Sen. King talks climate resiliency with Army Corps of Engineers nominee

“Just follow the science.” That was the message from Maine Senator Angus King to an Army Corps of Engineers nominee as the nation looks to become more resilient to storms and rising tides.

Adam Telle is nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, which works closely with FEMA following natural disasters.

On Tuesday, King asked him about the frequency of severe weather events, saying it’s important to follow the science when it comes to planning for the future.

“Well, I hope that regardless of the position of the administration on climate change, that the corps will take advantage of the science, which I think you’ve committed to, and particularly in resiliency planning. The worst thing we could do would be to build to 100-year-old standards instead of 100 years from now standards,” King said.

King and Telle also went back and forth on disaster response with King questioning President Donald Trump’s plan to turn over more of that response to the states, saying “disasters don’t respect state borders.”