Memorandum for the President and Cabinet

National Extreme Heat and Climate-Resilience Mobilization

Purpose

To place federally supported heat-resilience infrastructure on an accelerated national footing; identify every legal, administrative, financial and physical obstruction; and use existing federal authority to move construction-ready work immediately while obtaining narrowly tailored congressional authority for barriers the Executive cannot lawfully remove.

Strategic finding

The United States faces three converging conditions:

1. Evidence that the underlying rate of global warming has accelerated.

2. A strengthening El Niño likely to persist through early 2027.

3. Infrastructure designed around historical temperature ranges that increasingly fail to describe present and foreseeable conditions.

The government therefore need not wait for nationwide infrastructure failure before acting. Emergency preparedness exists precisely because action after system failure is more expensive and less effective than action before it.

National objective

By December 25, 2026, the federal government shall:

• begin every construction-ready, federally funded priority heat-resilience project;

• clear or formally decide every pending federal authorization capable of resolution within existing law;

• place all critical long-lead equipment under contract;

• install temporary protection where permanent construction cannot be completed;

• publish the blocker, responsible official and resolution date for every remaining project;

• submit emergency legislation covering every obstacle beyond executive authority.

“Done by Christmas” should therefore have three meanings:

Physically completed, where work is small and ready.

Operationally protected, through temporary or modular measures where permanent construction takes longer.

Irreversibly committed, through executed contracts, obligated funds, permits and manufacturing orders for major projects.

That is the fastest honest definition. Anything broader becomes a slogan that concrete, copper and transformers will decline to obey.

The principal roadblocks—and how to break them

1. No complete project inventory

Delay

Federal agencies announce awards differently. Some projects are “selected” but have no signed grant agreement. Some are obligated but lack permits. Some are permitted but lack equipment. Some have money sitting at the state or utility level.

Nobody possesses one authoritative national list showing which projects can actually move.

Mobilization action

Within seven days, every agency and federal funding recipient must submit the following for each relevant project:

• funding authorized;

• award selected;

• grant agreement executed;

• funds obligated;

• design percentage complete;

• federal permits outstanding;

• state and local permits outstanding;

• litigation status;

• land or right-of-way status;

• procurement status;

• contractor status;

• long-lead equipment;

• earliest construction date;

• earliest operational date;

• exact blocker.

OMB creates one national ledger. Failure to report pauses new discretionary awards to the non-reporting recipient, where legally permissible.

Authority

OMB apportionment, grant oversight and agency reporting authority; Presidential supervision of executive agencies; existing grant terms; Inspector General and GAO support.

Christmas result

Every federally funded project is either moving or visibly blocked. No more bureaucratic Schrödinger’s infrastructure—simultaneously funded and nonexistent.

2. Sequential review

Delay

Design waits for environmental review. Procurement waits for final design. utility relocation waits for procurement. State review waits for federal review. Each process is defensible alone; stacked end to end, they consume years.

Mobilization action

Order maximum lawful concurrency:

• environmental review while engineering advances;

• state and federal permitting on a shared timetable;

• utility relocation planning during design;

• early acquisition of standardized long-lead components;

• contractor prequalification before final authorization;

• consultation among agencies concurrently rather than serially.

FAST-41 already provides coordinated federal timetables and hands-on dispute resolution for covered projects. The Permitting Council reports that supported projects have historically reached records of decision almost 18 months faster on average than comparable projects outside the process.

Authority

FAST-41; CEQ regulations; agency NEPA procedures; programmatic agreements; shared environmental documents; procurement authorities permitting advance acquisition where justified.

Christmas result

Projects do not wait in six separate queues. They move through one combined queue with one clock.

3. Permitting without decision deadlines

Delay

Many laws require a decision, but administrative culture often treats the schedule as aspirational. Additional information requests arrive one after another rather than together.

Mobilization action

For every priority project:

• one lead agency;

• one consolidated information request;

• one public permitting timetable;

• decision escalation after any missed milestone;

• Cabinet-level resolution of interagency disputes within 72 hours;

• written approval or denial—not indefinite silence.

FAST-41 should be expanded by executive action to every eligible priority project and used as a model for projects outside its statutory coverage. It coordinates decisions; it does not dictate approval.

Authority

FAST-41; Presidential supervision; agency organic statutes; OMB and CEQ coordination.

Congressional need

A temporary Heat Resilience Decision Act requiring final federal decisions within fixed periods, while preserving substantive standards and judicial review.

Christmas result

Every permit that cannot be granted has at least been decided. Indecision ceases to masquerade as due process.

4. Environmental review

Delay

NEPA may require extensive analysis, particularly for large transmission, water and transportation projects. Litigation risk encourages agencies to produce defensive documents rather than focused decisions.

Mobilization action

Use:

• existing categorical exclusions for work that clearly qualifies;

• programmatic reviews for repetitive retrofits;

• adoption of another agency’s analysis;

• tiering from existing environmental documents;

• concurrent Endangered Species Act and historic-preservation consultation;

• emergency alternative arrangements only for genuine immediate emergency actions;

• severable construction packages, allowing low-impact work to begin before the entire megaproject is complete.

Do not declare that climate urgency suspends NEPA nationwide. That would invite litigation, likely lose time and poison the whole program.

Authority

NEPA and CEQ regulations; agency-specific categorical exclusions; emergency provisions for urgent circumstances.

Congressional need

Temporary statutory deadlines and explicit authority to use programmatic review for standardized heat-resilience work.

Christmas result

Substations, cool roofs, backup generators, reconductoring within existing rights of way, shade installations and equipment replacements move first while complex greenfield projects continue fuller review.

5. State and local permitting

Delay

The President cannot order a county building department, state utility commission or local zoning board to approve every project. Transmission siting and utility cost recovery are especially fragmented.

Mobilization action

Offer states a compact:

• expedited permitting;

• one state coordinator;

• firm review deadlines;

• reciprocal acceptance of federal technical findings;

• priority access to supplemental federal funds;

• federal technical teams embedded with understaffed jurisdictions.

For interstate transmission, use existing federal backstop authority only where statutory conditions are satisfied, and seek clearer temporary congressional authority where state processes prevent projects of demonstrated national reliability importance.

Authority

Federal grant conditions; interstate-commerce programs; Federal Power Act provisions; cooperative agreements.

Congressional need

Conditional preemption for a narrow class of nationally significant heat-reliability projects after a state fails to decide within a defined period.

Christmas result

States may still say yes or no, but cannot leave nationally important projects marinating indefinitely in a filing cabinet.

6. Procurement rules

Delay

Competitive procurement, protest periods, cost reviews and fragmented purchasing add months. Every locality buys similar equipment separately and competes against every other locality.

Mobilization action

• aggregate federal and state demand;

• establish national framework contracts;

• use existing indefinite-delivery contracts;

• permit emergency or urgent procurement where legal criteria are met;

• standardize specifications;

• require agencies to identify protest risk before solicitation;

• buy modular and commercially available equipment rather than bespoke systems whenever practical.

Authority

Federal Acquisition Regulation emergency and urgent-acquisition provisions; Economy Act; General Services Administration schedules; agency procurement statutes.

Congressional need

Temporary government-wide acquisition authority and expanded multiyear contracting for resilience equipment.

Christmas result

One national order for 5,000 standardized components rather than 500 governments each commissioning a small opera about how to buy a pump.

7. Transformer, conductor and switchgear shortages

Delay

Large power transformers and specialized electrical equipment can take many months or years to manufacture. Domestic capacity is limited, specifications vary, and utilities sometimes order custom equipment.

This is one of the true physical choke points. A signature does not produce grain-oriented electrical steel.

Mobilization action

Invoke the Defense Production Act, after required findings, to:

• prioritize qualifying federal and utility contracts;

• expand domestic transformer, switchgear and conductor capacity;

• finance added shifts, tooling and production lines;

• standardize emergency transformer specifications;

• establish a national reserve;

• coordinate imports from trusted allies;

• allocate scarce equipment according to reliability and life-safety risk.

Authority

DPA Title I priority and allocation authority; Title III industrial-capacity authority; DOE procurement and grid-resilience programs.

Christmas result

Smaller equipment delivered; large transformers under prioritized production; temporary mobile transformers and spare-equipment sharing deployed.

8. Skilled labor

Delay

Linemen, electricians, welders, railway crews, HVAC technicians, engineers, equipment operators and inspectors are finite. Accelerating everything at once can merely move the bottleneck from permits to people.

Mobilization action

• national workforce registry;

• voluntary interstate mutual-aid agreements;

• accelerated credential reciprocity;

• prevailing-wage emergency overtime;

• union hiring halls and apprenticeship partnerships;

• military engineering support for appropriate public works;

• reserve and National Guard engineering support when lawfully activated;

• temporary importation of highly specialized labor where domestic supply is insufficient;

• 24-hour shifts only where fatigue and safety can be controlled.

Authority

Stafford Act mission assignments for declared incidents; National Guard authorities; Army Corps civil-works authority; workforce statutes and grant conditions.

Congressional need

Temporary credential reciprocity, training funds and targeted visa authority for verified shortage occupations.

Christmas result

Crews are assigned before permits are complete and trained before equipment arrives.

9. Contractor capacity and bonding

Delay

Small cities and rural utilities may receive money but cannot attract qualified bidders, secure engineering services or satisfy bonding and matching requirements.

Mobilization action

• federal design-build support teams;

• pooled regional contracts;

• federal guarantees for qualifying bonds;

• waive or reduce nonfederal match where statutes permit;

• seek congressional waiver where they do not;

• direct technical assistance toward recipients with money but no delivery capacity;

• allow federal agencies to execute work on behalf of willing recipients.

Authority

Agency grant-management and cooperative-agreement powers; Army Corps and GSA support; FEMA technical assistance; existing match-waiver provisions where applicable.

Christmas result

An award to a small town becomes a construction contract rather than an attractive PDF.

10. Rights of way and land acquisition

Delay

Transmission, water, rail and road projects can be stopped by unresolved easements, appraisals, tribal consultation, utility conflicts or condemnation proceedings.

Mobilization action

Prioritize work within:

• existing federal land corridors;

• existing transmission and transportation rights of way;

• publicly owned land;

• rooftops and existing facilities;

• previously disturbed sites.

Use negotiated easements and advance option agreements. Do not assume eminent domain solves everything quickly; litigation can make it slower.

Authority

Agency land-management statutes; Federal Power Act siting provisions where applicable; federal property authority; Uniform Relocation Assistance Act.

Christmas result

Existing-corridor reconductoring and retrofit projects move before new corridors requiring years of land assembly.

11. Litigation

Delay

Major projects may be enjoined after agencies believe review is complete. Courts move according to their own calendars.

Mobilization action

• build legally defensible records rather than reckless waivers;

• separate contested components from uncontested work;

• ask the Department of Justice to seek expedited schedules;

• request consolidated venue and direct appellate review for a narrow class of nationally important projects;

• provide transparent public justification and community mitigation before litigation begins.

Authority

Existing DOJ litigation authority.

Congressional need

Expedited judicial review, a short filing window and direct review in the courts of appeals for designated heat-resilience projects—without eliminating review altogether.

Christmas result

Routine lawsuits do not automatically freeze unrelated or severable construction.

12. Utility regulation and cost recovery

Delay

Utilities may have federal grant support but still need state commission approval to recover remaining costs. Regulators may dispute whether investments are prudent or who should pay.

Mobilization action

• emergency FERC–state commission task force;

• standardized prudence findings for predefined resilience investments;

• federal grants covering a larger portion of projects protecting vulnerable communities;

• accelerated rate proceedings;

• performance-based incentives tied to reduced outage risk.

Authority

Federal Power Act within FERC jurisdiction; state utility law; DOE grants.

Congressional need

Temporary federal cost-sharing sufficient to prevent state rate cases from becoming the controlling bottleneck.

Christmas result

A utility no longer spends nine months debating whether a heat-resistant transformer is metaphysically different from an ordinary transformer.

13. Matching funds and municipal finance

Delay

A grant recipient may be unable to supply a 10%, 20% or 50% match. Higher interest rates can make debt-financed portions uneconomic.

Mobilization action

• waive matches wherever existing law permits;

• permit in-kind contributions;

• combine multiple federal programs where lawful;

• Treasury-backed low-interest resilience loans;

• bridge financing pending federal reimbursement;

• priority bond support for critical public infrastructure.

Authority

Program-specific waiver provisions; WIFIA and TIFIA lending; Treasury and agency credit programs.

Congressional need

Universal temporary match waiver for high-priority projects in fiscally constrained jurisdictions.

Christmas result

Projects do not remain unbuilt because a town has $8 million but lacks the final $800,000.

14. Supply chains beyond the electrical grid

Delay

Chillers, pumps, generators, heat pumps, roofing membranes, reflective coatings, control systems and replacement rail components may all become scarce during simultaneous national purchasing.

Mobilization action

Create a National Resilience Supply Board that publishes:

• demand by equipment class;

• domestic capacity;

• import options;

• lead times;

• substitute products;

• allocation priorities.

Use standardized designs and reciprocal certification with trusted allies.

Authority

DPA; federal procurement; trade and customs authorities within statute; mutual-defense and allied supply arrangements.

Christmas result

Scarcity is allocated deliberately instead of by whichever buyer discovers the last available chiller on a Tuesday afternoon.

15. Operating costs after construction

Delay

A city may build a cooling center but lack money to staff it. Trees are planted without maintenance. Backup generators exist without fuel contracts or testing.

Mobilization action

Every capital award must include:

• staffing;

• maintenance;

• energy costs;

• fuel and supply contracts;

• testing schedules;

• replacement reserves;

• performance reporting.

Authority

Grant conditions and eligible administrative costs where allowed.

Congressional need

Three years of operating support for newly created critical heat-response facilities.

Christmas result

The ribbon-cutting project is capable of opening when the heat arrives.

The Christmas triage

Not every project deserves the same treatment.

Tier One: Complete by Christmas

• cooling centers and backup power;

• cool roofs and shading;

• HVAC replacement in hospitals, schools and vulnerable housing;

• water-system generators and pumps;

• grid-enhancing technologies;

• mobile transformers;

• wildfire detection and communications;

• reflective pavement pilots;

• heat monitoring and warning systems;

• tree and shade work where seasonal planting permits.

Tier Two: Operational protection by Christmas

• temporary chillers;

• modular substations;

• leased generators and batteries;

• mobile water-treatment capacity;

• emergency rail-speed and inspection systems;

• temporary airport worker and passenger cooling;

• utility mutual-aid inventory;

• temporary shade structures;

• public transport to cooling centers.

Tier Three: Irreversibly underway by Christmas

• major transmission corridors;

• reservoir and recycled-water works;

• large airport central plants;

• bridge replacement;

• large-scale public-housing rehabilitation;

• domestic transformer factories;

• major rail reconstruction.

By Christmas, these must have funding obligated, permits decided, contracts executed, equipment ordered, work packages mobilized and named completion dates.

What the President can do immediately

The President can order executive agencies to inventory projects, coordinate reviews, use existing emergency procurement, prioritize eligible contracts under the DPA after required findings, place qualifying projects into FAST-41, condition discretionary grants, accelerate federal decisions, deploy federal technical teams and submit supplemental legislation.

The President cannot unilaterally appropriate unlimited money, compel every state permit, manufacture equipment, waive every substantive statute, command courts to dismiss cases or erase private property rights.

That is why a genuine mobilization package requires two signatures:

1. A presidential memorandum using every lawful executive authority immediately.

2. An emergency act of Congress addressing money, deadlines, judicial review, state bottlenecks, industrial capacity and workforce shortages.

The political trigger

I agree with the premise beneath your question.

We have developed a strange civic habit in which preparation is treated as alarmism, but preventable catastrophe is treated as an unavoidable act of nature. Then, once the catastrophe arrives, powers and money that were supposedly impossible appear before breakfast.

Mobilization should begin when three conditions are present:

• the hazard is strongly supported by evidence;

• the exposed systems are known;

• the lead time for protection exceeds the likely warning time before failure.

All three conditions are present here.

So the memorandum should not say, “A national climate catastrophe has occurred.”

It should say:

“A foreseeable period of elevated heat risk is developing, critical infrastructure requires long lead times, substantial funds have already been appropriated, and delay now creates an unacceptable probability that protection will arrive after it is needed.”

That is sober enough for the Cabinet, urgent enough for the hour, and considerably less expensive than waiting for the thermometer to draft the memorandum itself.

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Or we could wait. We could let the fires and the heat become so bad that more homes are burnt, more people die of heat exhaustion, other unexpected consequences happen, the electric grid deteriorates and the ACs and backup generators don’t work. We could. We probably should not wait. I am not a big fan when faced with an emergency that hurts everybody since we all share the fucking climate to discuss the minutiae of laws and environmentalists concerns. I like to get things done and then after it has been done try and make amends. For me it ought to be Go, Go, Go all the way. That’s not how this country works. Not yet anyway. Maybe it eventually will after it’s way past too late. The stuff above is ChatGPT. It isn’t me or my style. It actually upsets me a bit those last two paragraphs “What the President Can Do Immediately”.