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On Wednesday, the California Legislature is expected to vote on whether to place a bond measure on the November 2024 ballot to raise money to address climate change impacts. Please contact your state legislators and tell them that our state can’t wait any longer for desperately needed climate resilience investment funding!
Wildfire season has already started; the CalFire website shows more than a dozen currently active fires. Nobody should need to be reminded of the devastation wrought by the 2020 CZU Fire that torched Big Basin State Park’s iconic old-growth redwoods and destroyed over 900 homes, or the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in California’s history, that devastated the town of Paradise. We can reduce the risk of these fatal wildfires by managing our forests better, but that’s an expensive process.
Flooding and sea level rise present another critically important funding need. In the Bay Area, the cost of protecting our communities against sea level rise has been estimated at $110 billion. We have a variety of strategies to address sea level rise, from traditional levees to restoring tidal marshes, but they will all need funding. And it’s worth reminding ourselves that although $110 billion is a lot, the cost of not doing anything is more than twice as much.
Extreme heat kills more people each year than any other weather-related hazard. The heat wave expected to hit the Bay Area this week shows that we can expect more extreme heat events as the climate warms. Drought years will continue to challenge the provision of safe and clean drinking water to everyone.
What will a climate bond do?
Money raised through a climate bond will fund programs that prepare us for climate disasters and take actions to avert and mitigate the ongoing impacts of climate change. It can go towards improving water recycling, making our forests more resilient against wildfire, restoring wetlands to protect against sea level rise, and planting more trees in neighborhoods that don’t have enough. And while protecting our communities against climate change impacts, we’ll also be helping wildlife, creating new parks for families to enjoy, and ultimately saving lives as well as billions of dollars.
It’s all coming down to the Legislature’s vote this week. You can find out who your state representatives are on the California legislature’s website – please let your state Senator and Assemblymember know that you support the climate bond!
