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The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it is injecting a record amount of money to help protect communities against the effects of climate change. as disasters continue to punch the US.

The new funds—$3.5 billion in grants to states to protect against floods, fires, and other threats—mark a shift in United States disaster policy as climate change worsens: Instead of smaller, more targeted investments, the government is throwing huge sums of money. . as fast as possible in disaster preparedness.

“The risks we see from climate change are the crisis of our generation,” Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages the money, said in an interview.

He said the purpose of the new money is to enable local and state officials to broaden their approach to place less emphasis on small-scale projects that strengthen individual homes or buildings and pay more attention to ways to protect entire communities.

“We’ve had a multi-stage approach to how we do climate risk mitigation,” said Ms. Criswell. “We really want to start shifting focus.”

The announcement is the latest example of federal money going into climate resilience and adaptation at levels previously unimaginable.

In May, President Biden said he would. couple Up to $1 billion in funding for another FEMA program called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, which gives money to state and local governments for projects like seawalls, drainage, or helping people moving away from sensitive areas.

And a bipartisan infrastructure bill pending in Congress would fund tens of billions of dollars against climate resilience, most in American history. This package includes $1 billion for the BRIC and $3.5 billion for a separate flood protection program at FEMA.

The boom of new money reflects the growing damage climate change is doing to communities across the country.

Beginning with a series of hurricanes and wildfires in 2017, the United States has suffered devastating disasters each year: Hurricane Michael. delete towns In the Florida panhandle in 2018, Midwest flooding in 2019, and a record 12 great storms It ran aground in 2020. Each of the 22 disasters that hit the country last year caused at least $1 billion in damage – another record.

The new willingness to spend heavily also reflects the increased toll on the federal budget. Between 2005 and 2019 alone, the federal government almost half a trillion dollars Climate change is a threat to the government’s financial health.

Studies suggest that spending more money to protect homes and communities before, rather than after, disasters can reduce these costs. A dollar spent on disaster preparedness saves an average of $6 later. according to federal research.

The new spending is possible because of a quirk in federal rules that allows FEMA to divert some of its disaster money — usually about 15 percent — into grants to states for projects that mitigate the impact of future disasters. So-called hazard reduction grants do not require approval from Congress.

In a typical year, this formula typically provides about $1 billion in grants, according to Roy Wright, a senior FEMA official during the Obama and Trump administrations.

However, the coronavirus pandemic changed these numbers. To help states cope with the effects of the virus, the federal government declared disasters in each state — a step usually reserved for physical disasters like hurricanes or wildfires — then used those declarations to provide tens of billions of dollars in aid.

As a side-effect of the government channeling this Covid relief through FEMA, the agency was able to count the new money flow towards the hazard reduction grants formula.

The new grant money will be split into provinces based on the amount of Covid relief each receives. Texas will get the most money, with $666 million, followed by California ($484 million), New York ($378 million), Florida ($185 million) and New Jersey ($149 million).

FEMA faced increased criticism for failing to ensure that racial minorities and other underserved communities receive a fair share of disaster funds. A growing body of research is showing that black victims of disasters often receive less money than white victims, even if they suffer the same amount of damage.

Mr Wright, who is now head of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, an industry-funded insurance company, said the agency should force states to spend that money in ways that help underserved communities, while also seeking innovative ways to increase resilience. group looking at how damage from disasters can be reduced.

“This is the largest investment in climate resilience we’ve ever seen from the federal government,” said Mr Wright. “The nation needs to change its approach to this.”

FEMA administrator Ms. Criswell said the agency has no legal authority to tell states how to prioritize hazard reduction grants among different communities. However, he said they would “work really closely” with government officials to encourage their employees to consider equality.