The era of climate change is happening now. Governments and communities are largely unprepared to address the cascading impacts of climate-related hazards, let alone proactively prepare for them. Thus far, the piecemeal approach to addressing the impacts of climate change has been ineffective in reducing the health and economic burden in American communities, and is no longer sufficient to address accelerating impacts. This lack of coordinated, efficient, innovative investment in climate resilience, to increasing urgent hazards such as extreme heat, risks undermining progress, and incurring substantial economic costs.
FAS takes a multipronged approach to address the myriad challenges in this arena – working to:
- Accelerate both technological and policy innovation to improve climate resilience
- Advance policy solutions to address cascading hazards of climate change such as wildfires and extreme heat events
- Keep a focus on communities and populations disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change and the legacy of unfair government policies
The federal government plays a critical role in scaling up heat resilience interventions through research and development, regulations, standards, guidance, funding sources, and other policy levers. But what are the transformational policy opportunities for action?
Comprehensive heat safety standards are essential to mitigate the impacts of climate change on farmworkers and ensure the sustainability and resilience of agricultural operations.
Public deliberation, when performed well, can lead to more transparency, accountability to the public, and the emergence of ideas that would otherwise go unnoticed.
We built this inventory to enhance our collective understanding of how that software is used in the federal permitting process—and to open lines of dialogue for cross-agency and cross-sector learning.
National extreme heat resilience requires a “whole of government” federal approach. Here are 18 policy ideas to inspire and inform federal action to tackle our increasingly hot and devastating summers.
We’re looking for policy ideas to advance science, technology, and innovation to deliver dramatic progress and build a more inclusive America.
We now need your help to generate innovative, specific, and actionable policy ideas that the U.S. government could use to supercharge the bioeconomy.
The U.S. is experiencing more frequent and intense wildland fires. While fire is a natural and normal ecological process, today’s fires are causing more destruction to people and property. A changing climate and our current policy responses are amplifying these negative effects. The U.S.’s response to wildland fire can be better informed by science, evidence, […]
While state and local governments can make significant advances, national extreme heat resilience requires a “whole of government” federal approach.
The U.S. is experiencing more frequent and intense wildland fires, but policy informed by science, evidence, and Indigenous perspectives can lessen the disastrous effects.