The Brief

Transportation is the largest source of carbon pollution in the United States, and passenger cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks account for more than half of all transportation emissions.

If you want to reduce your climate impact, this can present a dilemma. Walking, biking, and public transportation are the most climate-friendly ways to get around, but cars rule the roads in most of the nation. So ditching your car might not seem realistic.

“It’s a really entrenched problem that’s really hard to get out of. We built all of these roads and highways and then basically made them the default option,” said Alexa Sledge, the associate director of communications at Transportation Alternatives, a New York City-based nonprofit. “It’s most likely not your fault that you rely on a car and highways to get to work.”

But even if you can’t single-handedly transform the U.S. transportation system, there are many steps you can take to help build a future where walking, biking, and riding mass transit are viable — and popular — options in your own community. Though this change can’t occur overnight, it is possible to make a difference over time.

“When we make it quick, easy, cheap, fun to do these things, people will pick them over cars,” said Sledge.

Learn more about transportation opportunities and challenges in your city

As the executive director of the nonprofit National Organizations for Youth Safety, Jacob Smith works on issues of road safety with marginalized young people — a group that is particularly affected by road crashes. He believes that to make a difference on transportation, you need to start by reflecting on your own mobility patterns — how you get around and what factors influence this — and learning about those of others.

“The first step is just getting to know your community and surroundings. Where’s the nearest grocery store if someone’s walking? Where’s the nearest human services [center] where families go that are taking the bus?” he said.

Talking to people who use different forms of transportation about what works well and what doesn’t is also important, Smith believes. “We have to create a mindset of, what are the alternatives that other people are required to experience?”

These discussions can be eye-opening, according to Meg Fencil, the director of engagement and impact at Sustain Charlotte, a nonprofit focused on Charlotte, North Carolina. Her organization uses a tool called a walkability audit to gauge how pedestrian-friendly different neighborhoods are, often involving local community members in the process — and giving them the chance to learn from one another. “It’s really fascinating for the people that do mostly drive around their own neighborhood to see from the perspective of that person that doesn’t drive,” she said.

Read: American society wasn’t always so car-centric. Our future doesn’t have to be, either.

Experiment with different ways of getting around

If you typically drive to meet your daily needs, experimenting with walking, cycling, and taking public transportation is a good way to learn more about what’s working and what’s not in your local transportation system. It can also serve as a form of advocacy in and of itself, providing an example for others.

If you’re interested in testing out a cycle commute to work, Fencil advised seeking out low-hanging fruit such as trying a promising bike route on days such as Sundays, when traffic is relatively light — ideally bringing a friend who’s a confident cyclist along for support.

The same logic applies to trying out public transportation, she said. Taking a few test runs on the bus before committing to a full commute day can help calm anxieties about how to manage things like buying tickets and making transfers.

Kendra Ramsey, the executive director of CalBike, a statewide bicycle advocacy organization in California, advises the cycling-curious to seek out local groups that help people learn how to safely bike for transportation. “Where I live, the city puts on a course every few months for people that are trying to get into [bike] commuting, to help them with these skills,” she said.

At some schools, parents organize bike buses to promote cycling in their communities and help children learn to bike safely. On designated days, children from certain schools meet at a designated location and bike to school together (with adult supervision). “Making that a fun and great option for kids is a way to be that change, and also just showing people that [biking] is safe,” said Transportation Alternatives’s Sledge.

Online resources such as these urban cycling safety tips from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public can also provide helpful information for getting started on a bike.

Drive with non-drivers in mind

When driving, you can help make the roads more welcoming to non-car traffic by going slowly, choosing a small vehicle, and paying close attention to bikers and pedestrians.

Fear of cars is a major barrier to getting people out of their cars. For a study published in the journal Transport Reviews in 2022, researchers set out to understand why relatively few people in the United States and similar countries get around by bike, given the substantial health and environmental benefits of cycling. Analyzing 45 reports discussing reasons that people choose not to bike, the authors found that the top barrier to cycling was a reluctance to “[ride] on the road alongside motor vehicles.” Specifically, they cited fear of motorist aggression, perceived risk of injury, and high traffic density

These fears are justified. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, road crashes are the leading cause of death for young people globally, and more than half of the individuals killed are pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists. In the US, cyclist and pedestrian fatalities have risen in recent years. And though bicycle trips make up only 1% of all journeys in the U.S., cyclists account for more than 2% of people killed in crashes.

You can minimize the risk to pedestrians and bikers in your community by considering your own driving habits. Driving slowly is part of the solution. Research has shown that when pedestrians are struck by cars, vehicle speed affects their chances of survival. One report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that at 23 miles per hour, pedestrians face a 10% risk of death, while at 42 miles per hour, this rises to 50%.

Driving a small car can also help, as large, heavy vehicles pose greater risks for walkers and cyclists. A 2021 paper in the journal Economics of Transportation estimated that pedestrian fatalities increased by 1,110 between 2000 and 2019 due to the rising popularity of SUVs.

Find and support others working on these issues locally

Plugging into local networks can provide opportunities to learn from others with deep knowledge of transportation issues and get involved in ongoing projects.

“We’re really encouraging people to figure out who else is working on [walkability] locally and seeing where they can weigh in and help,” said Mike McGinn, the executive director of national nonprofit America Walks and a former mayor of Seattle. “I will bet you there’s somebody in the community doing the work. And if there’s no one, give us a call [at America Walks] — we’ll talk to you about what you can do to get started on your own.”

McGinn noted that since transportation is closely linked to many other issues, groups focusing on topics like urban planning, housing, and equity can also offer valuable ways to contribute.

To search for resources in your area, start with these directories from America Walks, The League of American Bicyclists, and YIMBY Action.

Pay attention to politics

For CalBike’s Ramsey, one of the most important things you can do to improve mobility options is vote. “Understanding what the priorities are for folks running for office, asking questions, and holding them accountable for actually investing in the transportation infrastructure for bicycling, for walking, high-quality transit … that’s a critical, critical step,” she said.

Communicating with current policymakers is also important. McGinn said that his years in the Seattle government taught him that policymakers need to hear directly from people who want to prioritize transportation options other than cars.

“A lot of elected officials seem to believe — because the voices are often quite loud — that people that are driving represent the majority sentiment in the community,” he said. “So when they hear complaints about lower speed limits or a safety redesign of a street or a bus-only lane or a bike lane, those public officials hesitate to make the change they should make. It is just critically important for the supporters to be showing up as well.”

Communicate about sustainable transportation

Not everyone has time to volunteer with local organizations or go to city council meetings — and that’s OK, McGinn said. Simple actions such as talking to neighbors about the importance of walking, biking, and public transportation or speaking up on social media about changes you’d like to see in your community’s transportation system are also important.

Even something as basic as thinking carefully about the language used to discuss different mobility options can help spread important ideas. “I actually don’t like the term ‘alternative transportation,’ because to me that suggests that walking, biking, and using public transportation are somehow outside the norm of the way that folks should get around their community,” said Sustain Charlotte’s Meg Fencil.

Being deliberate about language and messaging is particularly important in a society where people grow up surrounded by cars, making auto-centric transportation seem both natural and inevitable. At the National Organizations for Youth Safety, one of Jacob Smith’s priorities is to help people see beyond this framing.

“We have to actively build the consciousness of young people to understand that they can re-imagine what their transportation system looks like — and they can envision what a future looks like that’s not dependent upon cars,” he said.

This story was originally from Yale Climate Connections, which you can find here.

The U.S. attacks on Iran over the weekend, in conjunction with the Israeli military, marked a stunning new phase in relations between the two countries.
But it is hardly the first time Washington and Tehran have clashed politically and militarily.

Here are some key historical moments between the U.S. and Iran.

1953: U.S. helps orchestrate coup that overthrows Mohammad Mosaddegh

Great Britain had controlled Iran's oil industry for decades, but in 1953 Iran's elected prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, nationalized the country's oil sector.

That move prompted Great Britain to appeal to the U.S. for help, and what resulted was a CIA-led campaign to topple Mosaddegh's government. The coup allowed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah (or king) of Iran, to consolidate power around himself. (The CIA, long suspected of having a hand in the revolt, officially acknowledged its role in 2013.)

Mosaddegh was imprisoned and later placed under house arrest until his death in 1967. Pahlavi went on to lead Iran for the next two and a half decades, becoming a strong U.S. ally.

1979: Iranian Revolution and U.S. hostage crisis

Iranian opposition leader in exile Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gives a speech as journalists surround him at Roissy airport near Paris on Jan. 31, 1979, before boarding a plane bound for Tehran. Khomeini establishes an Islamic republic in Iran.

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In early 1979, following months of protests by secularists, Islamists and leftists against his autocratic rule, Pahlavi fled Iran and entered the U.S.

The revolution had been led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shia cleric who was living in exile near Paris after being expelled by Pahlavi in 1964. Khomeini returned to Iran and oversaw the country's transition to an Islamic republic, becoming Iran's supreme leader. Khomeini established a hard-line theocracy and labeled America the "Great Satan."
In November of that year, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and captured 66 Americans.

A U.S. rescue attempt in the spring of 1980 codenamed Operation Eagle Claw, which was approved by President Jimmy Carter, was hampered by mechanical problems, a severe dust storm and a crash that killed eight service members. It failed to secure the release of the hostages.

After 444 days in captivity, the remaining 52 hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981 — the day President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.

Early 1980s: The Iran-Contra affair

Reagan's tenure was also marked by a now-infamous transaction with Iran.

Officials in his administration were discovered to have sold weapons to the country in the hope that it would help secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon by Hezbollah, a militant group allied with Iran.

The Reagan administration used the proceeds of the arms sales to fund the paramilitary Contra rebel group fighting against the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Reagan confirmed the story in a 1986 White House press conference and took public responsibility for what's become known as the Iran-Contra affair.

Late 1980s: Tensions in the Persian Gulf

Thousands of people mourn in July 1988 in Tehran, during the funeral service for those who died when an Iranian passenger jet was shot down over the Gulf by the U.S. military.

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Iran and Iraq were engaged in a war since 1980, and toward the end of that decade, Iran began to attack oil tankers belonging to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Iraq's financial supporters.

In 1987 the U.S. begins a military campaign known as Operation Earnest Will to protect Kuwaiti tankers.

During that operation in 1988, the U.S. frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine, which punched a 15-foot hole in the hull but did not kill any American sailors.

Still, that incident touched off another military operation called Operation Praying Mantis, in which U.S. forces retaliated for the explosion by attacking several Iranian oil platforms.

Also in 1988, the U.S. Navy shot down the civilian Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 people on board. U.S. forces mistook the plane for an Iranian fighter jet.

2015: Obama inks the Iranian nuclear deal

The U.S. reached a deal with Iran and five other world powers to curb Iran's nuclear capabilities in exchange for the removal of some punishing United Nations sanctions.

The deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium for civilian energy purposes, but President Barack Obama argued that it would curb the country's ability to create a nuclear bomb. Iran also agreed to increased inspections of its nuclear facilities.

In 2018, Trump during his first term pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

The Biden administration held indirect talks with Iran, and when Trump returned to office in 2025 he signed an executive order with the goal of exerting "maximum" pressure on Iran to end its nuclear weapons ambitions.

2020: U.S. drone strike kills Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani

A major recent development in U.S.-Iran relations occurred not in Iran itself but in neighboring Iraq.

Just a few days into 2020, U.S. forces launched a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport and killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, among others.

Soleimani, who led an elite branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps known as the Quds Force, was seen as one of the country's most influential officials.

Khamenei responded at the time that "harsh retaliation is waiting" for the U.S. Several days later, Iran fired at least a dozen ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house U.S. troops. The Pentagon said the following month that 109 U.S. troops suffered brain injuries in the strikes.

2025: U.S. and Israel strike Iranian nuclear sites

In June, the U.S. and Israeli militaries launched a dramatic assault on several Iranian nuclear sites. For the U.S., the military escalation followed what had largely been a diplomatic effort to deter Tehran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

Trump said in a speech from the White House that the goal of the operation was to scuttle Iran's nuclear enrichment capabilities.

"Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," Trump said, though there are questions about exactly how much damage was dealt.

The attacks came roughly two months after the U.S. and Iran began a new round of talks to renegotiate a deal concerning Iran's nuclear program.

In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had said that U.S. intelligence believes Iran "is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003."

Copyright 2026 NPR

The war over Iran engulfed more of the Middle East and beyond on Monday as strikes intensified, Iran-backed groups stepped up attacks and a fourth U.S. service member was killed in action.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Monday the fourth U.S. service member died after being wounded during Iran's initial attacks in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes across Iran Saturday. A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that the troops who were killed were ground-based forces stationed in Kuwait.

"We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize losses," Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Monday.

President Donald Trump on Sunday had pledged that the U.S. would "avenge" the deaths of American troops.

In a separate incident, CENTCOM said three U.S. F-15E fighter jets crashed in Kuwait "due to an apparent friendly fire incident" Sunday night.

"During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," it said in a statement. CENTCOM said all six members of the crew were "ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition."

It added that Kuwait acknowledged the incident and said that "the cause of the incident is under investigation."

Meanwhile, the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian organization, said at least 555 Iranians have been killed since the beginning of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Saturday.

They include Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and members of his family. Iranian officials also said more than 168 schoolgirls were killed in a direct hit on a school.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah enters the fray, and Israel retaliates

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, said it launched attacks in Israel in revenge for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as in response to continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon since a ceasefire more than a year ago.

Israel said it intercepted one of the missiles while others fell into open areas, and responded to the attacks with airstrikes.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people and wounded at least 149 — most of them in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese government, facing being drawn into another devastating war, said it planned to arrest those responsible for the rocket attack on Israel.

In the capital Beirut, residents leaving southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs streamed into shelters set up in schools, which have been closed by the government.

At the Renee Mouawad public school in central Beirut, many of those arriving had been displaced two years ago during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Families arrived in cars piled high with mattresses and other belongings.

Abu Ali, a taxi driver who did not want to give his full name out of fear of being ostracized in his pro-Hezbollah neighborhood, said he left Dahiya, a Beirut suburb that is a Hezbollah stronghold, with his family at three in the morning after hearing air strikes.

"I spent the morning looking for a school and then I found this," he said. He and his family were last displaced during the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024.

"Last time I stayed in the streets," he said. "The schools were all full, and I couldn't pay rent for a house."

"The Israeli enemy is an enemy in the end. But enough — we also want to live," he said.

Israel continued a wave of strikes across the Iranian capital overnight that it said were aimed at security targets.

Casualties rise in Israel

Since Israel launched surprise attacks in Iran this weekend, Iran has been launching missiles at Israeli cities — killing at least 10 people.

Nine of those killed were at a public shelter that was hit by a missile in a city outside Jerusalem on Sunday.

Another missile attack in Tel Aviv killed a caregiver from the Philippines.

Shay Shor, an Israeli in Tel Aviv, said he wants Iranians to be free but is concerned Israel's killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei might not achieve that.

"We killed their leader, but the leadership in Iran is not completely destroyed and within a few months they're just going to come back," Shor says. "Next year is going to be the same thing, same story, same kind of war."

Other updates

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have also entered the fighting. They fired at a U.S. base in Irbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting U.S. forces at Baghdad airport.

A drone strike hit a British air force base on the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, according to Britain's Defence Ministry. There were no casualties reported.

Iran's military said it shot down a U.S. F-15 fighter jet. It also said it fired 15 cruise missiles at the huge Ali al-Salem U.S. air base in Kuwait and what it called enemy vessels in the Indian Ocean. It did not mention fighter aircraft.

Gulf countries have so far largely left the fighting to U.S. forces stationed on their territory but increasing Iranian attacks are raising the specter of direct involvement by those states.

Saudi Arabia said Monday that it shot down two drones targeting one of its major refineries. It said the debris started what it called a limited fire at the Ras Tanura refinery but no civilian injuries.

The U.S. military said it had hit an Iranian warship, which was sinking Sunday in an Iranian port. Trump said in a video on social media that the U.S. had sunk nine Iranian warships and "largely destroyed" Iran's naval headquarters. The U.S. military's Central Command said it could not confirm those claims.

Global crude oil prices surged and stocks fell as the war with Iran entered its third day. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had hit three U.S. and U.K. oil tankers in the Gulf. On Saturday Iran said it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital to the global oil trade.

After Israel, Gulf countries that have long been considered as prosperous havens for Western expatriates have received the brunt of Iranian attacks.

After airport attacks and widespread flight cancellations, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News Monday that the government was considering arranging evacuation if needed for hundreds of thousands of citizens in the region.

Jawad Rizkallah reported from Beirut.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Congress is set to vote on bipartisan war powers resolutions this week meant to limit President Donald Trump's military operations in Iran.

The dual efforts in the House and Senate face uphill battles to become law, as previous efforts have failed in asserting congressional authority to declare war.

But most Democrats and a handful of Republicans on Capitol Hill still support the effort to curb Trump's use of military power in Iran, after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks against Iran over the weekend that have already claimed the first American casualties.

"The Constitution says we're not supposed to be at war without a vote of Congress," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a cosponsor of the Senate resolution, told NPR's Weekend Edition. "This is important. The lives of our troops are at risk. We ought to come back to Washington right away and vote on this."

The war powers resolutions had been scheduled for debate and votes before the surprise attack on Iranian military and political leaders. Now that the war is ongoing, it's unclear how or if any successful war powers resolution would immediately change the reality on the ground.

Kaine urged Congress to return earlier than scheduled to vote on the resolutions, but votes on the measures are still expected mid-week.

Congress would likely need to override a Trump veto in order to pass the war power measures. As it stands, it's unclear if there is enough support for initial passage, not to mention the two-thirds majority needed in both chambers to override a veto.

If made law, the measures would block further U.S. military action in Iran without congressional approval under the 1973 War Powers Resolution — which Congress passed during the Vietnam War as a check on executive war authority.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a Navy pilot and captain, also supports the vote, saying that "Trump has no plan to avoid escalation into a wider conflict that puts more servicemembers in harm's way."

Trump in a video posted online on Sunday said the U.S. would continue its attacks in the Middle East until objectives are met, without specifying what those objectives are.

Administration officials, including the CIA director, defense secretary, and secretary of state, are expected to brief all lawmakers about the Middle East war efforts on Tuesday, the White House said.

'A disastrous vote for any Democrat'

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he gives the House war powers resolution a 40% to 60% chance of advancing out of the House this week.

"It depends if we can keep several Democrats in line," Khanna told NBC News' Meet the Press. "But I believe that this is a disastrous vote for any Democrat — to vote for Donald Trump's war in the Middle East."

He specifically cited Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who has long opposed the Iran war powers resolutions for fear it would "restrict the flexibility needed" in a military operations. Gottheimer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about his vote.

Most Republicans are expected to stand by Trump's war with Iran and block the resolutions.

"I suspect you'll see overwhelming support from elected Republicans in the Congress," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN Sunday morning.

But Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., one of the sponsors of the resolution in the House, argued that the conflict is not "America First," suggesting some fissures among the GOP; Massie has consistently been one of the few Republicans to vote against some Trump administration priorities.

In the Senate, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is one of the few Democrats who said he plans to vote against the resolution.

"It's not necessary. Honestly, though, the entire thing, it's really an empty gesture," Fetterman told Fox News Sunday.

These resolution votes comes after the failure of a number of similar attempts to restrict Trump's use of the military without congressional approval.

In June, a Senate vote on Iran war powers failed after the strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities. And in January, though the Senate narrowly advanced a Venezuela war powers resolution after the capture of former president Nicolas Maduro, the effort ultimately failed to pass.

—NPR's Michele Kelemen contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The federal government hasn't yet awarded hundreds of millions of dollars that it promised for security for the World Cup, less than four months before the tournament kicks off in cities across the U.S. including Los Angeles.

Officials in some host cities warned at a Congressional hearing last week that if those funds aren't released soon it could lead them to massively scale back or cancel their events for fans this summer – but what the delay means for L.A. is less clear.

Los Angeles is hosting eight matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, a five-day "fan festival" at L.A. Memorial Coliseum and official "fan zones" across the county during the 39-day tournament.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee – the group responsible for putting on the fan programs here – declined to comment on concerns over federal funds, despite requests via email, text and phone last week.

LAist asked the Los Angeles host committee how much federal funding it was expecting to receive for security, but did not receive a response. Homeland Security Committee chair Rep. Andrew Garbarino said that Miami, which is hosting seven matches and a 23-day fan festival, is expecting around $70 million in federal funding.

"Without receiving this money, it could be catastrophic for our planning and coordination," Raymond Martinez, the Chief Operating Officer of Miami's host committee, told a Congressional Homeland Security committee last week.

Why is $625 million for World Cup security delayed?

President Donald Trump allocated $625 million dollars to World Cup security in his “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” last year. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is responsible for allocating that money to the 11 host city committees in the U.S., and those funds were supposed to be awarded by the end of January, according to details provided by FEMA's for grant applicants. But they're now more than a month late.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed the ongoing government shutdown of her department.

“FEMA was in the final stages of reviewing applications to ensure proper oversight when Democrats shut down the government putting significant portions of the FEMA staff on administrative leave," she said in a statement. "The longer DHS goes without funding, the less prepared our nation will be for threats at the FIFA World Cup."

Democrat Nellie Pou of New Jersey shot back at Secretary Noem on X, pointing out that FEMA's website says it planned to award the funds by the end of January.

"World Cup security funding was enacted into law last summer and these matches have been scheduled for years," Pou wrote. "It’s time for DHS to do its job."

Beyond the federal dollars for security surrounding the tournament, the state of California has also approved $10 million for security costs for the World Cup in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

How the World Cup works in L.A.

Los Angeles is the host city of the World Cup matches and celebrations coming to the region this summer, but the city of L.A. is not paying for or planning the mega-event. That planning is up to the non-profit Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, which is leading the local host committee and coordinating with FIFA and other local entities.

Federal security funds will be awarded to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, and then the host committee will disburse those funds to local agencies that provide security for the World Cup and fan celebrations.

Most of the federal funding for the 11 host cities will go toward overtime costs, according to FEMA, and that money will be paid out as reimbursements.

The city of L.A. is currently negotiating an agreement with that committee on what city services, such as police, it might provide, according to multiple city officials.

The City Administrative Officer is negotiating that deal. An official in the CAO’s office told LAist that the host committee expects that federal funds will cover all those costs.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to questions from LAist on how LAPD is coordinating with other law enforcement agencies ahead of the World Cup.

LA and Inglewood officials say they're not concerned

Local officials told LAist last week that they were not concerned that the delay in federal funds would derail World Cup plans in Los Angeles.

Inglewood Mayor James Butts said that the city was expecting to receive payments from FIFA directly for services, as well as some of the federal security money awarded by FEMA.

" We're not concerned at all," he said in an interview. "The federal government has always come through on FEMA related allocations."

Paul Krekorian, who leads the City of Los Angeles's Office of Major Events, said he did not think that delayed federal funds would cause organizers to cancel the planned Fan Festival.

"We have events at the Coliseum all the time, and this is a few days of ticketed events at the Coliseum," he told LAist. "I expect that if we have to provide extra services that we will be reimbursed for those, but it's not a big enough aberration from things that we do all the time that would cause me to be concerned that if we don't have federal support, we have to cancel."

Team U.S.A.'s opening match will take place in Los Angeles on June 12. The fan festival will kick off the same day as the tournament, June 11.