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Climate Change Adaptation Progress: Administration Releases Interim Report on Strategy for a Strategy

Tuesday, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an Interim Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, a group charged by President Obama in Executive Order 13514 to develop (by Fall 2010) recommendations for the federal government for adapting to climate change. More than 20 federal agencies, departments, and offices are participating in the task force.

The progress report notes that some agencies are taking action toward implementing programs and policies to deal with the changes and risks climate change will bring. But it also notes many significant gaps remain, including:

  • Coherent research programs to identify and describe regional impacts associated with near-term, long-term, and abrupt global climate change;
  • Relevant climate change and impact information that is accessible and usable by decision-makers and practitioners;
  • A unified strategic vision and approach;
  • Understanding of the challenges at all levels of government;
  • Comprehensive and localized risk and vulnerability assessments;
  • Organized and coordinated efforts across local, State and Federal agencies;
  • Strong links between, and support and participation of, Tribal, regional, State, and local partners;
  • A strategy to link resources, both financial and intellectual, to critical needs; 
  • A robust approach to evaluating and applying lessons learned.

For a to-do list, it’s an ambitious one. It’s also revealing – and humbling – to think about how much we don’t yet know. The Interim Progress Report recommends a national strategy for adaptation and resilience to address the gaps identified above. The Fall 2010 report required by the Executive Order, however, will only detail the development of the “domestic and international dimensions” of a strategy, agency actions in support of the development of a strategy, and recommendations for the strategy (follow that?). In other words, a complete national adaptation strategy is still to come – a strategy for a strategy is what we should expect from the Task Force, and, indeed, is all that the Executive Order calls for. It’s a great and necessary start, but there is so much more to do.

The challenges we face are almost overwhelming. There’s no doubt that the Task Force has its work cut out for it just to get the 20 agencies involved willing to agree on core data sets, to coordinate, and to share information with each other. Meanwhile, very difficult problems loom. As CPR Member Scholar Alejandro Camacho has described here, adaptation is still being given short shrift at local, state and federal levels of government, and those who are considering it lack the information and tools to engage in proactive adaptation. (For additional resources by CPR member scholars about climate change adaptation, see here.) Let’s hope the trail blazed by the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force provides some much-needed leadership and guidance toward laying the groundwork for serious and robust adaptation planning across the country. We’re going to need it.

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Shana Campbell Jones | March 18, 2010

Climate Change Adaptation Progress: Administration Releases Interim Report on Strategy for a Strategy

Tuesday, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an Interim Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, a group charged by President Obama in Executive Order 13514 to develop (by Fall 2010) […]

Yee Huang | March 17, 2010

Trading Up: A National Model for Stormwater Pollution Trading?

This week Water Policy Report (subs. required) reported on EPA’s exercise of residual designation authority (RDA) over stormwater discharges and a pilot stormwater-reduction trading program in Massachusetts. Together, these actions have the potential to significantly reduce stormwater discharges into local waterways. If successful, this pilot trading program could be a template for similar trading programs […]

Ben Somberg | March 16, 2010

Congressional Hearings Today

A few congressional hearings today we’re keeping an eye on: Catch Shares. The House Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife will discuss “catch shares” as a fisheries management policy. Previously, CPR Member Scholar Rebecca Bratspies discussed the limitations of catch shares, and in December applauded NOAA for moving forward cautiously. Protecting America’s Workers […]

Ben Somberg | March 15, 2010

Did California Prius Driver Press the Brake Pedal Hard? WSJ Says No; Congressional Memo Says Yes

The Wall Street Journal had what seemed like a major scoop over the weekend: A federal safety investigation of the Toyota Prius that was involved in a dramatic incident on a California highway last week found a particular pattern of wear on the car’s brakes that raises questions about the driver’s version of the event, […]

Ben Somberg | March 15, 2010

Drywall Trial Begins Today in New Orleans

A year after the contaminated drywall story went big, a “test trial” over damages from the material begins today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The court has posted documents regarding the case here, and outlets covering the case include the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Bradenton Herald, and Palm Beach Post.

Holly Doremus | March 15, 2010

Settlement Marks a Step Forward on Ocean Acidification

Cross-posted from Legal Planet. As Cara and Dan have explained, ocean acidification is the other big climate change problem. As atmospheric CO2 levels rise, more CO2 dissolves in the oceans. That in turn increases ocean acidity, which changes the ecology of the seas, most obviously by reducing the ability of corals and a variety of […]

Rena Steinzor | March 12, 2010

Eye on OIRA: Sunstein Says Ambitious Efforts to Revamp Regulatory Review Tabled for the Time Being. What Does It Mean? Not Much. Just Ask Oscar the Grouch.

In a rare public appearance at the Brookings Institute Wednesday, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein is quoted by BNA’s Daily Report for Executives saying that his ambitious plans for revamping Executive Order 12,866 – the document that governs much of the process of regulating, and particularly OIRA’s role in it […]

Ben Somberg | March 12, 2010

A Year Later, What’s Happening with the Scientific Integrity Memo?

This item, by Liz Borkowski, is cross-posted from The Pump Handle. Exactly one year ago, President Obama issued a memorandum on scientific integrity that gave the Office of Science and Technology Policy 120 days to “develop recommendations for Presidential action designed to guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch” based on six principles that Obama […]

Holly Doremus | March 10, 2010

Conservation Deal Just a Sugar Fix?

Cross-posted from Legal Planet. When government decides that private economic activity needs to be restricted in order to preserve some part of nature, there are two basic ways to get that result — by demanding cooperation through regulation or by buying it through economic incentives or outright purchase. The second approach is often politically easier, […]