Atmospheric rivers and devastating flooding pummeled our communities earlier this year and caused millions of dollars in damage. And our cities and state are not alone; in fact, 1 in 3 homes in the United States are at high risk of natural disasters. That’s why the first bill I introduced in Congress would help low-income homeowners weatherize their properties to make them more resilient to climate-driven natural disasters like wildfires, torrential storms and extreme heat.
The Weatherization Resilience and Adaptation Program Act would create a grant program to provide direct assistance to low-income property owners, affordable housing providers, and owners of mobile homes to help protect their homes against the most devastating effects of climate change. The WRAP Act would help homeowners pay for things like double-pane windows or heat resistant roofing, artificial berms and dunes to add flood protection, and the addition of defensible spaces around homes to shield them from wildfires. These solutions can help protect our most vulnerable communities before disaster ever strikes.
Some California homeowners who can afford to make upgrades and improvements have already done so after experiencing years of devastating wildfires and the storms this past winter. But many of our neighbors who simply can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on such projects are left behind. As a nation, we are facing a crushing housing crisis — and climate change is only making the problem worse. Across the country, nearly a third of owner-occupied units are households making less than $50,000. In my district alone, there are tens of thousands of low-income homeowners and many more tenants living in affordable housing. As an increasing number of climate-driven disasters strike, families already struggling to make ends meet cannot afford unexpected expenses or damage and are put at risk of losing their home. This is especially true for households of color who typically live in more disaster-prone areas.
The Biden administration recently announced a nearly $1 billion investment through the Inflation Reduction Act that will assist the owners of federally subsidized affordable housing buildings in becoming more resilient to climate disasters. I fully support this important initial investment. But we can do more, including by helping individual property owners and the owners of other types of low-income housing who are left out of the Inflation Reduction Act program. The WRAP Act would build on the administration’s historic action to protect our communities from the most severe effects of climate change.
The WRAP Act has been endorsed by Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and more than a dozen of my Democratic colleagues, including members from not only California, but also Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Climate change does not affect us on a partisan basis. It affects communities across the country. The truth is that climate-driven disasters don’t care if you live in a red or blue states. They don’t care if you are rich or poor. We are all impacted, and we need to work together to prepare for and shield against the most devastating consequences of climate change.
Kevin Mullin represents District 15 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district includes the Bayside of San Mateo County from Daly City to East Palo Alto and the southeast side of San Francisco.