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Check and mate ....
Rick Scott may have found a way of making climate denial state policy, but the Florida governor is going to have a hard time ignoring this. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just updated its guidelines for state disaster preparedness plans, and under the new policy, plans will only be approved — and federal funds appropriated — if they address the threats of climate change.
“The challenges posed by climate change, such as more intense storms, frequent heavy precipitation, heat waves, drought, extreme flooding, and higher sea levels, could significantly alter the types and magnitudes of hazards impacting states in the future,” the guidelines explain. They direct states to”assess vulnerability, identify a strategy to guide decisions and investments, and implement actions that will reduce risk, including impacts from a changing climate.”
InsideClimateNews argues that the FEMA, intentionally are a not, has delivered a trump card for climate advocates frustrated with politicians’ refusal to acknowledge the reality of climate change. FEMA allocates an average of $1 billion per year to disaster preparedness programs, reporter Katherine Bagley explains — funds that states won’t be privy to if they refuse to comply with the guidelines.
“If a state has a climate denier governor that doesn’t want to accept a plan, that would risk mitigation work not getting done because of politics,” Becky Hammer, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program, told Bagley. “The governor would be increasing the risk to citizens in that state” — thus raising the stakes of denying the science considerably.
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/18/fema_wont_give_money_to_states_that_dont_plan_for_climate_change/?source=newsletter
Rick Scott may have found a way of making climate denial state policy, but the Florida governor is going to have a hard time ignoring this. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just updated its guidelines for state disaster preparedness plans, and under the new policy, plans will only be approved — and federal funds appropriated — if they address the threats of climate change.
“The challenges posed by climate change, such as more intense storms, frequent heavy precipitation, heat waves, drought, extreme flooding, and higher sea levels, could significantly alter the types and magnitudes of hazards impacting states in the future,” the guidelines explain. They direct states to”assess vulnerability, identify a strategy to guide decisions and investments, and implement actions that will reduce risk, including impacts from a changing climate.”
InsideClimateNews argues that the FEMA, intentionally are a not, has delivered a trump card for climate advocates frustrated with politicians’ refusal to acknowledge the reality of climate change. FEMA allocates an average of $1 billion per year to disaster preparedness programs, reporter Katherine Bagley explains — funds that states won’t be privy to if they refuse to comply with the guidelines.
“If a state has a climate denier governor that doesn’t want to accept a plan, that would risk mitigation work not getting done because of politics,” Becky Hammer, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program, told Bagley. “The governor would be increasing the risk to citizens in that state” — thus raising the stakes of denying the science considerably.
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/18/fema_wont_give_money_to_states_that_dont_plan_for_climate_change/?source=newsletter
