The Federal Reserve is taking steps to prepare the American financial system for the effects of climate change, according to Chairman Jerome Powell. But Powell noted that climate-related risks do not fit squarely within the central bank’s existing framework for assessing financial stability. “As I have commented previously, although addressing climate change is a responsibility that Congress has entrusted to other agencies, the Federal Reserve does use its authorities and tools to prepare financial institutions for severe weather events,” Powell wrote in an April 18 letter to Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Schatz asked ... (full story)