Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker isn’t leaving anything to climate chance. On Thursday, he unveiled a $1.4 billion plan to fortify the state against rising seas, inland flooding and extreme weather attributable to climate change. The proposal would authorize his administration to borrow money to rebuild aging seawalls and dams, while boosting funding for state environmental agencies and grant programs aimed at helping communities shore up their defenses. “We’ve been reminded of how critical our environmental assets like seawalls and dams are to our communities and how important these proposals will be for safeguarding municipalities and businesses from the impacts of climate change,” he said. “We’ve got 74 coastal communities and a ton of other communities for whom different issues associated with climate will be an issue. What we really want to do is make sure we build plans that work for every community and then follow through and execute on them.”
“All 351 communities need to have a vulnerability plan and a hazard mitigation plan.”
The plan needs lawmakers’ approval.