Washington, D.C. — After Typhoon Sinlaku devastated the Northern Mariana Islands Tuesday, it’s clear that climate change is already here—and hitting marginalized U.S. communities first.
A new column from the Center for American Progress argues that America’s most vulnerable communities are increasingly living on the front lines of more destructive, more costly, and more destabilizing storms in places with the fewest resources to prepare and recover.
“Climate disasters hit hardest where resources are scarce and political power is limited,” said Angelo Villagomez, a senior fellow at CAP, co-author of the column, and a native of Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. “That description applies as much to Saipan as it does to low‑income communities along the East Coast or to flood‑prone neighborhoods in Louisiana. Every dollar spent on resilience saves lives and money. The U.S. must invest in resilience, not wait to clean up the damage.”
From Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Maria, the same inequities surface again and again. Wealthier communities rebuild faster. Marginalized ones fall further behind.
The compounded harm is especially severe in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory that lacks voting representation in Congress. The Northern Mariana Islands have to abide by federal programs and rules that they have little agency to influence and suffer disproportionately from the consequences of the U.S. government’s climate inaction. They also struggle to secure timely and sufficient federal disaster assistance.
Read the column: “Climate Change Is Here—and America’s Most Marginalized Communities Are on the Front Lines,” by Angelo Villagomez and Devon Lespier
For more information or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].