Climate change is causing severe weather, and airports are not safe from its effects. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D) recently introduced the Airport Infrastructure Resilience Act, which would direct the Secretary of Transportation to create a program that will give airports access to grants that will be used for development, resiliency planning, and construction projects to strengthen airport facilities and make them better able to withstand the effects of natural disasters.
Framingham SOURCE reported:
A recent report by the Brookings Institution underscored how a lack of dedicated funding for airports to increase their climate resilience poses dire economic and environmental security risks – finding that an estimated 24 U.S. airports, carrying a quarter of all passengers in 2019, will experience some level of flooding by 2050.
“From melting runways to increased flooding, our airports are under dire threat from climate change, extreme weather events, and natural disasters. We need an aviation system that is ready and able to respond to these crises,” said Senator Markey. “My Airport Infrastructure Resilience Act will ensure airports across our nation have access to the funds they desperately need to plan and prepare for the climate crisis’s most severe impacts on our infrastructure. I am fighting to ensure the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization will create a resilient aviation system that is ready to respond to climate change, extreme weather events, and natural disasters.”
“The Airport Infrastructure Resilience Act of 2023 is an important step toward ensuring the resiliency of our nation’s airports to worsening extreme weather events and sea-level rise. The insights gained from the legislation’s proposed pilot projects will help inform the resilience choices communities will need to make to ensure the continued functionality of their airports in a changing climate,” said Alice C. Hill, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations.
