California Gov. Gavin Newsom touted proposed spending to combat wildfires on the same day that the federal government announced it would double spending available for state and local governments to mitigate the risks of natural disasters.
Last year alone, communities across the United States suffered through 22 separate weather and climate-related disasters with loses exceeding $1 billion each, shattering previous records, at a cumulative price tag of nearly $100 billion, according to the Biden administration.
The West has already experienced more wildfires to date than in the first five months of last year and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there is a 60% chance this year will bring an above normal hurricane season to the southeast.
“It’s time to get ready for the busiest time of the year for disasters in America — hurricane season in the South and East, and the fire season out West,” President Joe Biden said during the press conference at FEMA headquarters in Washington D.C.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will increase to $1 billion the amount available for state, communities and tribal governments through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
Meanwhile, Municipal Market Analytics dinged FEMA in a report Tuesday for a separate plan that would increase the thresholds the agency uses to determine whether a state is eligible for federal help, saying the proposal was ill-timed and out of step with the Biden administration’s more coordinated effort to address the financial risks of climate change.
Though MMA expects substantial modification to FEMA’s original proposal after much negative feedback, it suggested municipal investors should consider the increasing likelihood that the costs to address climate risks, be it mitigation or disaster recovery, are likely to rise meaningfully and reliance on federal disaster funds to offset event risk will need to moderate.
Biden had also
California’s worsening drought could bring
He noted, scientists have said increasing temperatures from climate change are boosting fire risk by drying out vegetation earlier in the year, expanding the definition of what had traditionally been considered “fire season.”
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is getting an early start on the potentially disastrous year by bringing seasonal firefighters on duty early, Newsom said during a press conference at the Cal Fire aviation center at McLellan Park in Sacramento.
Cal Fire is adding 1,399 seasoned firefighters, for a total of close to 7,000 firefighters, Chief Thom Porter said Monday.
The state already finished all 35 high-priority forest thinning projects it identified last year, Newsom said. The $2 billion wildfire package Newsom sent to the state Legislature as part of May budget revisions will boost the number of helicopters, air tankers, and engines.
While Newsom said the “state is up to the task,” and now has more resources, he added, “none of us are naïve about the challenges this state faces as record drought conditions persist throughout the Western United States.”
