President Biden warned Wednesday that “hurricanes are coming” as he received a briefing ahead of the Atlantic storm season — just a day after he pulled a Federal Emergency Management Agency nominee who Republicans claimed was “pro-hurricane.”
“We know hurricanes are coming our way. They grow more extreme every season thus far,” Biden said.
“The climate crisis is likely to — we expect another tough hurricane season,” he added. “And storms are going to be more intense. And we’re going to have shorter notice.”
In February, Biden nominated Alice Hill to be FEMA’s deputy administrator for resilience, but the White House withdrew her nomination Tuesday after Republicans circulated what they described as “pro-hurricane” commentary.
In a February 2020 tweet, Hill, then a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote: “Some good news: Hurricanes fertilize mangrove forests, shaping the coastal landscape of the Florida Everglades.”
In a separate tweet that also raised eyebrows, Hill wrote earlier this month: “A new study finds pollution levels affect storm activity. Cleaner air leads to more Atlantic hurricanes. Dirtier air in the Pacific means fewer typhoons. Cutting air pollution should remain a goal–air pollution causes 7 million deaths per year globally.”
It’s unclear what effect the whisper campaign against her nomination may have had and Hill told The Post that she withdrew her name for personal reasons.
“I was not aware of concern about or characterization of the tweet,” Hill said regarding the since-deleted 2020 post.
“I believe numerous letters in support of my nomination were submitted, including a coalition letter from the Chamber of Commerce,” she added. “The decision [to withdraw] was personal.”
But Jerome Trankle, director of research at the conservative American Accountability Foundation, said that Senate Republicans were preparing to take aim at Hill.
“While we aren’t privy to any internal communications or decisions of the Biden administration, we did express our concerns with Alice Hill as the resilience nominee to our allies on Capitol Hill,” he said.
“Insensitively, Hill published two pro-hurricane tweets, one of which she deleted, and she supported some very reckless policy proposals,” Trankle added. “We are grateful that Alice Hill is no longer the nominee and we will continue to vet future nominees for this position.”
