurity
Assets:
Cobb has made efforts to reduce food insecurity using two community gardens, the Green Meadows Preserve Community Garden and North Marietta Neighborhood Community Garden that both provide fresh produce and training for the community to get involved. There are also food distribution programs and pantries in place to further assist its residents have access to food like Happy Helpings and MUST Ministries.
​
Challenges:
As of 2017, studies in Cobb have shown almost 82000 residents are food insecure, and even though Feeding America has found Cobb’s food insecurity rate has decreased since then, there are many external factors that contribute to food insecurity in 2022. Most areas in Cobb do not have accessible transit to grocery stores, making much of it within food deserts, areas where it is difficult to buy affordable and good quality fresh food. Additionally, within the last two years, the Atlanta Community Food Bank closed its doors in South Cobb leaving existing food services limited in age and types of food offered.
Figure 2: Green meadows preserve community garden
https://www.cobbmastergardeners.com/project/green-meadows-preserve-community-garden/
Figure 3: North marietta neighborhood community garden
https://www.cobbmastergardeners.com/project/north-marietta-neighborhood-community-garden/
Heart Disease Caused by Extreme Heat
Challenges:
For the next 30 years, Cobb is projected to have an 87% probability of having a heat wave compared to the 53% now and the 13% chance 30 years ago. The climate of Cobb County is increasingly getting hotter with more health cautious days and dangerous days. Based on the national study, this extreme heat leads to heart diseases that can cause hospitalization or death, with heart disease being one of the leading causes of death in Cobb County. Additionally, due to the preexisting health trends of the county, such as obesity and high blood pressure, it is putting the residents with these health concerns at an increased risk to be affected by the extreme heat.
Asthma and Air Quality
Assets:
As of now, Cobb county has been focused on asthma safety awareness. They practice asthma-friendly policies in schools by controlling idling zones, pest management, education, and more, and they encourage these practices in childcare centers through their bronze to platinum recognition program. In addition, they have incorporated asthma awareness into the basic curriculum.
​
Challenges:
Although Cobb has lower rates of asthma compared to the rest of Georgia (7.6 and 8.9 percent for children and adults respectively), their percent of hospitalizations and emergency department visits for children in Cobb county are higher than most of Georgia as well as Cobb’s surrounding counties. Cobb is home to Plant McDonough-Atkinson, a power plant on the list of the nation’s top 40 dirtiest power plants that has unlined coal ash pits that can be polluting to the surrounding environment. The ash site is on the track to close by 2028, but before then, it is polluting Georgia for the next 6 years and will continue to if the ash is disposed of unsafely.
Opioid and Fentanyl Crisis
Assets:
The Cobb and Douglas Public Health (CDPH) department started a task force to combat the opioid crisis in January 2020, paused due to Covid efforts, and then started back in May 2022. The CDPH also has a program in schools that focuses on alcohol, tobacco, vaping, and marjiuana.
​
Challenges:
The task force that has been established does not have enough features to aid the communities, especially in drug overdoses that involve fentanyl. Additionally, the school program that is currently being in use does ot address the dangers of opioids, fentanyls, or street bought drugs- causing Cobb students to be lacking in sorely needed information.
Economic Aspects
Non-Motorized Transit
Assets:
​Cobb County has about 20 square miles of green spaces and parks and 776 linear miles of sidewalks. According to the Cobb Forward Comprehensive Transportation Plan, there are several miles of programmed and proposed trails. Currently, there are also 8 priority trails in this plan to provide bicycle and pedestrian east-west connectivity. For example, the Silver Comet Trail connects multiple counties, including Cobb County, up until the Georgia/Alabama state line.
​
Figures 4 and 5: Feature paved and dirt biking and walking paths
Challenges:
The lack of extensive trails and high priority bike routes connecting Cobb County with the surrounding areas increases the amount of carbon emissions and traffic due to more vehicles on the roads. Hundreds of bicycle and pedestrian crashes were reported which clearly show the deficiencies in the existing pedestrian and bicycle networks in Cobb County (CobbForward Executive Summary 2020). Although there are designated shoulders for bicycle-use, due to the unsafe conditions of the bike lanes on the roads, cycling is not preferred by the community. Easy walking or biking accessibility to trailheads is not available to most residents of Cobb County.
Motorized Transit
Motorized transit in Cobb county is primarily composed of major roadways, expressways and bus services—with Cobblinc being the central transit system for Cobb County. Cobblinc is a transit system consisting of 9 local bus routes, 3 flex zones, 2 circulator routes, 3 express routes to Midtown and Downtown Atlanta, and 2 transfer centers. Cobb Forward or Cobb's Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) is Cobb County's 30-year transportation plan.
​
Figures 6 and 7: CobbLinc routes​
Challenges:
One major challenge to motorized transit in Cobb County is population growth. Cobb is expected to increase by 294,463 residents from 2015. This population growth will offer transit challenges with greater traffic, public health, and safety issues. Other issues related to population growth include crashes due to climate and traffic congestion.
​
Another challenge is demand and income. Over 10% of Cobb County residents are below the federal poverty line. Income is highly linked to transit, as those with higher incomes are more likely to travel further distances and take more trips.
​
Employment & Labor
Assets:
Cobb County currently participates in three workforce development programs: Cobb Workforce Partnership, WorkSource Cobb, and Georgia Quick Start. These training and job postings are specific to Cobb and Georgia industries, companies, and especially growing sectors.. These programs can be utilized to improve soft and technical skill development desired by local industries.
​
Challenges:
Surveyed employers within the county struggle to find a sufficient number of job candidates to fill their needs and enough employees that possess the technical and soft skills to thrive in their workplaces. This shows a need for additional resources employed by the county and its development programs to meet future economic needs. Cobb must also prioritize equitable economic growth with livable wages while preparing local communities and businesses for the growing threats posed by climate change. Creating a climate-resilient economy will allow Cobb to position itself to capitalize on emerging industries while mitigating business risk and maintaining a robust economy throughout the next decades.