Presidential order addresses Preparing the United States for Climate Change

President Obama has issued Executive Order 13653 Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change

It describes the impacts of climate change as an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise and says they are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health across the U.S.

It goes on to say that managing these risks requires deliberate preparation, close cooperation, and coordinated planning by the Federal Government and other stakeholders to improve climate preparedness and resilience, specifically, to

• identify opportunities to support and encourage smarter, more climate-resilient investments by States, local communities, and tribes, including by providing incentives through agency guidance, grants, technical assistance, performance measures, safety considerations, and other programs,
• complete an inventory and assessment of proposed and completed changes to land- and water-related policies, programs, and regulations necessary to make the Nation’s watersheds, natural resources, and ecosystems, and the communities and economies that depend on them, more resilient in the face of a changing climate.
• support of Federal, regional, State, local, tribal, private-sector and nonprofit-sector efforts to develop and provide authoritative, easily accessible, usable, and timely data, information, and decision-support tools on climate preparedness and resilience

Finally it establishes an interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience which included senior officials (Deputy Secretary level) from just about every Federal department and agency.