Disaster Resilience
Know Your Rights: Immigrants Navigating Emergency Services
President Trump is leveraging the full power of the federal government to implement a massive deportation program. This dragnet is eroding due process, expanding surveillance of communities, threatening political speech, and is being used as a false justification to deploy military assets into American cities over the objections of local governments. It is sweeping up…
Know Your Rights During Disasters: FEMA & Immigration Enforcement
Recent changes in the federal government have renewed concerns and fears over potential immigration enforcement actions during disasters. This has raised questions among some community members about whether they should pursue emergency assistance during and following disasters. This document summarizes what we know now in a Q&A format about immigrant eligibility for emergency services. A…
New Report: FEMA Rollback Threatens to Overwhelm States
Read our report on the extreme variability in how a state may face limited climate impacts one year and billions of dollars in damage the next—and how the scale of this impact compares to individual state expenditures and their ability to respond. Climate disasters are growing in strength and frequency across the United States, from…
Facing Disaster Alone: FEMA Rollback Threatens to Overwhelm States
Despite its central role in preparing for disasters and coordinating the federal response, the Trump Administration announced an intention to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency—thrusting states into uncertainty as they enter the summer hurricane and wildfire season. The sudden withdrawal of heretofore reliable (though often insufficient) federal support leaves states—and in particular their most…
Webinar: Implications of Executive Orders on Climate Disaster Response in Frontline Communities
Recent actions in the federal administration threaten to undermine the federal government’s capacity to provide disaster relief and recovery coordination, aid, and services through agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These actions could have disproportionate impacts on frontline communities across the nation. In this webinar, community…
Webinar: Current & Future Impact of FEMA & Equitable Disaster Recovery in Frontline Communities
This event demonstrated the impacts the FEMA IA Equity Rule has had on the ground for increasing access to disaster aid for frontline communities. We showed evidence-based research illustrating pre and post-IA Equity Rule and changes on disaster aid allocations. We also held an interactive discussion on the future of FEMA and disaster and mitigation…
Building Efficiency Standards Are Foundational For Broad-Based Community Resilience
Just Solutions, along with many of our partners, urges the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require that the home mortgages they back meet updated energy efficiency standards. As the FHFA oversees the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, such action would bring about 70% of mortgages for new homes in the U.S.…
Climate Resilience and the Failure of the Healthcare Market
There has been growing attention on the failure of key markets to keep pace with climate change, including the housing, insurance, and utilities markets, and the dire consequences for communities across the country. The healthcare market, however, has received less attention. While significant progress has been made over the past two decades in expanding healthcare…
Language Justice in Climate Disasters: State Models Addressing Title VI Gaps
In the face of climate-related disasters, effective communication around evacuation orders and recovery resources can mean the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), who are at the front lines of climate change and climate-related disasters, are often excluded from these lifesaving communications— further compounding their vulnerability to climate change.…
How a public option for basic financial transactions supports household climate resilience
Climate justice is inextricably linked with economic justice, and individual and household economic precarity is increasingly important in the context of the climate crisis. As in so many other aspects of climate change, the household finances of low-income and communities of color are already experiencing impacts “first and worst.” Last fall, the U.S. Department of…
