Obama pitches $1B climate change ‘resilience fund’

President Obama will pitch a new $1 billion climate change resilience fund during a visit Friday to California.

The fund, which would need to be approved by Congress, is intended to help communities dealing with negative weather that’s the result of climate change.

{mosads}Obama is touting the fund during a trip to California, which has been devastated by a drought that is threatening the Central Valley’s agriculture production and has led Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to call on Californians to conserve water.

During a call with reporters on Thursday evening, the assistant to the president on science and technology, John Holdren, said, without any doubt, the severe drought plaguing California and a number of other states across the country is tied to climate change. 

“Weather practically everywhere is being caused by climate change,” Holdren said.

The administration’s fund would invest in research to gather data on the impacts of climate change, help communities prepare for them and support innovative technologies and infrastructure to ready the country “in the face of a changing climate.”

“Recent events have reinforced our knowledge that our communities and economy remain vulnerable to extreme weather and natural hazards,” the administration said in a statement on Thursday.

Obama will propose the fund Friday after visiting with farmers in Fresno, Calif. 

The new fund — separate from Obama’s climate agenda announced in June — will be detailed in the president’s 2015 budget, set for release next month. 

While Obama has said he will use his executive authority to push his climate agenda and other policies during what he dubbed his “year of action,” the president would need approval from Congress for the fund. 

When asked if talk of climate change tied to extreme weather events, like California’s drought, by Obama would become more frequent, Holdren said it already has been a recurring talking point for the president.

Holdren added: “You can expect the president will talk about the connection between increasing frequency in the intensity of drought and climate change on Friday” and in the future.