White House climate ‘resilience’ group gets rolling

Senior White House officials are gathering Monday to launch the interagency council that President Obama created to help communities harden their defenses against powerful storms and other extreme weather likely worsened by climate change.

It’s the first meeting of the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, an interagency group established under Obama’s Nov. 1 executive order on preparing for the impacts of climate change.

{mosads}E2-Wire has more on the executive order here and here.

“The Council will work across agencies, and in partnership with the newly established State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, to coordinate and expand the Federal Government’s work to support communities in building climate change preparedness,” the White House said.

Monday’s meeting will be co-chaired by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley, White House science adviser John Holdren and Lisa Monaco, the deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism.

Attendees will include officials from various White House branches — such as the National Economic Council and Domestic Policy Council — and a wide array of federal agencies.

The include the departments of Defense; Interior; Agriculture; Homeland Security; Health and Human Services; Energy; and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and many others.