Texas Legislature's New Disaster Preparedness Committees Must Address Climate Change

As the Texas Legislature prepares for a special session focused on flood response, the newly created committees on disaster preparedness and flooding must not ignore the role of climate change in exacerbating natural disasters, according to Public Citizen. The appointment of members to these committees this week is a crucial step towards addressing the ongoing crisis, but it is essential that they acknowledge the impact of climate change on extreme weather events. The committees' failure to discuss climate change in their previous hearing on the Panhandle Wildfires has raised concerns that they may make the same mistake again.

Key Takeaways:

• The Texas House and Senate committees on disaster preparedness and flooding will meet for the first time on July 23 and July 31, respectively, to discuss flood response legislation.
• Public Citizen is urging the committees to address climate change as a key factor in exacerbating natural disasters, citing the example of the Panhandle Wildfires' select committee, which failed to discuss climate change despite its role in the historic fires.
• The House select committee on the Panhandle Wildfires concluded its work with a report that noted unusually hot, windy, and dry conditions, but made no mention of climate change, despite the presence of experts who could have testified.
• Adrian Shelley, Texas director of Public Citizen, expressed concern that the climate crisis makes extreme weather more common, but the state's leadership may ignore this fact, as they did in the Panhandle Wildfires report.
• Public Citizen is calling on the committees to invite experts on climate science to testify and include climate change in their discussions and recommendations.
• The special legislative session is expected to include flood response legislation, which raises the stakes for the committees' ability to address the root causes of the crisis.

Statistics:

• The Panhandle Wildfires were the worst in Texas history, with unusually hot, windy, and dry conditions.
• The wildfires occurred last year, but the role of climate change in the disaster was not adequately addressed by the House select committee.
• Public Citizen has expressed concern that the climate crisis makes extreme weather more common, with Texas experiencing a devastating sequence of natural disasters.
• The special legislative session on flood response is expected to begin soon, with the joint hearings of the disaster preparedness and flooding committees scheduled for July 23 and July 31.

Sources:

• Public Citizen press release
• Texas Legislature appointment of members to disaster preparedness committees
• Report of the House select committee on the Panhandle Wildfires