Page 173 - Inflation-Reduction-Act-Guidebook

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Strengthening Resilience for Populations Most Vulnerable to Climate Impacts

Although climate change puts all residents of the United States at risk, some populations are
more vulnerable than others. Climate-related changes in weather patterns interact with
underlying socioeconomic factors, such as income level, age, and access to affordable health care
and transportation. The National Climate Assessment has concluded that children, older adults,
persons with disabilities, low-income communities, and some communities of color may be more
exposed and sensitive to heat, pollution, and extreme weather events, live in the most risk-prone
areas, and/or have the least access to resources to prepare for and recover from climate-related
impacts.

As described earlier in this guidebook, the Inflation Reduction Act creates a $3 billion
Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program to provide grants and technical
assistance to community-based organizations to improve community resilience to climate
impacts, including extreme heat and wildfire, among other funded activities. The law also gives
$1 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Green and Resilient
Retrofit Program to make America’s affordable housing stock more energy efficient and resilient
to extreme weather events.

For Tribes, climate change endangers more than their health and physical safety; it also threatens
livelihoods and cultural values rooted in agriculture, hunting and gathering, and spiritual
connections to certain ecosystems, nature-based practices, and sites. The Inflation Reduction Act
includes $12.5 million in emergency drought relief for Tribes and $235 million for climate
resilience planning to protect Tribal communities and sustain Tribes’ natural and cultural
resources, including funding for Tribal fish hatcheries.

The Inflation Reduction Act also provides $25 million for Native Hawaiians to cope with the
impacts of climate change on their unique community and nearly $16 million for technical
assistance to American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico for climate change planning, adaptation, and resilience.
These island territories are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and often lack the resources to
prepare for and recover from hurricanes and tropical storms.

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