BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On Wednesday, the state's natural resources agency provided information on California's Climate Adaptation Strategy Progress Report. The report was created to outline ways to protect Californians from climate-driven threats.
Officials from the California Natural Resources Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Office of the Governor's Senior Climate Advisor came together to discuss how the state has made progress implementing coordinated efforts to build climate resilience and protecting people from the impacts of the climate crisis.
The California Climate Adaptation Strategy highlights how 2022 was a year of unprecedented extremes in California, dominated by extreme heat, drought, and flooding. It consists of nearly 150 actions across 6 priorities being implemented through projects all across the state.
One of those actions, according to Wade Crowfoot, Secretary for the California Natural Resources Agency, will be the launch of a new program to reduce risks of extreme heat to California's youth by investing $150 million to "strategically cool schoolyards" by planting trees and other native plants.
"I'm really excited that some of that money is actually rolling out this month. We've got school systems across the state really eager to make their schoolyards cooler, safer, and greener," said Crowfoot. "This is another way that everyone is manifesting resilience."
Another action addressed in the strategy is the impact of heat waves. According to the report, the September heat wave generated significant impacts across the state.
Following that heat wave, California took a variety of actions to better prepare the energy grid for the impacts of climate change, such as adding temporary generators and efficiency improvements at existing power plants, as well as introducing more programs to encourage a shift or reduction in energy demand.
Another project in the state's climate strategy is how to address wildfire risk and response, an especially important focus as the state approaches fire season.
"In the past year, our agencies, including Cal Fire, have completed more than 250,000 defensible space inspections to help people that live in high hazard areas for wildfire understand how they can protect their homes. Our Cal Fire met its 100,000 acre goal for fuel reduction projects for the third straight year, and we saw real results of these projects," said Crowfoot.
Crowfoot adds that in some cases during last fire season, they experienced wildfires burning into managed areas of their projects, and this allowed firefighters to extinguish and stop blazes in those areas.
The strategy also addresses other public health and safety efforts related to climate and weather by creating a program called "Prepare California." This program is designed to leverage federal and state funds to support the most socially vulnerable communities during future natural hazard events.
"$4.5 million dollars was provided through this jump-start portion of the program to enable investments in infrastructure improvements in vulnerable communities, like strengthening levees," said Crowfoot.
The next strategy update is due July 2024, and a draft is expected to be released for public comment in January.
