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U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Statement on Agency’s Newly-Released Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan
Thursday, October 7, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, as part of President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to confronting the climate crisis, the U.S. Department of Transportation released its climate adaptation and resilience plan. The plan is focused on ensuring that Federally supported transportation infrastructure—as well as USDOT programs, policies, and operations— both consider climate change impacts and incorporate adaptation and resilience solutions whenever possible.
“The climate crisis is here today, threatening Americans’ lives and livelihoods, our homes and businesses, and even the way we travel and operate our federal agencies,” Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “The good news is that we know what to do about it, and America is fully capable of rising to the occasion. While we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst outcomes of climate change, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s plan will help ensure that our transportation infrastructure, policies, and programs will be more resilient to the climate impacts already facing our country. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, we now have a government-wide strategy to protect our people and way of life from the threat of climate change.”
Among the priorities included in the USDOT Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan:
* Incorporate resilience into USDOT grantmaking programs
* Enhance resilience through the project planning and development process
* Ensure resiliency of USDOT facilities and thousands of operational assets
* Ensure climate-ready services and supplies
* Improve climate education and research on resilience
In addition to these plans, President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal include bold, historic, and transformational investments to strengthen our nation’s resilience to climate change and extreme weather events, including the first-ever formula and competitive grant program to help States improve the resilience of transportation infrastructure.
You can find a link to plans for all 23 federal agencies, including USDOT, here .
Additional information:
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Office of Management and Budget seek public input on the agency climate adaptation plans. Members of the public may submit comments via the docket at https://www.regulations.gov/ (Docket ID: CEQ–2021–0003) until Nov. 6, 2021. CEQ also will hold a virtual convening this Fall with national organizations that have expertise in climate adaptation and resilience or have expressed interest in the agency plans.
