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Climate Mitigation and Adaptation News
October 7, 2015
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A biweekly newsletter of the Climate Readiness Collaborative
We'd like to warmly welcome our newest members, Cool Davis and Pacific Gas & Electric! Cool Davis is an active network of residents, community organizations, businesses and community institutions committed to implementing the City of Davis's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Pacific Gas & Electric provides electricity and natural gas services to Northern California and is an integral partner in regional resiliency.
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| Agricultural exports drop as Sacramento rice crop suffers from drought |
Traditionally, nearly half of California's agricultural output is exported internationally, yielding $20 billion in sales annually, but a fourth year of drought is threatening California's role in the global food chain. With a 30% decrease in rice harvests, Sacramento Valley farmers have lost customers in the Middle East and Mediterranean, and they're worried they won't be able to regain lost market share from growers in the Southeastern U.S. ( Sacramento Bee) |
| Rapid, severe wildfires leave disabled, elderly in peril |
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| | Photo: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times |
From communications to evacuation and sheltering, most disaster response systems are designed for people who can walk, run, see, drive, read, hear, speak and quickly understand and respond to instructions and alerts. But the disabled, elderly, and others with "access and functional needs" require special attention. This emerging area of disaster preparedness took hold after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - when nearly three-fourths of those who died were older than 60. It is viewed with urgency as California increasingly goes gray, particularly in rural counties, and as wildfires spread with greater speed than ever before. ( LA Times)
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| Truckee planners address need for climate change action plan |
Over the course of the past nine years, the town of Truckee has been moving incrementally toward a climate action plan. At a recent public meeting, the city and other stakeholders worked to build support toward further investments in renewable energy and other measures to reduce GHG emissions from residents and tourists alike. Though no specific plan is underway, the town has already taken action; for example the local public utility district has already reduced its use of fossil fuels by 50% since 2007. ( Sierra Sun) |
| French winemakers search for heat - and drought - tolerant grape |
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Photo: AFP Photo/Jeff Pachoud
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Amid the bustle of a busy harvest in France's famed Beaujolais wine-making region, a quiet effort is underway to counter one of the industry's biggest potential threats: climate change. Scientists are cultivating different varieties to see which fared best during an exceptionally dry year that is expected to cut grape output by a quarter in this region, and already pushed harvest earlier by a full month than two years ago. (Yahoo) |
Emphasizing co-benefits motivates people to take action on climate change
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Published in Nature Climate Change, a new study surveyed over 6,000 people in 24 countries and found that motivations to act on climate change were clearly related to a belief in co-benefits, especially those related to economic and scientific development and building a more caring community. The authors suggested that communications should focus on co-benefits as well as climate science to motivate public support and action independently of views about climate change. Co-benefits can help target climate polices and communications so that they achieve broader social benefits that people value. ( Guardian) |
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Case Studies and Examples
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| Training the real estate industry to address climate change |
Recognizing the severe consequences of climate change, a real estate association in Montana organized a one-day seminar on the effects of climate change for the real estate industry. Attended by over 100 real estate agents, the course helped real estate agents recognize the emerging market for climate-smart homes and communities, develop tools that recognize climate impacts on neighborhoods, understand future projected impacts, and learn how homeowners can reduce risk and increase readiness. ( The Missoulian) |
| Michigan towns integrating climate adaptation into general plans |
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Photo: Josh Bis via Creative Commons
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Resilient Michigan, a project of the nonprofit Land Information Access Association community planning agency, has spent the past year and a half in five towns updating master plans to account for climate change. The goal was to integrate stand-alone climate adaptation plans into day-to-day planning activities, master plans, or ordinances, strengthened by a strong civic engagement process. ( Resilient Michigan, MWEN)
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| Green Infrastructure Wizard tool connects communities to resources |
EPA recently released a new web-based tool, the Green Infrastructure Wizard (GIWiz), to help local officials and community members find tools and resources more easily. GIWiz offers quick, direct access to Green Infrastructure tools and resources that can support and promote water management and community planning decisions. Users can produce customized reports that include links to the resources they want to use. ( EPA - GIWiz) |
| New report highlights federal actions on climate adaptation |
Led by the U.S. Forest Service, the report provides a baseline for coordinating responses to climate change by federal agencies. Multiple agencies are involved in climate adaptation efforts, but each have a slightly different focus, such as ecosystem protection for the National Park System, salmon for the Fish and Wildlife Service, and coastal facilities for the Dept. of Defense. The report documents that at the local level, agency resource managers are moving forward with climate change assessments and adaptation strategies. The report's authors are optimistic that federal agencies can make progress in climate change adaptation in the years ahead, but emphasize that implementation needs to be accelerated. ( Link) |
| Companies still struggling to apply climate data to business risks |
Major multinational companies are increasingly considering climate risks in official corporate strategies and documents, but struggle to reconcile long-term threats with short-term investment decisions, according to Weathering the Next Storm, a new report from Bank of America and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). Of the companies surveyed, 80 said they incorporate physical climate change impacts in their risk management protocols, 39 had completed vulnerability assessments, and 38 were in the midst of one. In addition, more companies are using climate modeling and pursuing partnerships with cities and other businesses, as they identify risks to their supply chain, physical assets, and more. ( C2ES) |
| Fellowship Opportunity: CivicSpark |
Are you passionate about making a difference in your community and eager to gain experience addressing climate change? CivicSpark, a Governor's Initiative AmeriCorps program, places fellows with local governments to implement climate change research, planning, or implementation projects to support California's response to climate change. In addition to making a lasting impact, fellows also develop professional skills for the sustainability field and their networks throughout their service year. ( Apply today) |
| Job opening: Statewide Local Government Energy Efficiency Best Practices Coordinator |
The Local Government Commission (LGC) is recruiting to fill the Statewide Local Government Energy Efficiency Best Practices Coordinator position for the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative. This position will focus on assisting local governments to meet goals within the California Long-term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan. The coordinator is responsible for developing and disseminating local government energy efficiency best practices, tracking statewide progress, facilitating partnerships between local government staff, and more. Application deadline is November 6, or until the position is filled. ( More information) |
| USDA Innovation Challenge |
The USDA Innovation Challenge is seeking applications that help build a sustainable U.S. food system by putting USDA data into the hands of farmers, researchers, and consumers. Given its complexity, agriculture has great potential for the use of big data and analytics, but the data must be accessible and insightful for users. Deadline: November 20, 2015. ( More info) |
| 100 Resilient Cities Challenge |
Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the challenge seeks to find 100 cities worldwide that are ready to build resilience to the social, economic, and physical challenges of climate change. Cities will receive funding to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, assistance in developing a resilience strategy, access to innovative tools, and more. The application deadline is Nov. 24. ( Link) |
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Webinar: Watershed Improvement Program
Thursday, October 8, 1-2:30pm
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Please join the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and the Center for Regional Change Regional Advisory Council member Julie Griffith-Flatter for a webinar on the Watershed Improvement Program (WIP). The primary area to be discussed is forest health. The event will also address other Sierra Nevada regional watershed issues, including abandoned mine lands and community health. ( Register) |
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Yolo Climate Compact Meeting
Friday, October 9, 9-11am
2nd Floor Conference Room, UC Davis Conference Center
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This special meeting will highlight Yolo County jurisdictions' actions on energy efficiency and renewable energy. PG&E has selected the City of Woodland to pilot an innovative program, "Step Up, Power Down", to create a sustainable community organization and constituency for ongoing improvements in energy efficiency. In addition, Mayor Tom Stallard and Environmental Resource Analyst Roberta Childers will discuss some of the impressive energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that has made the City of Woodland a leader and model for sustainability. Please contact John Mott-Smith with questions.
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Northern California Clean Technology Forum
October 14-15, California Automobile Museum, Sacramento
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Hosted by the Sacramento Clean Cities Coalition, the forum showcases advanced alternative vehicle and fuel technologies. October 14 includes a tour of the Sacramento County CNG station and the launch of the Toyota Mirai, the first commercial fuel-cell passenger vehicle. October 15 includes panels and discussions on renewable fuels, new vehicle technologies, and more. Registration ends October 9. |
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Understanding Disadvantaged Communities to Support Urban Forestry & Other Cap-and-Trade Grants
Thursday, October 15, 1-2.30pm
Sacramento Metro. Air Quality Mgmt. District, 3/F, 777 12th St., Sacramento
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CivicSpark Fellows have created census-tract level community profiles to assist the Sacramento Tree Foundation with outreach strategies for their Cap and Trade-funded project to increase urban tree canopy in South Sacramento. Combining socio-demographic data, community information, and maps of indicators such as health, income, existing tree canopy, air quality, and more, the profiles can also be a useful resource for other organizations and stakeholders interested in community work to benefit these neighborhoods. After the presentation, there will be time for discussion and an opportunity to share ideas on how this information can support cap and trade grant applications and other projects benefiting disadvantaged communities within Sacramento County.
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Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change Conference
October 18-21, 2015
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This conference is focused on understanding human and organizational behavior and decision making to accelerate the transition to an energy-efficient and low-carbon future. The goal is to use behavioral research to increase energy savings and climate action. ( BECC) |
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Post-Conference Workshops - Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference
Wednesday, October 21 (various times)
Sacramento, CA
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VERGE City Summit: Partnerships and Financing for Resilient Infrastructure
Monday, October 26, 9am-5pm, San Jose, CA
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Part of VERGE's four-day event on the technologies and systems that accelerate sustainability solutions across sectors in a climate-constrained world, City Summit brings together public and private sector leaders to address how cities and companies can partner to finance and implement resilient city infrastructure. It's a powerful, one-day working session designed to accelerate scalable, replicable solutions to pressing urban challenges. Save 10% on registration for VERGE 2015 with discount code V15LGC. ( Register) |
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Region Rising: An inaugural collaborative conference
Friday, November 20, 9am, Sacramento, CA
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Region Rising is dedicated to dreaming big about what our region's future will be, and having challenging discussions on how each of us can bring it to life, now. The goal is to create one massive collision spot where more than 1,000 people come together from all areas - private, public, and community sectors - to mix and mingle and collaborate in an idea-rich, high-value series of conversations that turn ideas into action. It is a day dedicated to helping us all better understand how and why we arrived at this point, and what we ought to do to make it even better - for everyone. ( Register) |
About the Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative
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The Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative is a membership based collaborative network designed to promote greater climate change resilience planning coordination in the six-county Sacramento Region. The purpose of this collaborative network is to create a forum where leaders from government, academia, environmental and community groups, the business community, and labor can come together to exchange information, identify vulnerabilities and data gaps, leverage resources, and advance comprehensive solutions in an effort to create stronger, sustainable, and economically viable communities in the Sacramento Region. If you are interested in learning more about the Climate Readiness Collaborative, joining the Collaborative, or being added to the list serve, visit: www.climatereadiness.info/
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