Latest news with #ExecutiveOrder14239
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: The Wasatch earthquake is long overdue, and America isn't ready
Experts believe that the Wasatch Fault, one of the longest and most active normal faults in the world, is long overdue for a major earthquake, with a 57% chance of experiencing a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake within the next 50 years. This is common knowledge among Salt Lakers, who consider themselves blessed, if not lucky. But luck isn't a plan. And with our national disaster system melting down, they could be on their own when The Really Big One finally hits. Early in his second term, President Trump signed Executive Order 14239, seeking to offload responsibility for disaster response to state and local governments. A few days later, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she planned to 'eliminate' the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This isn't reform. It's abandonment. It's chaos by design. Here's how our disaster system is supposed to work: Local responders are the first in. The state backs them up. And when the scale of the crisis exceeds their capacity, the federal government steps in — like a big brother with deep pockets and national muscle. The Stafford Act authorizes this, and the National Incident Management System is the playbook. This system, when it works, brings order to the chaos of catastrophe. But it is being dismantled before our eyes. And no one has any idea what will take its place. The system hasn't always worked. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, chaos in the first Trump administration led to prolonged suffering in Puerto Rico. Then came the spectacular collapse of federal crisis management in April 2020 during COVID's early weeks. 'We were all told on a phone call — all 50 governors — that we were basically on our own,' said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Hospitals overflowed. PPE vanished. States were left to compete against each other for lifesaving supplies. The administration's workaround seems to be to write the federal government out of the process altogether. That huge gamble is based on the idea that 'all disasters are local' — a concept that crumbles in the face of true catastrophe. Studies of major earthquake responses — from Mexico City in 1985 to Christchurch in 2010 to Türkiye in 1999 and 2023 — have found time and again that local and state governments were overwhelmed within hours. With several strands of the fault zone passing directly through the city, this matters deeply for Salt Lake City, one of the most seismically hazardous urban areas in the West. If the Really Big One hit today, would we be ready? Not even close. The United States has the resources, the people and the expertise. What we don't have is someone in charge to make things happen. We need FEMA — now more than ever — to manage the increasingly complex and severe disasters of a polycrisis age. A refocused and empowered FEMA would forge strong public-private partnerships, leading a response that is government-led but not government-centric. It would become the national disaster machine we so desperately need: fast, coordinated, relentless. But we are running out of time. One of these days, in the not-too-distant future, Salt Lakers will wake up in a parallel universe. The fault will finally give way, shredding the Wasatch Front and ripping a gash in the earth's crust from Ogden south through Salt Lake City and all the way to Provo. Dazed families will wander through ruined streets. Thousands will be trapped in the rubble. And no one will be coming to help. When that failure happens, it won't stem from a lack of personnel, equipment or technology. It will stem from a lack of competence. And that will be the catastrophe within the catastrophe.
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
From FEMA To Freedom: Can Trump Transform States Into Doomsday-Prep Dynamos?
While it's not yet commonly acknowledged, in a government with as hefty a gravitational pull as ours, federal spending is also federal regulation. TOPSHOT - Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and US First Lady Melania Trump look on as US President ... More Donald Trump speaks during a fire emergency briefing at Station 69 in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) That's why deregulation—when it does happen—can sometimes emerge from surprising places. A new executive order from Donald Trump may fit that bill, perhaps even more significantly than his earlier 'one-in, ten-out' directive. The COVID-19 pandemic five years ago exposed serious vulnerabilities in our national preparedness, revealing a troubling reliance—by virtually everyone and everything—on federal intervention during crises. The resulting surge in federal spending (and its attached regulatory strings) tends never to recede. This year, the Congressional Budget Office projects a $1.9 trillion deficit on $7 trillion in spending—even in the absence of an emergency. Back then, I argued for an 'Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act' (AOC Prevention) to curb the predatory exploitation of emergencies for political gain and to foster resilience at all levels of society before the next economic shock. The core idea was simple: instead of funneling trillions into reactive federal rescues, we should prioritize policies that empower individuals, businesses, and states to weather shocks independently. Pertinent now thanks to a new Trump executive order, two sections in particular (Titles IV and V, noted below) called for getting the federal government out of crisis response best left to states and localities. Framing an "Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act" to Confine Washington Today, that vision aligns with a new Donald Trump initiative to shift responsibility back to the states, as seen in Executive Order 14239, titled 'Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness.' (Here's a 'Fact Sheet.') The order reads in part: Federal policy must rightly recognize that preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the State, local, and even individual levels, supported by a competent, accessible, and efficient Federal Government. Citizens are the immediate beneficiaries of sound local decisions and investments designed to address risks…. When States are empowered to make smart infrastructure choices, taxpayers benefit. This order empowers State, local, and individual preparedness and injects common sense into infrastructure prioritization and strategic investments through risk-informed decisions that make our infrastructure, communities, and economy resilient to global and dynamic threats and hazards. The 2020 CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) and the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (with its $1.9 trillion price tag) exemplified the problem that the new order can help correct. States were funded regardless of their lockdown choices; inefficiencies were rewarded; and worst of all, the idea of universal basic income (UBI)—which erodes self-reliance—gained dangerous legitimacy. Rather than learning from the pandemic (and 9/11, and the 2008 financial meltdown) to build resilience, the federal government's instinct remains to double down on dependence. We remain vulnerable to another round of runaway deficit spending as soon as the next shock hits. Along with ending states' reliance on federal handouts during non-crisis times, my earlier call for reform emphasized several related pillars for fostering a culture of preparedness—and reducing the need for massive, knee-jerk federal flash-policy responses. Among them: Trump's Executive Order 14239, while not explicitly aimed at universal economic shocks (it highlights cyberattacks, wildfires, hurricanes, and 'space weather'), nonetheless reflects this same philosophy, pursuing a norm of states taking the lead in disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience. It's an important conversation starter—especially in this era of rethinking supply chains from every angle. E.O. 14239 mandates a National Resilience Strategy within 90 days, aiming to streamline federal policy and prioritize risk-informed state, local, community, and individual decisions over blanket federal interventions. This shift could support broader moves to reduce the strings-attached federal grants-in-aid—already nearing $1 trillion pre-COVID—and help pave the way for eventually phasing out federal private aid altogether. Of course, challenges remain. States vary in capacity, and without clear guidance on decoupling from federal funding, some may struggle or fail to engage in the balancing acts required. Still, the order's directive for FEMA to 'review all national preparedness and response policies' is a vital step toward a system in which crises don't automatically trigger trillion-dollar bailouts. By fostering state-level resilience, we can preserve limited government and shield future generations from the debt and dependency that crisis exploitation inevitably breeds. Trump's order represents one important piece of a broader Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act. Executive action alone won't solve the problem—legislation will be necessary—but here's to letting the next crisis go to waste. The Case for Letting Crises Go to Waste: How an 'Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act' Can Help Rein in Runaway Government Growth, Competitive Enterprise Institute 'The Best American Rescue Plan Is An 'Abuse-Of-Crisis Prevention Act,' Forbes 'A Constitutional Amendment Banning Subsidies, Grants And Loan Guarantees,' Forbes
