President Obama Issues Executive Order On Climate

[freshwest]

Enigma - Gravity of Love With Stunning Earth Footage

From the video:

Irreversibly more than one in ten of all plants and animals today will become extinct because of global warming gases already released into the atmosphere.

Scientists estimate that if mankind continues to burn oil, coal and gas at the current rate, one in every three animals will be doomed by the 2050.

Scientists estimate that if current deforesttation rates continue that all the rainforests will be destroyed by the year 2060.



This is what is at stake. No president in history has faced the mulititude of challenges Obama has, save Wahington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy. We are at a pivotal point as Americans and citizens of the world:

President Obama issues Executive Order on Climate

by VL Baker - Nov 01, 2013

President Obama just issued an executive order “to prepare the Nation for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience."

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 1, 2013

FACT SHEET: Executive Order on Climate Preparedness

President Obama Establishes a Task Force on Climate

“We're going to need to get prepared. And that’s why this plan will also protect critical sectors of our economy and prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change that we cannot avoid. States and cities across the country are already taking it upon themselves to get ready… And we’ll partner with communities seeking help to prepare for droughts and floods, reduce the risk of wildfires, protect the dunes and wetlands that pull double duty as green space and as natural storm barriers.” – President Barack Obama, June 25, 2013

Today, President Obama established a Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience to advise the Administration on how the Federal Government can respond to the needs of communities nationwide that are dealing with the impacts of climate change. The Task Force members include state, local and tribal leaders from across the country who will use their first-hand experiences in building climate preparedness and resilience in their communities to inform their recommendations to the Administration.

The President signed an Executive Order that directs Federal agencies to take a series of steps to make it easier for American communities to strengthen their resilience to extreme weather and prepare for other impacts of climate change.

President Obama has said that we have a moral obligation to our children and future generations to leave them a planet that is not polluted or damaged. That is why in June, the President launched a Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution, prepare communities for the impacts of climate change, and lead international efforts to address this global challenge. The Climate Action Plan recognizes that even as we act to curb the carbon pollution that is driving climate change, we must also improve our ability to prepare for the climate impacts we are already seeing across the country. Across America, states, cities, and communities are taking steps to protect themselves from extreme weather and other climate impacts by updating building codes, adjusting the way they manage natural resources, investing in more resilient infrastructure, and planning for rapid recovery from damages that nonetheless occur.

The Federal Government has an important role to play in supporting community-based preparedness and resilience efforts by establishing policies and prioritizing investments that promote preparedness, protecting critical infrastructure and public resources, supporting science and research needed to prepare for climate impacts, and ensuring that Federal operations and facilities continue to protect and serve citizens in a changing climate.

State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience

State, local and tribal leaders across the country are already contending with more frequent or severe heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms and floods, and other impacts of climate change. The Task Force will provide recommendations to the President on removing barriers to resilient investments, modernizing Federal grant and loan programs to better support local efforts, and developing the information and tools they need to prepare.

Task Force members comprise governors, mayors, county officials and tribal leaders, representing a diverse range of communities. The members of the Task Force include:

State Officials:

Governor Neil Abercrombie (HI)
Governor Jerry Brown (CA)
Governor Eddie Calvo (GU)
Governor Jay Inslee (WA)
Governor Jack Markell (DE)
Governor Martin O’Malley (MD)
Governor Pat Quinn (IL)
Governor Peter Shumlin (VT)

Local Officials:

Mayor Ralph Becker (Salt Lake City, UT)
Mayor James Brainard (Carmel, IN)
Commissioner Paula Brooks (Franklin County, OH)
Supervisor Salud Carbajal (Santa Barbara County, CA)
Mayor Frank Cownie (Des Moines, IA)
Mayor Bob Dixson (Greensburg, KS)
Mayor Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles, CA)
Mayor George Heartwell (Grand Rapids, MI)
Mayor Kristin Jacobs (Broward County, FL)
Mayor Kevin Johnson (Sacramento, CA)
Mayor Michael Nutter (Philadelphia, PA)
Mayor Annise Parker (Houston, TX)
Mayor Patsy Parker (Perdido Beach, AL)
Mayor Madeline Rogero (Knoxville, TN)
Mayor Karen Weitkunat (Fort Collins, CO)
Mayor Dawn Zimmer (Hoboken, NJ)

Tribal Officials:

Karen Diver, Chairwoman, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (MN)

Reggie Joule, Mayor, Northwest Arctic Borough (AK)

An Executive Order to Protect Our Communities

The Obama Administration has taken significant steps to strengthen the climate resilience of America’s communities and economy. More than 30 Federal agencies developed their first-ever Climate Change Adaptation Plans, outlining strategies to protect their operations, programs, and investments to better serve communities and safeguard our public resources in the face of climate change. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Administration has provided resources to rebuild the affected area to be more resilient than before, including support for more climate-resilient roads and infrastructure, and projects that protect drinking water and buffer communities from flooding. In addition, Federal agencies have partnered with states, cities, tribes, and the private sector to develop strategies to address the impacts of climate change on our freshwater resources, oceans and coasts, and wildlife. Agencies have also built new, data-driven tools to help decision makers and resource managers map and plan for future sea level rise. From Florida to Minnesota, and from Alaska to New York, Federal agencies have partnered with communities to provide funding and technical assistance to address local climate impacts such as sea level rise, flooding, and water scarcity.

To build on this progress, the Executive Order (E.O.) “Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change,” signed today directs Federal agencies to:

Modernize Federal programs to support climate-resilient investments: Agencies will examine their policies and programs and find ways to make it easier for cities and towns to build smarter and stronger. Agencies will identify and remove any barriers to resilience-focused actions and investments– for example, policies that encourage communities to rebuild to past standards after disasters instead of to stronger standards – including through agency grants, technical assistance, and other programs in sectors from transportation and water management to conservation and disaster relief.
Manage lands and waters for climate preparedness and resilience: America’s natural resources are critical to our Nation’s economy, health and quality of life. The E.O. directs agencies to identify changes that must be made to land- and water-related policies, programs, and regulations to strengthen the climate resilience of our watersheds, natural resources, and ecosystems, and the communities and economies that depend on them. Federal agencies will also evaluate how to better promote natural storm barriers such as dunes and wetlands, as well as how to protect the carbon sequestration benefits of forests and lands to help reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change.

· Provide information, data and tools for climate change preparedness and resilience: Scientific data and insights are essential to help communities and businesses better understand and manage the risks associated with extreme weather and other impacts of climate change. The E.O. instructs Federal agencies to work together and with information users to develop new climate preparedness tools and information that state, local, and private-sector leaders need to make smart decisions. In keeping with the President’s Open Data initiative, agencies will also make extensive Federal climate data accessible to the public through an easy-to-use online portal.

Plan for climate change related risk: Recognizing the threat that climate change poses to Federal facilities, operations and programs, the E.O. builds on the first-ever set of Federal agency adaptation plans released earlier this year and directs Federal agencies to develop and implement strategies to evaluate and address their most significant climate change related risks.

To implement these actions, the E.O. establishes an interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, chaired by the White House and composed of more than 25 agencies. To assist in achieving the goals of the E.O., these agencies are directed to consider the recommendations of the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.

This is an amazing,timely action by our president. He is calling on those governors who have expressed commitment to mitigating and adapting to climate change. In states where the issue does not have the governors support he called on local officials such as Mayor Kristin Jacobs (Broward County, FL) to lead.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/01/1252319/-President-Obama-issues-Executive-Order-on-Climate-Preparedness

Thanks to babylonsister for posting the full details:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023964324

Will XP in V&MM to pass the word along.

[Old and In the Way]

1. Too bad Congress isn't onboard.

The House obviously can't create legislation. That would piss off the Base (ie the core rubes/morons) and the Koch Brothers. Glad to see Obama leading on this issue, because the Republicans in Congress sure can't.

[freshwest]

4. I'm pleased to say mine are; we need more people who aren't brainwashed in the electorate for change

[sheshe2]

2. Amazingly beautiful video of nature.

The one the rich are hell bent in destroying.

The color and beauty of nature is so extraordinary. I am glad that our President issued this executive order. To try to save our earth. He is a visionary that dares to lead us forward, the resistance is immense, yet he moves it forward. Wake up America.

For our children, our future and our lives, let us move now.

Thank you freshwest!

[freshwest]

3. It breaks my heart to think of what we're losing to their insane greed and lust of the endtimes.

Last edited Wed Nov 6, 2013, 10:34 PM - Edit history (1)

I know some people that gleefully report every ecological horror story as God's Will to punish the sinners and herald the Second Coming. It's what Al Gore spoke of in Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit.

There have been many lies spread about his book by those who never read it. The quote I refer to on Page 263 is critical of some Christians whose "prophetic vision of the apocalypse is used as an excuse for abdicating their responsibility to be good stewards of God's creation."

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/earthbalance.asp

It made the rightists hate him with 'the heat of a thousand blazing suns' as the saying goes. Their vision is not ours.

Here is another favorite video of what America was and should be:

This is what I think of you:

[sheshe2]

6. The vision is indeed ours.

They are far to blind to see, to understand that what they wish on us for our "heathen ways" will in fact have an effect on them to. Do they seriously believe that the blight will only descend on the "sinners"?

They wish to destroy all the beauty and wealth that nature bestows on us. They cannot understand the ecological impact that will occur with their use and abuse of nature. They are so stupid.

The first video is breathtakingly beautiful. It almost hurts to watch it. As for the second, thank you, freshwest.

[IrishAyes]

8. Yes, they do truly believe the blight will descend only on the 'sinners'- which couldn't

possibly include them, because they believe Jesus will literally appear in the clouds riding on a white horse and gather up all the Christians to him before unleashing Armageddon. In fact, some even say the sooner the earth is used up the better, because it means the Second Coming is near. That's the fundies, of course, not the liberal Christians.

[sheshe2]

9. To bad for them that they are so very wrong!

There will be no rapture for them, Irish.

[IrishAyes]

10. As usual they've got everything bass ackwards.

They ignore the social gospel at their peril. Jesus said it would be better to have a millstone wrapped around a man's neck and have him thrown in the river than to harm 'the least of these', which stands for more than just the children, important as they are. The first shall be last and the last, first. etc etc etc.
That's not to say it's ok for the 1% to abuse the rest of us at all, but I have actually heard fundies use it as an excuse for predation on the weaker; "Don't worry, you'll get your reward in heaven!"

The easiest way not to be taken in by their blather is to know that every word out of their mouths is a lie. If you're not a bible scholar, oh the tales I could tell you about the trouble they're in for!

[shraby]

5. It's good we have a far-sighted president. It may make a difference in the coming years. Thank you

for posting that video..I opened it full and it's so gorgeous.

[great white snark]

7. Isn't it great to have a President who thinks in the long term?

Quite the contrast from instant gratification Bush.

[NYC_SKP]

11. Recommended. (nt)

[hopemountain]

12. grateful for the vision our president has to issue this executive order

the predicament we are already headed for is staggering. and this does not even take into account the effect of gmo's on the food chain, humans, and all living things. this will be a hard lesson in: we are all connected.

thank you for the post. i neither read nor heard one peep about this in the media. those morons.