Climate change hurting entire U.S., White House task force says

The White House forged ahead Monday with President Obama’s plans for coping with the effects of climate change, receiving recommendations from a presidential task force that could cost the federal government more than $100 billion to help communities prepare for flooding and other weather-related problems.

Mr. Obama’s task force on “climate preparedness and resilience,” created by his executive order a year ago, presented the White House with far-reaching proposals for dealing with extreme weather such as Hurricane Sandy, which caused 72 deaths in the eastern U.S. in 2012 and led to $60 billion in emergency spending by the federal government.

The group recommends requiring the government to consider “climate-related risks and vulnerabilities in the design, revision, and implementation of all Federal policies, practices, investments, regulations, and other programs.”

While the report doesn’t detail specific costs to taxpayers, it outlines more than $100 billion in communities’ needs over the next several decades, including $88 billion for North Atlantic states to protect against rising sea levels, $6 billion for Midwestern states to combat rising temperatures, and $40 billion to improve California’s drinking-water systems.

“Climate change is already affecting communities in every region of the country as well as key sectors of the economy,” the task force said. “Recent events like Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast, flooding throughout the Midwest, and severe drought in the West have highlighted the vulnerability of many communities to the impacts of climate change.”

The group said in 2012 alone, the cost of weather disasters exceeded $110 billion in the U.S.

Co-chaired by the Chairman Michael Boots of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Rohan Patel, acting director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the task force consists of 26 governors, mayors, county officials, and tribal leaders from across the U.S. Among its members are Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, California Gov. Jerry Brown and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.

The group will present its findings to Vice President Joseph R. Biden and other senior presidential advisers on Monday.

Mr. Obama reached a nonbonding pact last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the U.S. to cut more deeply its greenhouse gas emissions, and for China to try to cap its emissions by the year 2030.