Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative reveals major findings unep.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from unep.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Mississippi River Valley has been hit by droughts, floods, extreme heat, and tornadoes that resulted in damages totaling over $50 billion since 2011. From 2005 to 2017, that total eclipses $200 billion with each effected state incurring a minimum $5 billion in damages. One positive result in reaction to those natural disasters was the formation of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI), a coalition of mayors focused on resilience and adaptation programs. Last week, mayors of the ten states along the river met with leaders from the global and North American insurance industry to discuss reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience in the face of climate-related disasters.
December 28, 2020 By David Murray
Both houses of Congress passed a measure long sought by flood-vulnerable towns and rivers bordering the Mississippi River: the Resilience Revolving Loan Fund Act. The bill was passed on its own December 17, separately from the omnibus bill that included the Water Resources Development Act. All that remains is for President Donald Trump to sign it into law.
The bill authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enter into agreements with any state or Indian tribal government to make capitalization grants for the establishment of hazard mitigation revolving loan funds. The bill specifies, “Such funds shall provide funding assistance to local governments to carry out projects to reduce disaster risk in order to decrease the loss of life and property, the cost of insurance claims and federal disaster payments.” The loans will be provided at a rate of 1.5 percent, a rate