New Executive Order Will Help Communities Prepare for Extreme Weather

By Katie Valentine

November 1, 2013  |  President Obama signed an executive order this morning aimed at making it easier for states and communities to prepare for climate change and the droughts, floods and extreme storms that are likely to come with it.

 

The order [3], which is part of the president’s climate action plan [4], will encourage local planners to take the future effects of climate change into account when spending federal money to build infrastructure. The order will also set up [5] the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, a task force of city and state leaders that will advise the federal government on how they can better support climate resiliency. Eight governors have joined the task force, along with 16 mayors and commissioners and two tribal leaders. Most of the task force are Democrats, but the Republican governor of Guam and three Republican mayors [6] have also signed on.