The U.S. GAO to the Fed: Get Your Adaptation Funding Ducks in a Row

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a new report: Climate Change Adaptation: Aligning Funding with Strategic Priorities (July 28, 2011). This 14-page report suggests that the U.S. government can't align funding with climate change adaptation priorities for two main reasons: officials across agencies lack a shared understanding of climate change adaptation priorities, and mechanisms intended to align funding with priorities are nonbinding. One suggested way to ameliorate the problem is a government-wide strategic planning process to coordinate a federal adaptation response.

I haven't had a chance to digest the report enough to comment on it, but I always expect to like GAO reports, and this one looks typically plain-spoken and action-oriented.