(Bloomberg Law) —
The White House on Thursday is unveiling $500 million in funding and a new plan to fortify climate resilience across the US.
The new round of funding includes $167.7 million from the Energy Department to modernize the electric grid; $12.7 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help communities defend themselves against climate-related hazards; and $16 million from the Labor Department to create climate resilience jobs in underserved communities, Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council of Environmental Quality, told reporters on Wednesday.
Other awards will fund drought resilience and wildfire risk programs, the protection of species threatened by climate change, and new community climate resilience centers in Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, and North Carolina.
“We’ve got to do something about this crisis that’s showing up in more and more communities across the country,” National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said.
The Biden administration is also launching a plan, known as the National Climate Resilience Framework, that will try to spread ideas that have worked in some communities to other communities across the US.
Some examples include the adoption of new building codes that will boost resilience, and a data tool that helps officials access data on climate impacts, according to a senior administration official.
Broadly, the framework’s goals include mobilizing capital and investment toward climate resilience, embedding climate resilience into planning, and fortifying the built environment against climate shocks and chronic stresses, Mallory said.
The announcements pair with a White House summit on Thursday that will bring together administration officials and more than 70 representatives of states, tribes, and territories to talk about “solutions that will dramatically reduce both greenhouse gas emissions, that root cause issue, but also manage climate threats that are showing up in communities,” Zaidi said.
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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Zachary Sherwood at zsherwood@bloombergindustry.com; Maya Earls at mearls@bloomberglaw.com
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