>> this was clearly an attack against them... >> from around the world, to the issues right here at home >> ...shouldn't been brought here in the first place... >> we're not here to take over >> real stories... real people... real understanding... >> where you scared when you hear the bombs? >> al jazeera america real... news... you alone may not be able to stop climate change, how should you and your community prepare for it. ideas from local leaders on the front line. that is the "inside story". . >> hello, i'm laby casey.

the national climate assessment said everyone in the city, country region are impacted by climate change. it could be weather, heat, draught, more rain and a growing season of the rising seas and flooding threaten infrastructure. the message is it's time to adapt. in the absence of national goals and legislation to combat cause and effect. the obama administration is promoting action at the local level. >> leaders are here because states and communities represented are dealing with the affect of climate change. they are seeing rising sea levels, more powerful hurricane, more intense heatwaves, droughts and wildfires out west. >> surrounded by his task force of state, local and tribal leaders, president obama unveiled a national climate preparedness plan pressing forward in his commitment to combat the impacts of climate change in the u.s. >> we'll help communities

improve electric grids, build stronger sea walls and barriers and protect the water supplies. we are also going to invest in stronger and more resilient infrastructure. >> reporter: the new plan activates federal agencies to implement recommendations from the ask force. the department of agriculture will award $236 million in grants to improve electricity in eight states. the u.s. geological survey will spend $13 million to prepare 3d mapping data to allow city and states to respond to weather disasters. >> the bottom line is investing in infrastructure protecting communities none should be a partisan issue u. >> the national climate assessment was released in may saying that change is here, impacting agriculture, water, human health, energy,

transportation, forests and ecosystems, white the disagrees is talking about impacts, it's taking action to reduce carbon emissions with regulations on coal-fired power plants, attacked by opponents as a war on coal. >> this is the same administration waging a costly war on coal jobs. it's like a distant elite in washington view the mission as idea logical warfare. they don't seem the least concerned about the casualties they leave behind in the process. >> the new federal initiatives are an example of what the president called a year of action, and with a pen and a phone, sidestepping congress. on climate change, the president is promoting ideas and solutions at a state and local lel. more than 1,000 u.s. cities signed on to a protection agreement, pledging to do their part to combat climate change.

perhaps you are sitting at home saying so what, climate change doesn't affect me, i don't live near the coast or in a storm prone area or one likely to have wildfires. there's more to it than that. scientists say change is happening now and affecting everyone. adaptation and mitigation on this edition aft programme with the people working on it. joining the discussion in washington, indiana major, centre houston texas, the mayor, and here in d.c., the director of the climate science watch, a programme of the government actability project. mayor, what is your community doing to deal with climate change? >> we are doing a lot in carmel indiana, we are a suburb of indiana, growing from 1,000 to 85,000. i did an executive order requiring any time we buy a vehicle it be a hybrid or an

alternative fuel vehicle. we take the methane gas at the plant, normally just burnt off and using it to heat the sludge, turning it into fertiliser without additional energy. we used to put it into a landfill. we have built more roundabouts than any city in the united states. we have an 80% reduction in injuries, we are saving about $24,000 gallons of fuel per roundabout per year. we are getting people, places better, increasing quality of life. we have tape the parkland to 41,000, we created an urban forest and are testing a hydrogen and street department trucks. we are trying to do things and look at what we do as a city and

ask the question how can we do it better, save money and save the environment. >> is saving the environment, helping it enough of a measure. >> for some it does. there's different paths to get there. some may not see the need to help the environment. yet they may be interested in saving money. it's important to show a variety of reasons why we do what we are doing. >> when you go to your constituents, the community, to the city council, how do you make the arguments to say this will be good for the climate? >> we say it's good for the climate, the people concerned. they agree with it. others say by doing the things, we save money. we increase quality of life. i don't know too many people that don't want to drink clean water and breath clean air, reduce the medical affects of having dirty water and air. there's - you know, it's six to

me. i don't think there's that much opposition to the basics. >> mayor parker, take us to houston. what are you doing? we are picturing where houston lies and think about what it means to be a coastal city. >> we are a coastal city. we are also the world headquarters for oil and gas. a significant portion of the u.s. refining capacity is in the greater houston area, and we are in a hurricane zone. we are america's fourth-largest city. we have a direct population, and a regional population that we have to provide resources for. the city of houston is the largest municipal purchaser of electricity, as the headquarters for the oil and gas industry. we understand that it's not incompatible to be concerned about greenhouse gas emissions and reductions and making sure that we have a thriving industry

that promotes energy independence. cities across america are doing similar thing, we are increasing the side of electric and hybrid vehicle fleet. we are converting street lights. we launched a programme to convert 165,000 street lights to l.e.d. lights. when that is down we'll save about 28 million a year in direct energy costs to the city of houston. i usually make the saving money argument rather than saving the planet argument. but the good new assist that a lot of things that we do to reduce green house gas are good for the bottom line. we have been encaged -- engaged in an exercise to focus on not how to reduce the carbon emissions, but how to make the communities more resilient to climate change that we know is happening. at the local level we don't

spend time debating why it's happening, it's about what can we do to make it better. >> there's two mayors sharing their perspectives. what they are doing, is it enough? >> it steps in the right direction if you measure it about where we've been. if you measure it against where we need to be, it's first steps. this has been a long time coming, 25 years since global warning was recognised as a serious problem. the federal government has been awol until recently to stepping up to acknowledging the problem that part of solution to the climate change problem is adaptive preparedness to make community more resilient to the inevitable impact of global climate disruption. with the task force, it's now the president working with state, local and dribal leaders -- tribal leaders not a war with the science community

and interested in being proactive. there's too few of them. there's plenty of places in the country where local communities are on their open, and state level leadership - texas is one, florida another, where the governors are basically in a state of denial on the problem of human-caused change, and not interested in taking proactive substance to protect the communities, whether it's drought and wildfires or coastal storms, infrastructure and so forth. this is the beginning. >> mayor parker, what keeps you awake, when you think about the problems of climate change. you think about industry. what concerns you about change in houston. >> we are not directly on the coast. we are about 50 miles inland, we are america's foreign tonnage port. we are not much above sea level.

an incremental rise in sea level puts a lot of port infrastructure at risk and refining capacity at risk. the more intense storms, and we are in hurricane season as we speak, more intense storms coming in the gulf of mexico, the port of houston, the coastal communities that depend on the jobs. finally we are a flat city, we are built on the coastal prairie. we are always going to be propose to flooding as you have more intense storms, and riding sea levels. that water has to go some place. we have been investing as a city to try to get ahead of our drainage and flooding problems. now we have an opportunity to use best practices and work with the federal agencies to do a

better job. >> we break now. when we return we talk to some impediments to action when it comes to climate change and a changing planet. this is "inside story", stay with us.

welcome back to "inside story" on al jazeera america. we are discussing how states, cities and downs and local leaders plan on dealing with the

changing climate. there's little national response. mayors and cities are taking it upon themselves to act. there are big challenges. what stands in your way as you try to make improvements? >> one of the biggest challenges for suburban communities that have been built since world war ii is that they have built on a suburban development plan. they don't have downtowns. they haven't created a good grid system. we have the businesses here, and the offices officer and houses here, and people are driving, spending an hour or two hours in their cars. it's not good for the environment or quality of life. the challenge is to build traditional cities where people can walk, bicycle, where there's mixed use. if they have to drive, not as far. but the community has been resistant, developers in most parts of the country find it different, and financing and

dealing with development is much harder for volunteer city council and commission, and so the challenge is really to learn more about the physical impacts if we continue to build sprawl, about the environmental impacts, the eating up of farm land in the east of the country, if we build sprawl at the same level. we need to figure out how to build beautiful cities, be densers, go up a little higher. pay attention to europe in their cities. england, for instance, has 6.5 teems the population -- times the population per acre, but maintained farmland, and build beautiful parks. we need to take lessons and do a better job of designing the cities. increasing building codes and make it so people don't have to spend two hours in the car. not only will it improve the quality of life, but it will

save the city money. so much cities built infrastructure at the point they can't maintain it. >> mayor parker, what are the challenges you faced. you laid out grave concerns before the break. sounds like you are working with industry. what about when your goals run contrary to big business? >> i don't think any of my goals to improve efficiencies, to reduce green house gas emissions and make the committee resilient are contrary to industry. the big challenges for the coastal cities. think of the impact of katrina, spike and sandy. they are not major storms impacting a city, they are storms that impacted a region. in terms of resiliency, trying to improve coastal defenses, it is a multi-agency,

multijurisdictional challenge, and at the heart of that challenge is how do you pay for it. what is it going to cost, how do you pay for it. one thing that has come out of this president's task force is the desire at the federal level to use the federal agencies more efficiently on the front-end in terms of planning, working with local jurisdictions to put things in place. instead of coming in and cleaning up after a major disaster, after a wildfire, after a flood, a major storm, what can you do in advance to limit the damage before it happiness. >> let's get a perspective from you. you worked inside the federal government and were part of the bush administration. where does politics come into play. >> i worked for 10 years in an office that supports sign

tichg -- scientific research for climate. it was a science coordination office, under the bush administration, part of it. what i saw coming out of the science community saying the first national climate assessment clashed with the politics of the white house, which was to not regulate the energy industry and not accept honestly the scenes of global warming they suppressed that climate safety. there has been a -- assessment. there has been a collision between the world of science and washington politics for a long time. i think the obama administration has some credit for taking substance with the jerusalems that they have. one needs to keep in mind with reference to the fossil fuel industry. climate change, essential as it is, will take you so far. the trajectory that we are on

now here and globally with you are oning fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas, will shoot the planet up into the danger zone or catastrophic climate change impacts. unless you rein it in, and that means a phase-out of the fossil fuel economy and a move to the energy system, you will not handle the impacts no matter how prodetectivive you'll be. >> i want you to respond to that, since you are deep in the heart of it all. how do you square that? >> i wouldn't let the enemy of the good. and you'll find that the world megacities and i'm on the steering committee for the c 40, is focused specifically on what we can do as cities to lower our carbon emissions. when you think about it today, 50% of the world's population, 50% is confined to about 2% of

the world's land mass. when you make a change in megacities, it has impact on people's lives, and we can do things in a hurry to make a difference. we will not get there with cutting greenhouse gas emissions. we are not going to get there by trying to impede the oil and gas industry, which will fuel the world for a long time in the future we'll have to find a balance. the more we can do on the efficiency side, the less we have to depend on - the industry that today is not the industry that will be there next year or 10 years or 20 years from now. like any other industry, the oil and gas industry is refining its method, improving its efficiency, and what we are seeing now in the united states

with the new extractive technologies for natural gas, a lot of states, cities, have the opportunity to shift to a clean are burning fossil fuel, and the united states is now has the participation of becoming and exporting nation. >> we'll take a break. when we come back. the obama administration is getting ideas from local communities. what are the local communities needing the federal government to do. stay with us, this is "inside story".

welcome back to "inside story". i'm libby casey. you may not think that much about climate change, but the national climate assessment says you should, because it's impacting you now, and it doesn't matter where you live. 1,000 mayors signed on to a pledge to limit impact on daily lives. part of today's discussion.

carmel and deena major jim brainer, and from houston texos, mayor parker, and rick, the director of climate science watch, a project of the government accountability project. >> how do you navigate the politics to get things done? >> it's important to point out that everybody should want to live on a cleaner planet, breathe clean air and drink clean water. i point out to conservatives that the word conserve is the root of conservative, that it was republicans, teddy roosevelt, republican president set aside millions of acres of land for the national parks system, and thin president richard nixon that signed a bill establishing the e.p.a., started earth day, signing the data species act.

clean water drinking act. traditionally if a party is involved with protecting the environment, it's been the republican party. it's important to point out the history to the republican party. it's something to engage. there's valid arguments about how much business regulation, how quickly it's done, whether it mandates. they are valid discussion points. obviously the republican party need to quit saying no, we are not going to discuss it, and engage in a meaningful discussion on how to make the planet cleaner. we made a mess of it. we need to clean it up. snow we look at what the mayors are doing. what do you see coming out of this. the white house is looking to federal agencies. ranging from f.e.m.a. taking a role.

it's something we don't associate with environment issues the idea is that climate change is not a problem you fix. it's something you'll manage and navigate through from now on. so the thinking, the strategic thinking and figuring out which jurisdictions, and which resource and actions has to be woven throughout. all of the agencies of government at the federal level, the state level, the local level - how does it affect my programme? how does it affect my agency, my responsibility, and so it's not something that you can compartmentalize. it's something that needs to pervade people's thinking. i think they are starting to move in the right direction on that by tying federal, state and local, looking across the agencies, getting them to work

together. what can the agencies do. this is the way to go, i think. >> mayor parker, the white house is talking about a billion dollars in resource allocations. put a billion in pertective. how far would that go? >> i have more than a billion in infrastructure. it's a drop in the bucket spread across the united states. it's a point of focus to allow communities to come forward with projects and potentially receive grant money to put them into action. i'm proud that the city of houston is a pilot area, along with state of colorado, in terms of preparedness. coming together with our local and state and federal partners to see what we can do by better coordination and planning on the front end to create a more resilient community. we intpd to set the bar -- intend to set the bar high.

about how climate change could effect houston. how do you motivate people in yind to care -- indiana to care and apply for some grants. >> the grants talked about were limited to 60 cities, but an exciting thing about the programme was that it's going to be a competition. and other cities may not be eligible can learn from the competition, and learn the lessons that the design contest will be taught. but in the end, granted we are not on the front lines. the coastal cities are on the front line. if there's a climatic event to prevent prices, fuel or food, that will impact everyone. we are deal in the midwest with impacts to agriculture and pest. impact and agriculture, the yield that the farmers can get

from the fields, and stormwater systems that were built for 5-7 inches in a 24 hour period, and would happen every five years, and now is coming on a regular basis, and they have to be rebuilt. >> we have to leave it there. thank you to the mayor, and you rick. that brings us to the end of this edition of "inside story". thank you for you for being with us in washington, i'm libby casey.

>> let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. our father and our most gracious god. as this family, the murdough family and their friends, as they gather, we ask that you send your comforter, your holy spirit, your guide, to be with them. >> queens, new york. jerome murdough's family is laying him to rest. four months ago, 56-year-old jerome was arresfo