Join the BlueGreen Alliance
Help us identify ways to turn today’s environmental challenges into job-creating and economic opportunities!Social infrastructure—the services required to promote health and economic, cultural, and social well-being—is critical for communities to be able to respond to and prepare for current and future crises, like climate change.
The Challenge
After decades of neglect—and having been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic—our public sector simply is not prepared for climate change. Wildfires, hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, and sea-level rise are already hurting workers and communities across the country and will only worsen if we don’t take decisive action to bolster our public sector and social infrastructure. There is no viable pathway to resilience in the face of climate change without investing in our social infrastructure.
Resilience is built by the public sector at the state and local level, but federal resources are needed to properly fund, staff, and train the workers implementing resilience policy. Too often, federal policy is reactive, providing workers, resources, or establishing emergency protocols only after a threat has already transpired. This has proven insufficient time and time again. Communities and workers must have the proper training and resources to build resilience ahead of time so that when a crisis hits, they can withstand, recover, and learn from it.
The Opportunity
Public sector workers are critical to building resilience in the face of climate change. Healthcare workers provide preventative and emergency care to communities; public health professionals help people understand how climate change may worsen acute and chronic illnesses; home care workers become de facto first responders in the face of crisis; social workers connect community members to public services; emergency services respond to everyday calls while developing plans for the aftermath of climate disasters; and librarians develop public information programs and operate cooling shelters during extreme heat waves. All of these roles—and more—are essential in responding to the day-to-day impacts of our changing climate and become even more important when a disaster occurs.
Public employees providing public services are the first people to respond to a disaster and are the people we rely on for so many basic necessities—from health care and education to water, heat, and electricity. A strong public sector not only creates a standing pool of well-trained emergency responders but also contributes to a higher quality delivery of public services every day.
Key Facts
Every Five Years The BlueGreen Alliance has called on federal agencies to update their Climate Adaptation Plans every five years. (Source)
46% Nearly half of healthcare workers reported feeling burned out often in 2022. (Source)
94% A survey of registered nurses found that as of 2023, 94% believe that there is a moderate to severe shortage of nurses in their area. (Source)