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Vice President Kamala Harris called climate change an “immediate” and “urgent” crisis Monday as she offered details of more than $1 billion in federal spending to respond to disasters like deadly flooding in Kentucky and wildfires raging in her home state. Of California.
On a visit to Miami, Harris announced a series of grants that will be made available to states to help communities across the country prepare for and respond to weather-related disasters.
Touring the National Hurricane Center ahead of the grant announcement, Harris said disasters like the Kentucky floods and California wildfires show “how immediate, current and urgent” it is to address the extreme weather being experienced in the United States. and all over the world.
“Climate change has become a climate crisis, and a threat has now become a reality,” he said in a speech at Florida International University.
Harris cited deadly flooding that swept through Kentucky and Missouri, “washing away entire neighborhoods,” leaving at least 35 dead, including children. At least two people have died in a wildfire in Northern California that was among several fires that threatened thousands of homes in the western United States. Hot weather and thunderstorms threatened to increase the danger of the fires continuing to grow.
“The devastation is real. The damage is real. The impact is real,” Harris said. “And we are witnessing it in real time.”
In 2021, the United States experienced 20 weather-related disasters that caused more than $1 billion in damage each, Harris said, citing a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There were about six such disasters per year in the 1990s.
“The frequency has accelerated in a relatively short period of time,” said Harris. “The science is clear. Extreme weather will only get worse and the climate crisis will only accelerate.”
The White House is leading a whole-of-government response to climate disasters that “recognizes the urgency of this moment and our ability to do something about it,” Harris said, adding that leaders like her and President Joe Biden “have the duty to act,” not just after a disaster strikes, but before a disaster strikes, and that is why we are here today.”
The $1 billion grant program announced by Harris doubles last year’s spending on programs to fend off extreme weather events across the country. Biden announced last month that the administration will double spending once again in the budget year that begins in October, spending $2.3 billion to help communities cope with high temperatures through programs administered by FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.
[Con información de The Associated Press]
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