From the White House: Today, President Obama established a Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience to advise the Administration on how the Federal Government can respond to the needs of communities nationwide that are dealing with the impacts of climate change. The Task Force members include state, local and tribal leaders from across the country who will use their first-hand experiences in building climate preparedness and resilience in their communities to inform their recommendations to the Administration. The President signed an Executive Order that directs Federal agencies to take a series of steps to make it easier for American communities to strengthen their resilience to extreme weather and prepare for other impacts of climate change.
For more information, you can read the President’s Executive Order.
“I am pleased at the opportunity to serve, with my fellow governors and other leaders from across the country, on President Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. Washingtonians are every day seeing the dangerous effects of climate change in more devastating wildfires, increasing ocean acidification, and other impacts that are already taking a toll on our economy and our natural resources. And while we undertake actions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving these dangerous climate shifts, we must as a state and nation better prepare our communities and our infrastructure to face these accelerating impacts.”