Major power. Great responsibility.
The United States government has enormous influence over the reduction of global catastrophic risk.
Shaping policy in the US Congress and Executive Branch helps position the US, and the world, for a potential catastrophe of any type. US policy is already pioneering for some policy issues related to global catastrophic risk, such as in its risk assessment and in the use of an all-hazards approach to disaster risk management.
We believe that the US government can do more on global catastrophic risk, which will also pave the way for other countries and allies of the US to manage global catastrophic risk better.
The Defense Production Act (DPA, 50 U.S.C. §4501 et seq.) provides the President with a broad set of authorities to influence private industry in the interest of national defense, which can be used to protect against and respond to potential global catastrophes.
The DPA is a prime example of an important “all-hazards” policy tool for global catastrophic risk reduction. For example, the DPA enabled Operation Warp Speed to rapidly and massively ramp up vaccine production and distribution at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the DPA automatically expires on Sept. 30, 2025. Global Shield is leading a major advocacy campaign that will continue until the DPA is reauthorized and, ideally, modernized.
We are also focused on ensuring that the DPA is supported with the necessary oversight and governance so that its use during a catastrophe is effective and efficient. We want to enhance the cooperation between the government and the private sector to plan in advance for potential needs during a global catastrophe.
In 2022, prior to the creation of Global Shield, our co-founder, Jared Brown, led the advocacy effort for the legislation that became the Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act (GCRMA, 6 U.S.C. §821 to §825). The GCRMA is the world’s first national law related to global catastrophic risk, calling on the US government to assess and prepare for risks from, for example, “severe global pandemics, nuclear war, asteroid and comet impacts, supervolcanoes, sudden and severe changes to the climate, and intentional or accidental threats arising from the use and development of emerging technologies.” Since its passage, Global Shield has been leading civil-society engagement with the US government to implement the Act, including working with Congress to maintain oversight of the effort, so that the most policy benefit can be gained from this formative law.
In October 2024, the RAND Corporation released their Global Catastrophic Risk Assessment. This research was sponsored by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate in support of the GCRMA. The report by DHS has not yet been released.
Global Shield is also leveraging the legal precedent of the GCRMA to advance related policy improvements in the US government. In particular, we are working to improve “continuity of operations plans” (COOP) in the face of the assessed global catastrophic risk from the GCRMA report.
In lay terms, continuity of operations plans represent the US government’s planning for maintaining core government functions in the aftermath of extreme catastrophes. These plans and facilities (such as so-called “doomsday bunkers” like Raven Rock) were originally crafted for the purpose of surviving a full-scale nuclear war, and now must be adapted for a much wider range of catastrophic threats. However, given the heavily classified nature of these programs, they receive very little oversight and have atrophied in the years since the Cold War.
In November 2024, Mark Green MD, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Dina Titus, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management within the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, wrote to the Government Accountability Office, requesting a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) oversight of federal Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning, programs, and associated National Continuity Policy (NCP).
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