Weather Disasters Bring Renewed Attention to Adaptation and Resilience Measures in Climate Crisis Report | Article

The summer of 2020 has tested the resilience of even the most emergency-prepared communities and individuals. Already under siege from COVID-19, nearly every region of the United States has been hit with one or more extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. Record-breaking heat and wildfires are scorching millions of acres in the West. Hurricane Sally is threatening "a historic rainfall event" in coastal Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, according to National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham. On August 27, after a deadly run through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Laura slammed into the Gulf Coast lowlands of western Louisiana and southeast Texas. On August 10, a derecho’s hurricane-force winds blasted a straight line of devastation for more than 700 miles across Iowa and parts of several other Midwest states. And on August 3, Hurricane Isaias, after its destructive path through the Caribbean, caused significant damage to Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina, then continued into the Northeast as a tropical storm that downed trees and power lines. In all of these situations, widespread power outages have caused further suffering as well as additional fatalities. Several deaths in Louisiana have been attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning from the improper use of fossil-fueled emergency generators.

Despite the widespread destruction, there is much that can be done to minimize the impact and severity of these events to save lives, protect infrastructure and property, and recover more quickly. The report released in June by the majority staff of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis offers numerous recommendations to help society adapt to the impacts of climate change and become more resilient to its stressors and shocks (in addition to mitigation policies to slow the rate of climate change). This article outlines some of the resilience and adaptation recommendations presented in the report. Many of the Action Plan’s recommendations for investing in resilience align with suggestions EESI submitted in response to the Select Committee’s public request for information.

Support Flood-Resilient Communities

Flooding is one of the most common and costly natural hazards, and climate change is thought to be causing heavier rainfall. Rising sea levels, another consequence of climate change, are also making coastal communities more vulnerable to flooding. The Select Committee's majority staff report, Solving the Climate Crisis, recommends that Congress:

Establish federal flood-resilience standards for federally supported activities, including investments in climate resilience and disaster recovery;
Authorize funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlas 14 program, which maps nationwide rainfall intensity probability, but is out of date. (High-resolution elevation maps of the land and seafloor produced by Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) are also incomplete); and
Increase mapping funding for the National Flood Insurance Program and direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to take into account the changing severity of storms and frequency of flooding due to climate change, expanding flood risk analysis and mapping to the entire United States.

Reduce the Loss of Life and Property in Windstorms

Significant gaps remain in windstorm information and in the availability of tools that enable engineers to apply that information to their building designs. Currently, engineering design standards are based on the historical record, which is outdated due to climate change. According to the report, “every state in the country faces exposure to windstorm hazards from one or more storm types, including tornadoes, tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, nor’easters, winter storms, mountain downslope winds, derechos, and others.” The Action Plan recommends that Congress:

Authorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program through 2025 and increase appropriations to improve research on climate variability and wind hazards;
Improve collaboration between federal agencies and local decision-makers to increase understanding of the changing risks and promote measures for windstorm preparedness and mitigation; and
Support innovative programs such as insurance-premium discounts for resilient construction.

Reduce the Danger of Extreme Heat

Cities are significantly hotter than surrounding areas because of their heat-absorbing pavement and structures, with few trees and vegetation for shade and cooling. (This is known as the urban heat island effect and can be deadly). Communities that have had little or no investment in parks and other natural amenities are most at risk from extreme heat. The report calls on Congress to help remedy this by supporting tree planting in urban areas, including:

Increase funding for the Urban and Community Forestry Program, giving priority to underserved cities and neighborhoods;
Establish a Tree Equity program to increase tree canopy in environmental justice communities with grants for tree planting; and
Invest in workforce development and training programs, such as AmeriCorps, and direct them to engage with underserved populations to discuss urban forestry careers.

Protect Communities from Wildfires

Referencing the U.S. National Climate Assessment, the report notes that a warmer climate with more droughts and insect outbreaks will increase the risk of wildfires “especially in the Western United States” and that wildfire risks will continue to increase as people move into areas of high fire-risk, known as the wildland-urban interface. To establish an overarching federal strategy, the report recommends Congress:

Direct the U.S. Forest Service to establish a system to map seasonal fire risk that integrates data from states and private partners and triggers requirements for the use of wildfire resilience codes and standards for federally supported projects;
Significantly increase funding for wildland fuels reduction programs in the wildland-urban interface; and
Establish federal wildfire-resilience standards for federally supported activities, including investments in climate resilience and disaster recovery.

Improve Grid Resilience to Withstand Power Outages

The report also calls for a comprehensive federal strategy to help utilities and grid operators “plan for power interruptions, encourage investment in new technologies that can detect problems quickly, and invest in hardening the electric grid’s physical infrastructure.” In particular, non-wire solutions like energy efficiency, distributed generation, energy storage, microgrids, and grid software and controls can enable hospitals and other critical-service facilities to withstand power interruptions. Isolated communities would benefit in particular. Among the recommendations for Congress:

Direct relevant federal agencies and partners to develop federal resilience standards to apply to electricity infrastructure projects that are federally funded, permitted, and licensed;
Assist states in incorporating federal resilience standards into state-level policies and programs;
Provide funding for communities to develop Community Wildfire Defense Plans that would deploy distributed energy resources; and
Provide technical assistance and funding through the Department of Agriculture to deploy resilient renewable energy and microgrid systems in U.S. territories, including American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Increase Investments in Pre-Disaster Hazard Risk Reduction

Resilience measures that enable structures and systems to better withstand extreme weather and other hazards will reduce fatalities, injuries, property damage, and the cost of disaster recovery. The Action Plan recommends that Congress:

Increase the set-aside for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Pre-Disaster Mitigation program from 6 percent to 12 percent to provide funding and technical assistance to states, local governments, tribes, and territories, which will “save substantial taxpayer dollars in the long run”;
Direct FEMA to enhance incentives to states, local governments, tribes, and territories that adopt higher resilience standards;
Revise the federal tax code to provide incentives for disaster mitigation; and
Prioritize recovery funds for low- and moderate-income survivors and the hardest-hit communities.

Invest in Nature-Based Solutions

The Action Plan’s directive to “capture the full potential of natural climate solutions” recognizes the co-benefits of natural infrastructure for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Wetlands and mangroves sequester carbon and reduce the impact of storm surges and flooding. Green infrastructure, such as vegetated roofs and bioswales, can mitigate the urban heat-island effect and reduce stormwater run-off that pollutes waterways and ecosystems. The Action Plan recommends legislation to:

Ensure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “thinks beyond levees and other flood-control projects” in favor of flood management, nature-based solutions, and green infrastructure;
Establish a Natural Infrastructure Resilient Communities Revolving Loan Fund and enhance existing federal grant programs to help states and communities, especially lower-income ones, to invest in natural infrastructure for coastal resilience; and
Allow funds from the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program to be used for projects using “natural infrastructure that relies on or mimics natural ecological processes to increase the resilience of transportation facilities.”

Apply Climate-Informed Standards to Federal Buildings and Federally Supported Construction

Policies should ensure that climate-informed building standards and codes are implemented and that guidance is given to state and local governments and communities. The report's recommendations include:

Ensure codes and standards reflect the latest climate risk information for greater resilience against floods, wildfires, tropical cyclones, and other hazards;
Direct housing assistance agencies and communities to adopt and enforce climate-resilient building and retrofitting practices for affordable housing;
Direct federal agencies to use the wildfire-resilient standards referenced in the International Codes Council’s International Wildland-Urban Interface Code;
Mandate that FEMA “explicitly account for climate-related risks in its mission areas … including the increased concentration of populations in and around high-risk areas...”; and
Provide rural communities with adequate resources to strengthen housing resilience, upgrade infrastructure, and provide skills training and job placement.

Improve the Development, Dissemination, and Use of Robust, Science-Informed Data

According to the report, “communities need a strong federal partner to confront the climate crisis with needed science-based expertise, guidance, and investments. Federal standards need to keep pace with the best available understanding of climate risks into the future and consider life-cycle costs as well as benefits that may accrue over time as climate impacts unfold.” The report recommends that Congress:

Establish a Climate Risk Information Service to develop localized climate risk information and embed climate risk projections in the development of resilience codes, specifications, and standards; and
Fund Earth observation networks that are essential for mapping and monitoring a variety of climate-influenced hazards, including flooding, drought, wildfire, extreme heat, and severe storms.

Integrate Environmental Justice Criteria in Federal Policies and Programs

As noted in the report, “the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect the health of frontline communities[1] and vulnerable populations who have fewer resources to cope with heat waves, degraded air quality, flash flooding, infectious disease, and other threats.” In addition, frontline communities are living with the effects of decades of inadequate public and private investment in infrastructure and housing and suffer persistent pollution from the siting of industrial facilities next to their neighborhoods. Stakeholder engagement in infrastructure planning and development is also essential for ensuring appropriate, location-specific investments. A number of the report’s recommendations call on Congress to ensure that environmental justice is fully considered in federal policy development:

Direct a significant percentage of new federal investment and incentives for resilient infrastructure to environmental justice communities and communities most affected by the transition away from fossil fuel consumption;
Authorize and fund the position of Environmental Justice Ombudsman within the Environmental Protection Agency; and
Amend the National Environmental Policy Act to require deeper analysis of the environmental and climate justice impacts of proposed federal actions, including cumulative pollution impacts, and facilitate an inclusive process for individuals in environmental justice and tribal communities.

With these and other recommendations, the Select Committee's majority staff report, Solving the Climate Crisis, offers a variety of strategies to ensure that all regions of the nation are better protected against natural hazards, which are becoming even more dangerous. It is a humanitarian response to a serious issue that is also supported by rigorous benefit-cost analyses: A resilient society is worth the upfront investment in adaptation measures that will protect lives, critical services, infrastructure, and ecosystems from the effects of climate change. Multi-hazard risk reduction projects save billions of federal dollars that are currently being spent to repair aging infrastructure that has been repeatedly damaged or destroyed by severe weather.[2] Breaking this cycle will not only save lives and reduce suffering; it will free up funding for other post-disaster recovery needs and unexpected emergencies.

Author: Ellen Vaughan

^{^[1]} The majority staff climate crisis report defines a frontline community as "a low-income community, community of color, or tribal community that is already or could be disproportionately affected or burdened by climate change and its impacts."

^{^[2]} National Institute of Building Sciences, Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2019 Report (December 2019).