Obama Proposes A Billion Whole Dollars In Budget To Help Communities Deal With Climate Change

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President Barack Obama on Friday unveiled a $1 billion fund in his 2015 budget to help communities across the United States prepare for the impact of climate change.

The fund, announced in Fresno, California, is part of Obama's pledge to speed federal assistance to the most populous U.S. state.

California is attempting to cope with its worst drought in recorded history, which is threatening its critical agriculture industry, energy production and other industries. The fund is part of a broader approach to deal with climate change that Obama outlined in his Climate Action Plan in June 2013.

While certain elements of that plan can be carried out through executive action, the fund requires Congressional approval, which makes its future uncertain.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/15/us-usa-climate-fund-idUSBREA1E03D20140215

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1. Yeah, Boehner will get right on it.

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2. *snort*

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3. Smart move politically to announce this in CA's Central Valley. I support the Climate Action Plan.

The $1 billion fund is a step in the right direction. Politically, many of the hardest hit House districts nationwide are Republican. And the House is where the budget battle will start.

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4. Yes, a faltering, tiny, nearly unmeasurable step in the right direction

Why, it's a whole $20 million per state, assuming it ever makes it through the House of Morons.

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5. Agree, the House is the key. I don't dismiss the proposal or overlook the "ripple effect" of funds.

Infrastructure improvements create jobs, in the short term, build on the long term goals of a larger coordinated approach. I'm assuming the fund mentioned here is targeted - i.e. open for bid under specific guidelines and objectives. Not just a blanket state-by-state funding.

My point about the House is that many of those red districts need some support - short term and long term. It's a good political selling point. And one worth making, imo. As always, we'll see...

The concept of the fund is based on a recommendation made in December 2012 by the think tank Center for American Progress

(CAP).

CAP founder John Podesta is a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. Podesta returned to the White House in December as a senior adviser to Obama.

"Every dollar spent on resilience will save federal taxpayers $4 in lower disaster recovery costs," Daniel Weiss, CAP's director of climate strategy, said on Friday, citing a study by the organization. "Now it's up to Congress to make this essential preparedness fund into a reality."