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Kilili seeks $7M for CNMI climate change programs
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Posted on Mar 24 2015
A huge portion of the proposed capital improvements budget for the Northern Mariana Islands should go to existing climate change programs of the Commonwealth.
Sablan
According to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs examined last week President Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget proposal for the Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs.
The budget included $9.6 million for capital improvement projects in the Northern Mariana Islands, a slight increase over fiscal 2015.
The budget also proposes $7 million and two staff positions for a new Resilient Insular Areas fund to help island governments plan for climate change.
“In my view, this $7 million could be better invested in existing programs that already address the causes and effects of climate change,” Sablan said.
“For instance, the Interior’s Empowering Insular Communities program, which has provided $560,000 to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. and $440,000 to our Public School System for solar power systems, help reduce the use of fossil fuels.”
According to Sablan, more of this investment in locally produced power “would not only reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming, but also keep more money in our local economy.”
In February, the Obama administration pledged more support to insular areas through increase funding and more focus on climate change and manpower concerns.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the Obama administration “will continue to listen” to the concerns of the insular areas.
She mentioned that the government does recognize that it needs to increase the $30 million a year cap in funding for Guam and the CNMI.
The official also mentioned the issue of climate change, and that the federal government has allocated some $140 million for ecosystem resilience.
