Nick Sundt

Dangerously unprepared

Director, Climate Change Communications, WWF, Jul 22, 11.

Tagged with climate change, politics, resiliency

In 2011, the U.S. has been hammered by climate extremes, with economic damages by mid-June approaching a record $32 billion. Yet determined Congressional opponents of Federal climate change efforts are doggedly impeding Federal activities to inform and engage the public around climate impacts, vulnerability and risks; and to prepare for those impacts. Such tactics have successfully stymied progress on climate policy for over a decade, but at a high cost that is becoming increasingly evident: they have left Americans dangerously unprepared for an era of climate disruption.

With his state facing the worst drought it has ever seen, Texas Congressional Representative Ralph Hall (Republican, Texas) chaired a hearing before his Committee on Science, Space and Technology on 22 June on the “Climate Service” proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA says the goal of this centerpiece of its climate work is “an informed society capable of anticipating and responding to climate and its impacts.”

Under the circumstances, the Climate Service should have broad public support. The U.S. already had suffered through eight weather related disasters in 2011, each with costs exceeding a billion dollars. In Texas, nearly three-quarters of the state were experiencing drought conditions and most counties had been designated disaster areas. Meanwhile, the Atlantic hurricane season had just started and was expected to be unusually active – partly because of high and rising sea surface temperatures. “We can’t count on luck to get us through this season,” warned NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco. “We need to be prepared.”

But instead of support for the Climate Service, House Republicans have thrown up roadblocks. Representative Hall introduced in February an amendment to the FY 2011 House budget bill prohibiting the use of funds for the proposed Climate Service. The amendment passed largely along party lines and ultimately became law. In the June hearing before Representative Hall’s committee, several Republican members of the committee clearly articulated the basis for their opposition: climate change denial and a deep-rooted suspicion that the climate service will stoke public concerns about climate change and ultimately lead to mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

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Full Story: Dangerously Unprepared: Congressional Budget Cuts are Leaving Americans Vulnerable to Climate Extremes
Source: WWF Climate Blog, July 21, 2011

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