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President Obama’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness

Today, we are excited to announce the members of President Obama’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.

The anniversary of Hurricane Sandy reminds us how important it is for all levels of government to work together to protect communities and families.  A year ago this week, communities were shattered, families were torn apart, homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, and lives were upended. But brick by brick, block by block, these communities are rebuilding to be more prepared and resilient. They will come back stronger and the Federal government will continue to stand right by their side as we continue to recover and rebuild.

In the wake of this disaster, we have learned some valuable lessons about how to prepare our communities and be more resilient to these types of extreme weather events, which are growing more frequent and severe with climate change. Instead of recreating old vulnerabilities during the rebuilding process, we implemented a stronger, uniform flood risk rebuilding standard, and provided resources for more climate-resilient roads and infrastructure, and projects that protect drinking water and buffer communities from flooding.  Much of what we have learned was compiled into the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force report released earlier this year.

In another important step, today we announced the members of a new 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 President first announced the establishment of this short-term Task Force on June 25, 2013, as part of his Climate Action Plan.

The Task Force members include bipartisan governors, mayors 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 for the Administration.

The Task Force will present their recommendations to the President within a year to guide and shape Federal policy. An Executive Order signed by the President today also directs Federal agencies ranging from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Department of Transportation to examine their programs across the board and find ways to make it easier for cities and towns to build smarter and stronger. 

As co-chairs of the Task Force, we look forward to working with the Task Force members, and other local, state, and tribal leaders, to combat the impacts of climate change.

• State Officials:
  • Governor Neil Abercrombie (HI)
  • Governor Jerry Brown (CA)
  • Governor Eddie Calvo (GU)
  • Governor Jay Inslee (WA)
  • Governor Jack Markell (DE)
  • Governor Martin O’Malley (MD)
  • Governor Pat Quinn (IL)
  • Governor Peter Shumlin (VT)
• Local Officials:
  • Mayor Ralph Becker (Salt Lake City, UT)
  • Mayor James Brainard (Carmel, IN)
  • Commissioner Paula Brooks (Franklin County, OH)
  • Supervisor Salud Carbajal (Santa Barbara County, CA)
  • Mayor Frank Cownie (Des Moines, IA)
  • Mayor Bob Dixson (Greensburg, KS)
  • Mayor Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Mayor George Heartwell (Grand Rapids, MI)
  • Mayor Kristin Jacobs (Broward County, FL)
  • Mayor Kevin Johnson (Sacramento, CA)
  • Mayor Michael Nutter (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Mayor Annise Parker (Houston, TX)
  • Mayor Patsy Parker (Perdido Beach, AL)
  • Mayor Madeline Rogero (Knoxville, TN)
  • Mayor Karen Weitkunat (Fort Collins, CO)
  • Mayor Dawn Zimmer (Hoboken, NJ)
• Tribal Officials:
  • Karen Diver, Chairwoman, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (MN)
  • Reggie Joule, Mayor, Northwest Arctic Borough (AK)

To learn more about President Obama’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, click here.

David Agnew is Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Nancy Sutley is Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality

After Sandy, Rebuilding Smarter with S&T

As the solemn first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall nears, communities along the East Coast continue to rebuild, taking lessons learned from an unprecedented disaster to ensure new infrastructure and services are stronger and smarter than before.

Recognizing that large storms are expected to grow more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change, the Federal Government has partnered with states, cities, communities, and other stakeholders to make the Sandy-affected region—and all of America—more resilient. This goal is a guiding principle of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

Over the past year, the Obama Administration has worked diligently to apply the latest developments in science and technology (S&T) to Sandy-rebuilding efforts—and to do so in ways that are scalable and relevant to resilience-building activities in other regions. S&T-driven efforts undertaken over the past year include:

• Deploying Data-Driven Tools for Decision Makers: In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) partnered to launch a Sea Level Rise Tool for Sandy Recovery to help decision-makers access the most up-to-date information on sea-level rise and floodplain projections. The tool includes a set of map-based services to help communities, residents, and planners consider risks from future sea-level rise in planning for reconstruction after Sandy, and an updated Sea-Level-Change Calculator to provide site-specific details of projected flood elevations for 5-year intervals from 2010 to 2100. This tool is an important element of the broader climate-data toolkit called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan.
• Challenging Innovators to Design New Disaster-Response Solutions: In August, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and FEMA gathered 80 of the Nation’s top public- and private-sector innovators at the White House and challenged them to brainstorm ideas for products, apps, and services that could aid in disaster response. The group developed ideas for a real-time communications platform to help survivors suffering from power outages; a crowd-funding platform to increase access to capital in the immediate aftermath of a disaster; and a device that could power cell phones and wireless networks in the event of loss of grid power. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a design challenge calling on innovators to develop life-sustaining solutions, during a disaster or power shortage, for patients whose medical devices rely on electricity.
• Launching Scientific Work to Understand Risks: With supplemental funding from the Disaster Relief Appropriation Act of 2013, a number of Federal agencies have launched scientific activities to better understand the risks associated with Sandy-like storms and to identify the most effective ways to address them. USACE, for example, is undertaking a comprehensive study to determine how best to reduce risks from floods and storms along the North Atlantic Coast. And the United States Geological Survey has developed a science plan aimed at connecting scientific information to management decisions about preparation for future storm-related hazards – including impacts on coastal habitats, fish and wildlife, beaches, and more.