For Immediate Release:
December 2, 2009 |
Contact: Matt Vander Sluis
707-628-3324 |
Sacramento, CA - Planning and Conservation League (PCL) Global Warming Program Manager Matt Vander Sluis, issued the following statement regarding today's release of the 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy:
"With only days before international leaders meet in Copenhagen, the State of California has once again shown its leadership, rolling out a bold set of actions to safeguard our state's economy, health, and environment from the effects of global warming.
The Climate Adaptation Strategy shows that we will pay dearly if we don't respond to the growing effects of global warming:
- Over the past 15 years, heat waves have claimed more lives in the state than all other declared disaster events combined. This trend is likely to continue as the number of heat waves increases (p. 32).
- The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spent over $500 million on fire suppression during fiscal year 2007/08. Wildfire occurrence statewide could increase by as much as 37-49 percent by 2085 (p. 111).
- Sea-level rise will put 480,000 people at risk and nearly $100 billion in property (p. 65).
The report recommends a series of actions to respond to these and other climate effects. It also calls for the development of sustainable funding mechanisms to support, among other things, climate change planning efforts that focus on biodiversity conservation (p. 62).
Sustainable funding to safeguard natural resources and biodiversity is critical for protecting our economy and our health. For example, by keeping forests healthy and productive under hotter and drier conditions we can reduce the growing risk of catastrophic forest fires. And by maintaining the health of our watersheds, which are increasingly stressed by changing precipitation patterns, we can keep our drinking water clean and safe.
Now it's time for our state and federal decisionmakers to make an investment in safeguarding natural resources and communities as part of our comprehensive climate and energy policies.
"It's like paying for the seatbelt in your car," explains Vander Sluis. "If we invest in protecting our communities and environment from the effects of global warming, we'll be much safer on the bumpy road ahead.
Without new resources we'll be caught unable to respond effectively to rising sea levels, deadly heat waves, and shrinking snowpack; we'll be trying to put out a fire without a fire hose."
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The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit lobbying organization, working in the State Legislature and at the administrative level in state government to enact and implement policies to protect and restore the California environment. PCL is the California affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.
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