There’s a connection between hurricanes like Harvey and Irma and last week’s end of the Assembly’s legislative session – and it’s not just the whirlwind of activity and the gusts of rhetoric coming from floor debate.
One of the most important accomplishments of our last week of activity was approving a $1.45 billion spending plan for the revenues earned from cap and trade, an element of the state’s plan for reducing emissions that lead to global climate change which, in turn, contribute to the extreme weather patterns we’ve seen lately.
A big piece of the spending goes to fighting greenhouse gas emissions in a way that also has tangible, on-the-ground health benefits for people in the communities hardest hit by air pollution.
I’ll write about that in a future post, but now I want to talk about how our plan will help us survive and thrive in the face of coming natural disasters worsened by climate change.
According to scientists, we can’t blame individual hurricanes (or droughts) on climate change, but meteorologists say rising global temperatures raise the odds of hurricanes being more frequent and more powerful.
It also means that when Florida braved Irma, it had already seen an 8-inch rise in sea level, partly due to climate change, and that difference amplified the impact of storms.
California doesn’t have to worry about hurricanes, but we do have to be prepared for other effects of climate change that can include sea level rise and storm surges, especially in those of our cities built right down to the waterline on the ocean, coast, or rivers.
On top of that, we need to get ready for the possibility of more frequent atmospheric rivers with rapid sequences of storms and flood-inducing rain, rather than the slowly melting snow our water system has been built to utilize.
While we will use most cap-and-trade revenues to put the brakes on greenhouse gas emissions, Assembly Democrats also pushed to make investments to prepare for what we can expect from a changing climate.
The funding we pushed for includes $115 million for climate adaptation programs, including urban forestry, urban greening, wetlands restoration and natural infrastructure.
Those funds will follow in the footsteps of successful projects we’ve already supported:
Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District is working to catch and store rainwater for agriculture while preserving stream habitat and groundwater.
Hermosa Beach is studying what happens when sea level rise increases salinity in the groundwater, which in turn affects the surrounding infrastructure. This allows the city to adapt to the expected changes.
The Oro Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Lorenzo, in the San Francisco Bay, will explore the use of degraded wetlands as a way to use natural processes to treat water going into the bay and simultaneously cope with sea level rise.
The City of Bellflower is working to convert an expanse of asphalt to parkland to collect and treat stormwater. The greenspace will also counteract the heat island effects of paved urban areas.
By and large, these programs will serve multiple purposes: They will beautify local environments, they will have pollution and greenhouse gas reduction benefits, and they will prepare California for any ill consequences of climate change until we can get it under control.
Climate change is one of the big issues of our time, but it’s especially rewarding to tackle the big picture problem while, simultaneously, seeing that the things we do will make visible, immediate and positive changes in people’s lives – in this case, for decades to come.