Obama Executive Order Creates Task Force, Expands Government For Climate Change

November 4, 2013 by Ben Bullard

UPI FILE

President Barack Obama issued an executive order last week that forges ahead with his Administration’s unswerving devotion to the lucrative religion of man-made climate change.
“The impacts of climate change — including an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise — are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health across the nation,” said Obama in issuing the order.
The order calls on new Federal measures to prepare the Nation’s infrastructure to withstand weather-related natural disasters (presumably because he thinks we’re having more man-made weather-related storms). He calls for “engaged and strong partnerships and information sharing at all levels of government” and “risk-informed decisionmaking and the tools to facilitate it.”
But the kicker is the President’s policy introduction of “adaptive learning, in which experiences serve as opportunities to inform and adjust future actions.” That essentially means canonizing man-made climate change into government doctrine.
To support the efforts of regions, States, local communities, and tribes, all agencies, consistent with their missions and in coordination with the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience (Council) established in section 6 of this order, shall:
(i) identify and seek to remove or reform barriers that discourage investments or other actions to increase the Nation’s resilience to climate change while ensuring continued protection of public health and the environment;
(ii) reform policies and Federal funding programs that may, perhaps unintentionally, increase the vulnerability of natural or built systems, economic sectors, natural resources, or communities to climate change related risks;
(iii) identify opportunities to support and encourage smarter, more climate-resilient investments by States, local communities, and tribes, including by providing incentives through agency guidance, grants, technical assistance, performance measures, safety considerations, and other programs, including in the context of infrastructure development as reflected in Executive Order 12893 of January 26, 1994 (Principles for Federal Infrastructure Investments), my memorandum of August 31, 2011 (Speeding Infrastructure Development through More Efficient and Effective Permitting and Environmental Review), Executive Order 13604 of March 22, 2012 (Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects), and my memorandum of May 17, 2013 (Modernizing Federal Infrastructure Review and Permitting Regulations, Policies, and Procedures); and
(iv) report on their progress in achieving the requirements identified above, including accomplished and planned milestones, in the Agency Adaptation Plans developed pursuant to section 5 of this order.
… And the list goes on.
What are those councils and task forces Obama mentions?
One is a new interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. That panel is to be co-chaired by a triumvirate composed of the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (did you even know that was a thing?) and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. The Mission of the CCPR:
Mission and Function of the Council. The Council shall work across agencies and offices, and in partnership with State, local, and tribal governments (as well as the Task Force established in section 7 of this order), academic and research institutions, and the private and nonprofit sectors to:
(i) develop, recommend, coordinate interagency efforts on, and track implementation of priority Federal Government actions related to climate preparedness and resilience;
(ii) support regional, State, local, and tribal action to assess climate change related vulnerabilities and cost-effectively increase climate preparedness and resilience of communities, critical economic sectors, natural and built infrastructure, and natural resources, including through the activities as outlined in sections 2 and 3 of this order;
(iii) facilitate the integration of climate science in policies and planning of government agencies and the private sector, including by promoting the development of innovative, actionable, and accessible Federal climate change related information, data, and tools at appropriate scales for decisionmakers and deployment of this information through a Government-wide web-based portal, as described in section 4 of this order; and
(iv) such other functions as may be decided by the Co-Chairs, including implementing, as appropriate, the recommendations of the Task Force established in section 7 of this order.
The CCPR will replace the Interagency Climate Change Adaptive Task Force, which the Obama Administration set up in 2009.
But don’t worry, Obama created a new task force in the new order: the State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. That new group is to be co-chaired by the CEQ chair and the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. The new task force focuses on more pragmatic ways to dangle the carrot of climate change policy before corporate movers and shakers:
Mission and Function. Within 1 year of the date of this order, the Task Force shall provide, through its Co-Chairs, recommendations to the President and the Council for how the Federal Government can:
(i) remove barriers, create incentives, and otherwise modernize Federal programs to encourage investments, practices, and partnerships that facilitate increased resilience to climate impacts, including those associated with extreme weather;
(ii) provide useful climate preparedness tools and actionable information for States, local communities, and tribes, including through interagency collaboration as described in section 6 of this order; and
(iii) otherwise support State, local, and tribal preparedness for and resilience to climate change.
“Provide useful climate change preparedness tools…” Is the Obama Administration getting ready to put Al Gore on the global warming evangelical circuit?

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Liberty News, Staff Reports

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