Even as President Biden’s signature climate change bill languishes in the Senate, Congress is poised to spend billions of dollars on ambitious new projects that would help the U.S. adapt to climate change. A bill that would authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to build infrastructure to protect against climate impacts is quietly sailing through Congress, demonstrating bipartisan support for measures to protect against flooding and sea-level rise. Lawmakers may not be willing to pass laws that will dramatically cut carbon emissions, but they appear eager to fund projects that will mitigate the harms those emissions cause.
Established in the nineteenth century, the Corps is a public-works authority charged with protecting the nation’s rivers and beaches from flooding and erosion. It has a mixed record on both fronts: Its levees have sometimes failed disastrously during storms like Hurricane Katrina, and its erosion control projects have often failed to slow down beach disappearance. To set the agency’s agenda, Congress reauthorizes a law called the Water Resources Development Act in every legislative session. Usually that just involves giving it money for various river... Read more
