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California Leads, Adapts
by Annie Strickler
Three years ago California adopted the nation’s first comprehensive global warming legislation, which set the stage for other states (and now finally the federal government) to get in the game. The landmark fuel efficiency standard (42 mpg fleet-wide by 2016) announced by the Obama administration in May was the direct result of California’s earlier clean car standards. And on Monday California took the lead once more, this time as the first state to release a statewide plan to adapt to climate change.
The 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy Discussion Draft is a wake-up call that should sound not just within the Golden State but in all local communities, state and the power corridors of Washington, D.C. Adaptation is no longer a worst-case concept or an alternative to efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; climate adaptation is a complementary and imperative strategy.
It’s not surprising that California is on the leading edge of adaptation – not just because of the state’s prescient actions in the past but given how much the state has to lose. California is looking down the barrel at the threat of sea level rise and flooding to the state’s lengthy coastline dotted by coastal communities; the impact on a growing population and robust agriculture sector from increased drought and water shortages; more intense wildfires, heat waves and public health threats.
The plan is divided into the following sectors, which underscore the far-reaching nature of climate change impacts – as well as how comprehensive our response must be: Public Health; Biodiversity and Habitat; Ocean and Coastal Resources; Water Management; Agriculture; Forestry; and Transportation and Energy Infrastructure. Preliminary recommendations from the report include:
- Amend general plans and coastal plans to avoid impacts
- Incorporate climate impacts into fire program planning
- Consider impacts for any major development and infrastructure projects
- Alter water use patterns in an effort to reduce per capita use 20% by 2020
- Release public health guidelines
- Expand and fund climate impacts research
Their recommendation #9 – “Communities with General Plans and Local Coastal Plans should begin when possible to amend their Plans to assess climate change impacts, identify areas most vulnerable to these impacts, and to develop reasonable and rational risk reduction strategies using the Draft California Adaptation Strategy as guidance.” – closely mirrors ICLEI USA’s Climate Resilient Communities’ Five Milestones for Climate Adaptation:
1. Conduct a Climate Resiliency Study
2. Prioritize Areas for Action and Set Goals
3. Develop a Climate Resilient Action Plan
4. Implement the Plan
5. Monitor and Reevaluate
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California’s draft strategy cites a November 2009 report by UC Berkeley and Next 10 that calculates the risks to California’s economy – one of the world’s largest – if the state takes no action to prepare for the impacts of climate change. According to the report:
The state has $4 trillion in real estate assets, of which $2.5 trillion are at risk from extreme weather events, sea level rise, and wildfires, with a projected annual price tag of $300 million to $3.9 billion over this century, depending on how warm the world gets. If no action is taken in the face of rising temperatures, six additional sectors, including water, energy, transportation, tourism and recreation, agriculture, and public health, would together incur tens of billions per year in direct costs, even higher indirect costs, and expose trillions of dollars of assets to collateral risk.
California’s budget woes are legendary and scary. The alarm bells
have been sounded on another potential budget nightmare, and this time
the state appears poised for action. Or at least aware of the
ramifications – for fiscal, human and environmental health – of
inaction. We can only hope those bells are also ringing across the
country.
Ding Ding Ding
Did you hear that? It’s the sound of more alarm bells on the climate
adaptation front, ringing from Alaska. On Monday Alaska’s freshman
Senator Mark Begich (former Anchorage Mayor and member of ICLEI USA’s
Board of Directors) used the occasion of his first speech on the Senate
floor to, among other things, call attention to impacts in his home
state from climate change.
According to his office, Senator Begich “cited numerous examples of
these effects, such as Alaskan villages that have been eroded by the
shrinking arctic icepack; the devastating effects of melting sea ice on
species such as the polar bear, walrus, and seals; thawing permafrost
causing homes to buckle; ocean acidification weakening the marine food
chain; and warming water temperatures that are changing fish migration
patterns.” Indeed, evidence across Alaska abounds.
Two years ago the New York Times took a poignant look at the towns – Newtok, Shismaref, Kivalina and others – that are falling victim to climate change.
The Los Angeles Times
called Senator Begich’s Inuvikput legislative package (named after the
Inupiaq expression meaning "the place where we live") “an attempt to
head off drastic and devastating consequences before it’s too late, as
well as to capture the economic potential of the Arctic where
practical.” His plans include an Arctic Adaptation Fund to help Alaska
and Arctic communities cope with and plan for impacts.
Like the Florida Keys
about 5,000 miles south, Alaska is the proverbial canary in the coal
mine when it comes to the impacts of global climate change – where
those impacts aren’t just predicted for the future; they have already
arrived.
Sadly, there probably isn’t a more effective wake-up call than the one you can see and feel already.
