President Obama’s New Climate Change Initiatives Support Local Efforts on Resilience

On July 16, President Obama announced a series of new climate change initiatives to help communities develop resilience strategies against climate change. The initiatives are based on the initial recommendations of 26 officials from all over the country who participated in the President’s State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, formed last November. The initiatives will invest in local and state level infrastructure, and are expected to boost the U.S. economy and create jobs. The Task Force will provide final recommendations this fall.

President Obama commented, “Climate change poses a direct threat to the infrastructure of America that we need to stay competitive in this 21st century economy . . . We should see this as an opportunity to do what we should be doing anyway, and that's modernizing our infrastructure, modernizing our roads, modernizing our bridges, power grids, our transit systems, and making sure that they’re more resilient.”

To encourage state and local governments to take action, the initiative created several federal funds. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $236.3 million to eight states to upgrade their rural electricity infrastructure to a more modern and reliable system. By developing modern infrastructure such as smart grids, the fund is expected to support the economic development of these rural areas by attracting more residents and businesses. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, "Modernizing our nation's rural electric infrastructure will help better support economic development in rural areas while helping to ensure reliable and affordable electric service for people who live and work in small communities across the country.”

In addition, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) U.S. Geological Survey will put $13.1 million towards the development of a 3-D elevation map of the United States. The map will use knowledge and information from federal agencies, academia, companies, states, tribes and communities, to help communities identify climate risks—including flood risks, coastal erosion, and landslide hazards—and develop their own resilience strategies.

Other initiatives include: $10 million from DOI’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to develop and conduct climate change adaptation training for tribes; a $1 billion year-long National Disaster Resilience Competition, announced by President Obama on June 14, which will offer awards for the best proposals; and guidance for State Hazard Mitigation Plans from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to help states prepare strategies for climate change adaptation.

Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke said, “President Obama’s latest initiatives make it abundantly clear that there remains much to do — beyond curbing dangerous carbon pollution from power plants — if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change . . . Climate change is here and now. We are running out of time — but not out of solutions.”