President Barack Obama issued an executive order Friday to create a task force to advise the administrative branch on climate change, USA TODAY reported.
Named the "Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience," the group will "advise the Administration on how the Federal Government can respond to the needs of communities nationwide that are dealing with the impacts of climate change," the White House said in a statement.
The new task force will comprise state, local and leaders from around the country, according to USA TODAY.
Since climate change is one of the Democrat party's keystone issues, Democratic leaders will probably emphasize it in next year's congressional elections, the outlet reported.
While some Republicans say new environmental regulations will slow the economy, the GOP is actually divided on the climate change issue, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.
The survey found that "just 25 percent of Tea Party Republicans say there is solid evidence of global warming, compared with 61 percent of non-Tea Party Republicans."
Overall, Pew reported, "two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) say there's solid evidence that the earth has been getting warmer over the last few decades, a figure that has changed little in the past few years. While partisan differences over climate change remain substantial, Republicans face greater internal divisions over this issue than do Democrats."
The executive order listed the possible effects of climate change, including "an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification and sea-level rise."
These changes in atmosphere "are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health across the nation," said the order.
The administration plans to manage these risks with the help of the task force by bettering preparedness and safeguarding resources.
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