Should States Shoulder Most of Responsibility for Disasters?

From the NY Times: Trump Says States Should Manage Disasters. Former FEMA Leaders Agree. “I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” the president said. Federal emergency managers from both parties have made the same argument.

“In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, the president criticized the performance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly,” he said. “I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”

Mr. Trump continued, “The FEMA is getting in the way of everything.” Referring to Oklahoma, he said: “If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it. You don’t need — and then the federal government can help them out with the money.”

Project 2025, the blueprint for a Republican administration that was produced by the Heritage Foundation, calls for flipping the financial burden of response to small disasters so that 75 percent is carried by states and the rest by the federal government. Russell Vought, the chief architect of Project 2025, is Mr. Trump’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget, where he would significantly shape the federal budget.”

Recommended Blog Resources

This is the first installment of Recommended Blog Resources on environment, disasters, and emergency management.  If you have an ongoing interest in these topics, you will want to collect new sources.  I welcome suggestions from readers, so that I can add to this list.

(1) Andrew Revkin (N.Y Times blogger) writes the Dot Earth blog, http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com. See his Blogroll list at lower right-hand column of his homepage.

(2) John Solomon writes the Incaseofemergencyblog, http://Incaseofemergencyblog.com.  See his blogroll , also at lower right side of homepage.