Obama Announces $1 Billion ‘Climate Resilience Fund’

It would be the first dedicated federal piggy bank for disaster resilience.

A Climate Resilience Fund could streamline funding for projects like Portland’s new light rail bridge. Credit: Lexandalf

This is your first of three free stories this month. Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles, webinars and ebooks.

Become A Member

Climate change is sort of like health care: The more you spend up front on preventative measures, the more you save down the line when things start to really go bad.

That seems to be the thinking behind a White House announcement on Friday that President Obama’s 2015 budget, to be released next month, will include $1 billion for a Climate Resilience Fund. “In addition to responding to the immediate drought in California, the President believes that we must do more to help communities across the country become more resilient to the effects of climate change,” reads the official press release. “Recent events have reinforced our knowledge that our communities and economy remain vulnerable to extreme weather and natural hazards.”

This philosophy has caught on like wildfire in cities across the country, with forward-thinking climate policies and resilience initiatives from New Orleans to San Antonio. Just a few weeks ago, Next City reported on the next generation of infrastructure built to withstand the future of rising sea levels and stronger storms. That such efforts may now have a dedicated piggy bank in Washington could not only streamline funding, but also send the signal that this kind of planning for a more resilient future is now the federal standard.

In announcing the fund, the Obama administration stated three broad goals:

  • Invest in research and unlock data and information to better understand the projected impacts of climate change and how we can better prepare our communities and infrastructure.
  • Help communities plan and prepare for the impacts of climate change and encourage local measures to reduce future risk.
  • Fund breakthrough technologies and resilient infrastructure that will make us more resilient in the face of changing climate.

In its own press release highlighting the announcement, the Center for American Progress pointed to a FEMA study that found $4 in savings on federal disaster spending for every $1 spent on resilience efforts. But the Center also found that spending on response and recovery dwarfs spending on preparedness by a factor of almost six to one.

The establishment of a dedicated Climate Resilience Fund may signal a big step toward changing that, yet its chances of becoming law remain far from certain. Congress, which must approve the funding, remains rife with climate-science deniers and deficit hawks. On March 4, when the budget proposal is released, they’ll get their chance to weigh in.

Like what you’re reading? Get a browser notification whenever we post a new story. You’re signed-up for browser notifications of new stories. No longer want to be notified? Unsubscribe.

Will Doig was formerly Next City’s international editor. He's worked as a columnist at Salon, an editor at The Daily Beast, a lecturer at the New School, and a communications staffer at the Open Society Foundations. He is the author of High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia, published by Columbia Global Reports.

Follow Will

Tags: infrastructureresilient citiesclimate changebarack obamabudgets

×
Next City App Never Miss A StoryDownload our app ×
×

You've reached your monthly limit of three free stories.

This is not a paywall. Become a free or sustaining member to continue reading.

  • Read unlimited stories each month
  • Our email newsletter
  • Webinars and ebooks in one click
  • Our Solutions of the Year magazine
  • Support solutions journalism and preserve access to all readers who work to liberate cities

Join 1096 other sustainers such as:

  • Gabby at $5/Month
  • Abigail at $10/Month
  • Gloria at $5/Month

Already a member? Log in here. U.S. donations are tax-deductible minus the value of thank-you gifts. Questions? Learn more about our membership options.

or pay by credit card:

All members are automatically signed-up to our email newsletter. You can unsubscribe with one-click at any time.

  • Donate $20 or $5/Month

    20th Anniversary Solutions of the Year magazine

has donated ! Thank you 🎉
Donate
×