Protecting nuclear waste, preventing heat death: Federal authorities point out the dangers of climate change

More than 20 U.S. agencies released plans on how to make federal facilities and programs more resilient to the effects of climate change, including increasing federal fire department salaries, switching more vehicle fleets to electric, protecting nuclear waste sites from extreme weather conditions, and equipment of buildings with being greener.

The reports, some of which are more detailed than others, were released Thursday and correspond to a day one request from the Biden government, which has declared its hope for the nation to prepare for climate change – and yet try to slow it down – A “whole” being of the government “is strived for.

While asking for more spending to fight climate change, including in laws currently going through Congress, he said it was more expensive not to respond to more frequent and extreme weather due to a warming planet.

Read: Solar power is cheaper than ever and Biden is looking to expand it – 3 questions homeowners should ask themselves

The United Nations has reported that, on average, one extreme weather event or climate-related disaster has occurred somewhere in the world every day for the past 50 years, each causing an average economic loss of $ 383 million.

The Biden administration has already asked Congress to allocate more than $ 14 billion to aid recovery and “unmet needs” from recent natural disasters, including forest fires and storms. After the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida in both the Gulf States and the storm that flooded New York and other densely populated cities in the northeast, that demand increased by an additional $ 10 billion.

In its federal resilience plan, the Defense Ministry highlighted a recently released climate assessment tool designed to inform military planners which bases and facilities are at greater risk from climate change, including storms and floods.

The Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior will pay federal firefighters $ 15 an hour, which was separately announced earlier this year. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they have a tool that state and local health officials can use to plan and respond to extreme heat. This follows deadly summer temperature spikes in the historically temperate Pacific Northwest.

Other topics covered in the reports were: ensuring that new facilities meet stricter building standards, reducing energy and water use, better protecting workers from extreme heat, educating workers about climate science, and creating supply chains that are less likely to be disrupted by storms.

Opinion: Hotter and more frequent heat waves put the jobs and lives of countless important workers at risk

The White House announced that it would publish a national climate strategy this year.