Obama issues executive order on climate change

Katie Colaneri

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Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

November 1, 2013 | 2:06 PM

Pete Souza / Official White House photo

President Obama and former Energy Secretary Steven Chu tour a Penn State lab on February 3, 2011.

President Obama signed an executive order Friday morning that claims it will deal with the impacts of extreme weather caused by climate change.
The executive order does a few things:

Creates a Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience to garner input from state and local governments on how to be prepared for heat waves, draughts, wildfires, and floods. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) is the only representative on the task force from Pennsylvania. Governor Jack Markell (D) from neighboring Delaware is also part of the group.
Directs federal agencies like FEMA to adjust their policies to ones that encourage municipalities to take the future impacts of climate change into account when rebuilding from extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy through grants and technical assistance programs. Federal agencies are also being asked to examine how land and water management policies can help mitigate impacts.

The order comes as the Environmental Protection Agency is defending one of the administration’s major initiatives to keep warming patterns from accelerating by lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

“Those who are already feeling the effects of climate change don’t have time to deny it,” Obama said in a speech presenting his Climate Action Plan last June, “They’re busy dealing with it.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental protection recently released a report about how climate change will affect the state. The legally-mandated analysis was more than one year overdue. A second report on how the state can cut greenhouse gas emissions has not been published.