FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler has joined 45 other mayors and county officials from around the country who have committed to creating more resilient cities, towns, and counties in response to our nation's growing extreme weather and energy challenges.

As an Inaugural Signatory of the Resilient Communities for America campaign, Seiler is among the first local elected officials in the nation to showcase leadership on these key issues testing America's communities.

The national campaign, which launched today, recognizes that local governments like Fort Lauderdale are on the front lines of responding to increasing disasters and disruptions fueled by a changing climate. An unprecedented increase in heat waves, droughts, floods, severe storms, and wildfires have devastated communities nationwide over the past two years and cost America $188 billion in damages.

Communities are also put at risk by unreliable and costly energy, thanks to volatile global prices and aging infrastructure taxed by extreme weather.

"We cannot ignore the challenges we face in South Florida and so many other regions across the country," Seiler said. "Fort Lauderdale is proactively working with Broward County, the State of Florida and the federal government in response to climate change and extreme weather. As demonstrated by the rapid response for the emergency restoration of beach and roadway along A1A, coordination among all levels of government is key to protecting our community."

Seiler said that every $1 spent on disaster risk reduction can save $4 in recovery and emergency response costs-making resilience efforts a sound investment for every community. Local governments can take a wide range of actions to prepare and protect community members, businesses, infrastructure, and natural resources, and allow communities to bounce back faster from disruptions and disasters.

In response to these challenges, Fort Lauderdale has already taken a range of cost-effective actions to improve resilience. The City adopted a Sustainability Action Plan to initiate the process of creating a more sustainable community by fighting climate change, improving the standard of living, and providing new economic opportunities for the residents of the City.

In signing the Resilient Communities for America Agreement, Seiler joins 45 other leading mayors and county leaders from across the country, including Mayor Vincent Gray of Washington DC, Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, CA; Mayor John Cook of El Paso, TX; Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken, NJ, and Mayor Kristin Jacobs of Broward County, FL.

The campaign Agreement letter the officials signed lays out three commitments for local elected officials:

. To urge state and federal leaders to support local resilience initiatives and to take meaningful steps to build resilience and security throughout the nation.

. To build community resilience through their own self-defined local actions and goals, emphasizing actions that address climate change, energy security, infrastructure renewal, and economic recovery.

. To share their solutions and success stories with other local governments to help accelerate their progress on resilience.

The Resilient Communities for America campaign is being coordinated by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability USA, the National League of Cities, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the World Wildlife Fund. Learn more at www.resilientamerica.org.