President Trump has reversed several federal climate adaptation measures established under Presidents Biden and Obama, affecting national security, flood protections and vulnerable communities.
Christopher Flavelle reports for The New York Times.
In short:
- Trump rescinded a Pentagon directive to consider climate risks in defense and national security strategies, dismissing previous efforts to address climate-driven vulnerabilities.
- Agencies are no longer required to evaluate how climate change impacts federal operations, including risks to facilities like Smithsonian museums.
- A program allocating federal climate resilience funds to disadvantaged communities was ended, halting efforts to address long-standing inequities in disaster preparedness.
Why this matters:
Climate change is steadily reshaping the risks faced by communities across the globe, with homes, infrastructure and vulnerable populations increasingly in harm’s way. Rising temperatures, more intense storms and unpredictable weather patterns are straining aging infrastructure and testing the limits of disaster preparedness. For low-income areas, which often lack the resources to recover swiftly or implement preventative measures, the stakes are especially high.
Related: Trump's withdrawal from Paris Agreement renews U.S. climate isolation
