While Republicans may not have an inclination to acknowledge that our nation is alternately burning and flooding, Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing a $1 billion investment Monday to tackle climate change and the disasters that follow it.
Harris is heading to Florida to announce the program with the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, the Associated Press reports.
“Communities across our nation are experiencing first-hand the devastating impacts of the climate change and the related extreme weather events that follow—more energized hurricanes with deadlier storm surges, increased flooding, and a wildfire season that’s become a year-long threat,” Criswell said.
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The days of being able to put our collective heads in the sand on climate change have long since passed. Even as Harris heads to the Sunshine State, the death toll in Kentucky continues to climb amid massive flooding.
NBC News reports that four siblings died in the Kentucky flood waters, along with 24 others. The children range from 2 to 8 years old. The children’s parents survived.
During her time in Florida, the vice president will visit the National Hurricane Center and Florida International University, where she will discuss the recent extreme weather events.
Congress may soon pass a historic climate bill that would devote $369 billion toward low-carbon energy technologies and put the nation on the road to cutting greenhouse gas emissions back to 40%—below 2005 levels—by 2030, The Washington Post reports.
Biden seems committed to helping the country manage the devastation of out-of-control temperatures. He recently announced a $2.32 billion set of programs to be administered by FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies. The money will double spending on Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), a program that supports state and local efforts to better prepare communities for natural disasters related to climate change.
"We know that the impacts of the climate crisis are here, and that we must invest in building resilience to protect our communities, infrastructure and economy,” the White House said in a statement.
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