By Huffington Post’s
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Even if the world is successful in cutting
carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for
rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change,
a new state report recommends.
It encourages local communities to rethink future development in
low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone
areas and conserve already strapped water supplies.
“We
still have to adapt, no matter what we do, because of the nature of the
greenhouse gases,” said Tony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate
change and energy at the California Natural Resources Agency, who
helped prepare the report. “Those gases are still going to be in the
atmosphere for the next 100 years.”
The draft report to be released Monday by the California Natural
Resources Agency provides the state’s first comprehensive plan to work
with local governments, universities and residents to deal with a
changing climate. A final plan is expected to be released in the fall
after the public weighs in……
To minimize the potential damage from climate change, the report
recommends that cities and counties offer incentives to encourage
property owners in high-risk areas to relocate and limit future
development in places that might be affected by flooding, coastal
erosion and sea level rise. State agencies also should not plan,
permit, develop or build any structure that might require protection in
the future.
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