FEMA to States: Want Disaster Mitigation Funds? Then Plan for Climate Change

"A new Federal Emergency Management Agency policy requiring states to address climate change before they can become eligible for grant funding is drawing fire from congressional Republicans," reports Lydia Wheeler. "The regulations, part of a FEMA State Mitigation Plan Review Guide [pdf] issued last month, are not set to take effect until next March. But lawmakers are demanding an explanation for the rules now."

According to Wheeler, a group of Republican senators sent a strongly worded letter to FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate to protest the policy.

Don Jergler wrote an earlier article that provides more clarity on the policy, its effects, and the media and political fallout that has resulted since its announcement. More than one article has insinuated that the policy is directed at climate change denying governors such as Florida's Rick Scott and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal.