USDOT releases climate adaptation and resilience plan

On 7 October 2021, as part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s whole-of-government approach to confronting the climate crisis, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released its climate adaptation and resilience plan.

The plan is focused on ensuring that federally supported transportation infrastructure – as well as USDOT programmes, policies and operations – both consider climate change impacts and incorporate adaptation and resilience solutions whenever possible.  

“The climate crisis is here today, threatening Americans’ lives and livelihoods, our homes and businesses, and even the way that we travel and operate our federal agencies,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg. “The good news is that we know what to do about it, and America is fully capable of rising to the occasion. While we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst outcomes of climate change, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s plan will help to ensure that our transportation infrastructure, policies and programmes will be more resilient to the climate impacts already facing our country. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, we now have a government-wide strategy to protect our people and way of life from the threat of climate change.” 

Among the priorities included in the USDOT Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan are: 

• Incorporate resilience into USDOT grant-making programmes 
• Enhance resilience through the project planning and development process 
• Ensure resiliency of USDOT facilities and thousands of operational assets 
• Ensure climate-ready services and supplies 
• Improve climate education and research on resilience. 

In addition to these plans, President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal include bold, historic and transformational investments to strengthen the nation’s resilience to climate change and extreme weather events, including the first-ever formula and competitive grant programme to help States to improve the resilience of transportation infrastructure.