NYC Gazette

Joined by Co-Chairs Thompson, Carter, Titus, and Higgins

The Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus to Focus on Efforts to Improve Climate Resiliency in Underserved Communities

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined Representatives Thompson (MS-02), Carter (LA-02), Titus (NV-01), Higgins (NY-26) and 18 other fellow members of Congress in announcing the newly formed Congressional Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus.

Research has shown that racial minorities, rural areas, low-income communities, tribes, individuals with disabilities, seniors, and children are all more likely to experience the most devastating impacts of disasters.

The Caucus aims to promote the benefits of resilience and the need for equity in the country’s disaster preparedness and response infrastructure. The Congressional Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus will also provide a forum for conversations on how Congress can make disaster outcomes more equitable and make communities stronger.

“Climate change is an existential threat to the future of our planet, and far too often our most vulnerable communities are excluded from efforts to prepare for and respond to climate catastrophes,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “As ‘once-in-a-generation climate disasters become increasingly frequent, the work of the Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus will be ever-more critical in ensuring that equity is at the forefront of disaster mitigation.”

Congressman Goldman understands that climate change presents some of the most pressing dangers to our future and is committed to doing everything in his power to create a clean energy future for our families. Communities across NY-10 were devastated by Hurricane Sandy a decade ago and still remain vulnerable, not only to the hazards of increasingly frequent and more dangerous coastal storms, but also inland flooding from heavy rains. The dangers of these risks are multiplied further by more than 150 years of industrial pollution that has only recently begun to be addressed.

Last month, Congressman Goldman requested funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to expand life-saving emergency alerts to ideographic languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. . This funding request would ensure equitable access to the life-saving information disseminated by FEMA’s national alerts, including in cases of natural disasters and climate events.

In March, Congressman Goldman cosponsored the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act to claw back windfall profits to the largest oil companies while lowering consumer costs with relief rebates. He also cosponsored the Energy Resilient Communities Act to maintain critical infrastructure in the aftermath of extreme weather events.

During his first month in office, the Congressman filed the Green Equity Amendment to replace the special interest fossil fuel giveaway requirements of the Republican Big Oil Bill with requirements that meet President Biden’s greenhouse gas reduction and climate justice goals. This amendment would have overturned the Republican fossil fuel giveaway and required certification that the Paris Climate Accords and Justice40 Initiative Targets were being met before tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Congressman Goldman also offered the Coastal Communities Amendment to the Republican ‘Polluters Over People’ Act to prevent the polluter handout bill from going into effect if it would have a negative impact on coastal resiliency, pollution levels, coastal communities.

Congressman Dan Goldman is a cosponsor of the Green New Deal,  landmark legislation that emphasizes environmental equity and justice, with provisions to ensure that low-income communities and communities of color like the Lower East Side, Sunset Park, and Red Hook in NY-10, which have historically borne the brunt of pollution and environmental injustice, benefit from the transition to a clean economy.

The founding members of the Congressional Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus include Representatives Donald Payne (D-NJ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Lou Correa (D-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Al Green (D-TX), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rob Menendez (D-NJ), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Robert Garcia (D-CA), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Troy Carter (D-LA), Dina Titus (D-NV), and Brian Higgins (D-NY).

Original source can be found here.