Federal Support and Local Action

The document is a transcript of a briefing featuring experts from the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. It examines the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, as well as recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico, highlighting the vulnerability of the electric grid and coastal infrastructure. The speakers argue that while Congress has approved significant funding for recovery and resilience, bureaucratic delays in federal agencies like HUD and FEMA have stalled the disbursement of these resources. The briefing emphasizes the effectiveness of nature-based solutions, such as coral reef restoration, for wave attenuation and coastal protection, while noting that traditional cost-benefit analysis tools often favor short-term returns over long-term resilient infrastructure.

• Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 caused catastrophic damage in the Caribbean, with Hurricane Maria alone resulting in approximately 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico and nearly destroying the island's electric grid.
• Since late 2019, the southern region of Puerto Rico has been impacted by approximately 1,000 earthquakes, including 13 exceeding magnitude five, which further destabilized the already unreliable electric grid.
• Significant federal funding approved by Congress for disaster relief and grid transformation has faced severe disbursement delays due to bureaucratic processes and slow publication of notices by federal agencies, specifically HUD.
• Nature-based infrastructure, specifically coral reefs, provides superior coastal protection compared to man-made structures, with some reefs attenuating up to 97 percent of wave energy during major storms.
• Puerto Rico's Law 33 of 2019 establishes a policy for climate change mitigation and resilience, including a coal phase-out and a goal of 100 percent clean energy production by 2050.
• Traditional cost-benefit analysis (BCA) tools used by FEMA, HUD, and the Army Corps of Engineers discourage the adoption of nature-based solutions because they prioritize rapid return on investment over long-term design life and lower maintenance costs.
• Sea level rise poses a critical threat to Puerto Rico's coastal infrastructure; a 10-foot increase by 2100 is presented as an extreme scenario that would severely impact international communications.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2020). Federal Support and Local Action. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_060220.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Federal Support and Local Action. 2020. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_060220.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Federal Support and Local Action |date=June 2020 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_060220.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2020federal, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Federal Support and Local Action}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_060220.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }