WASHINGTON, DC (November 1, 2013) – Today, President Obama issued an Executive Order on climate preparedness establishing a task force of state, local and tribal leaders on climate.

The following are statements from the BlueGreen Alliance:

“The one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy this week is a reminder of all of the work we still have yet to do—especially since Congress has dropped the ball on making meaningful progress on these priorities,” said David Foster, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance. “There’s a lot of work to be done to close the gap between the current state of community preparedness and where it needs to be for the worse weather climate change has in store for us. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s Infrastructure Bank bill is an important first step to fund them.”

“Establishing a climate task force is an important step forward that will help better prepare and protect communities for the effects of climate change,” said D. Michael Langford, National President of the Utility Workers Union of America. “The worst of much of the severe weather over the last year could have been prevented with forethought and investment. This Executive Order will help us to lay the foundation to build a strong economy that’s more climate resilient and which includes infrastructure development for the future. It’s vital that we take this problem seriously and start investing in our communities today. We applaud this critical step forward and look forward to putting the insight and practical ideas that come from this group to work in the near future.”

“We need to manage our lands and water resources to prepare for climate impacts happening now and improve the ability of natural systems to store carbon into the future,” said Bruce Stein, director of Climate Change Adaptation for National Wildlife Federation. “National Wildlife Federation has been fighting for these kinds of changes on Capitol Hill and through federal agencies, and this mandate from the President is an encouraging step in the right direction.”