AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
In a first, a village near Alaska's western coast is asking the U.S. government to declare a disaster based on the slow-moving impacts of climate change. The village is Newtok. It sits on thawing permafrost. As Rachel Waldholz of Alaska Public Media reports, Newtok residents say their community will disappear within three years.
RACHEL WALDHOLZ, BYLINE: Approaching Newtok by boat, one thing is clear. The river is eating this village alive. Whole chunks of the riverbank are crumbling away. And several homes sit uncomfortably close to the edge. This audio was recorded last summer. Since then, the village has lost more land. Romy Cadiente is the village-relocation coordinator. On a recent trip to Anchorage to meet with state officials, he told me it's time to go.
ROMY CADIENTE: We just need to get out of there, Rachel. We really do for the safety of the 450 people there.
WALDHOLZ: Engineers estimate Newtok is losing 70 feet of land per year. As river water seeps in, and the land sinks, this Alaska-native village expects to lose its drinking-water source this year and the school and airport by 2020. The community is ready to move. The major problem, Cadiente says, is money.
CADIENTE: Price tag on this village move is astronomical. And what we have right now is nowhere near.
WALDHOLZ: Relocating could cost more than $100 million. And after years of searching for funding, Cadiente says, Newtok has run out of options. So it's trying something new. The village wants a disaster declaration, which would unlock federal money. It's a novel approach. Disasters are usually declared after a specific catastrophic event. But Newtok is applying for damage that's mounted over the last 10 years.
ROB VERCHICK: Well, my first reaction is it's exciting.
WALDHOLZ: Rob Verchick teaches disaster law at Loyola University in New Orleans. He says this is likely a long shot. But...
VERCHICK: I think this needs to be done. And I think that it is going to lead to a very important conversation that we need to be having.
WALDHOLZ: Verchick says FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has pushed communities to plan for climate change. But the federal government itself doesn't have policies to deal with issues like relocation. Communities have to get creative. Mike Walleri, Newtok's attorney, argues nothing in the law prevents the president from declaring a disaster for a multi-year event.
MIKE WALLERI: You know, disasters are not planned (laughter). You know, they don't come in one size fits all.
WALDHOLZ: If there's no money to relocate the whole village together, residents could scatter, even moving to Anchorage 500 miles away. Village council Vice President George Carl has lived in Newtok for pretty much his whole life. He says it's not just houses at stake. It's community, culture, the Yupik language.
GEORGE CARL: Being born an Eskimo from that village - you know, that's my life, you know? And place me to another village or city - it's not for me, you know?
WALDHOLZ: The ultimate decision on whether to declare a disaster lies with the president. Newtok's leaders hope to get an answer before Obama leaves office next week. For NPR News, I'm Rachel Waldholz in Anchorage.
CORNISH: That story comes to us from Alaska's Energy Desk, a public media collaboration focused on energy and the environment.