FEMA to Ask States to Account for Climate Change in Disaster Plans

Switchboard, the Natural Resources Defense Council staff blog, has published a report on the recently announced changes to FEMA’s Blue Book.

According to Switchboard, FEMA plans to edit its guidelines to require state governments to consider climate change when making their hazard mitigation plans. The article says a revised draft from FEMA is expected to be available to the public as early as summer this year.

The Blue Book, as it is commonly known, is FEMA’s State Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Guidance document. It was created to help states understand the mitigation planning regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Switchboard article explains that until now, FEMA has not required state governments to consider climate change and its potential impacts when preparing their hazard mitigation plans. These plans are made by governments “in order to assess their risk of natural disasters and to identify and implement actions they can take to reduce those risks”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTC_X1gblRE

watch the full video here:http://permaculturenews.org/2014/01/0...

By Ecofilms

“That view behind me is not a painted backdrop!” said Geoff Lawton to the camera. But the view looked great from where I was standing. Brooklyn Grange is a rooftop farm with a magnificent view looking over the Manhattan skyline.

Sitting on a concrete roof, totaling 2.5 acres and producing more than 50,000 pounds of organically-grown vegetables each year, you need to walk its length to appreciate how vast this rooftop garden truly is in scale.

We had been given one hour to film this place. The sun was setting. We were in the “magic hour” to film and needed to hurry. There was a lot to do.

Geoff walked down the narrow lanes of planted vegetables. Four to six inches of dirt was all the plants were allowed to grow in—very well drained dirt that resembled sharp river sand. It didn’t look like a normal loamy soil to my untrained eye.