Washington, D.C. — In the wake of the damages in Hawaii from Tropical Storm Flossie, the Center for American Progress is urging the federal government to significantly increase its investments in community resiliency from extreme weather events to protect their people, homes, and businesses from tropical storms, floods, droughts, heat waves, and wildfires. President Barack Obama includes a resilience plank in his Climate Action Plan, but it lacks significant additional resources to help communities better withstand future extreme weather.
The draft National Climate Assessment and other scientific reports project that severe storms, floods, drought, heat waves, and wildfires will continue to increase over time due to climate change. Recognizing the devastating impacts of a changing climate to communities nationwide, President Obama included a proposal to reprogram existing federal funds to assist communities in becoming more resilient to extreme weather events.
However, as outlined in a new column by CAP’s Daniel J. Weiss, this is inadequate to meet the coming extreme weather threats.
“The president’s climate plan takes important steps to help communities better withstand devastating weather events. The lack of significant additional revenue for resiliency efforts will leave many communities vulnerable,” said Daniel J. Weiss, Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy at CAP. “Every $1 we invest in community resilience will reduce weather damages by $4.”
The Center for American Progress urges the administration to mandate that its State, Local and Tribal Task Force on Climate Preparedness estimate the total cost of resiliency needs and identify sources of federal revenue to help communities meet these huge costs. Congress must then either approve proposed revenue recommendations or develop alternative plans to assist communities. This will save lives, reduce damages, and lower federal disaster spending.
Read the column: President Obama’s Resilience Plan Needs Federal Investments by Daniel J. Weiss
Related resources:
For more information or to speak with an expert on this topic, contact Chelsea Kiene at [email protected] or 202.478.5328.
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