With Hurricane Ida pounding New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast, Gov. Charlie Baker is calling on lawmakers to spend more on the Bay State's own storm preparations and climate change mitigations.
Baker told a crowd in western Massachusetts today that he was texting with friends in Louisiana throughout the storm and credited that state's work rebuilding storm mitigation projects since 2005 for preventing a greater disaster this time around.
"It's pretty obvious to them, and I would hope to many of the rest of us, that this issue is a 'now' issue. It's not a tomorrow or the day after issue, and that we need to continue to invest aggressively in both our mitigation strategies and in our resiliency efforts as well," Baker said.
Ida smashed into coastal Louisiana Sunday, knocking out power to New Orleans and leaving at least one person dead.
Baker was in Easthampton Tuesday morning to announce a series of grants awarded to cities and towns for climate vulnerability and preparedness projects, the types of projects he wants to see expand to other municipalities with the help of federal aid.
Climate resilience is a significant part of Baker's plan to spend the state's $5 billion dollar share of the American Rescue Plan Act funds given to Massachusetts by the federal government. The governor's plan, which is still awaiting legislative approval, calls for $900 million for energy and environmental initiatives, like modernizing aging sewer and drainage systems and other projects that would help the state withstand the next major storm.
"We do have an opportunity to do some transformational work based on the federal resources that are available, and we hope and anticipate that our colleagues in the legislature will see this as the big opportunity that we do and put a ton of resources to work from one end of Massachusetts to the other on it as we go forward," Baker said.
House and Senate lawmakers stripped Baker of the authority to spend the ARPA funds directly himself in June, instead insisting on their prerogative to spend the state's tax dollars and setting up a lengthy series of hearings to determine how to appropriate the funds. House and Senate leaders say that process should play out this fall once lawmakers return from their August recess.
