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⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
Climate change mitigation efforts by Marin governments have been notably effective in meeting their goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The board of supervisors, in collaboration with the municipalities and other agencies affected by climate change, should convene a multi-jurisdictional task force (referred to in this report as the Marin Climate Adaptation Task Force) charged with developing a single, comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional adaptation strategy for all of Marin.
F2
Adaptation planning is essential to protect local public utility and transportation infrastructure as well as private property interests, and to enable Marin’s citizens to maintain their current standards of living.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The board of supervisors should form a new office within county government (referred to in this report as the Office of Sustainability and Resilience) devoted to climate change mitigation and adaptation and reporting to the county administrator’s office or the board of supervisors.
F3
With the BayWAVE and C-SMART initial vulnerability assessments completed, the county is now well-positioned to focus on adaptation planning and policies related to sea level rise.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The board of supervisors should direct the formation and staffing, preferably in the new Office of Sustainability and Resilience, of a centralized grant-seeking function related to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts for county government.
F4
The existing adaptation efforts across the county pay insufficient attention to the other potential effects of climate change, including impacts on public health, ecosystems, and social equity.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Each member of the Marin Climate & Energy Partnership, should declare its support for broadening the partnership’s mission and increasing its funding as necessary to enable it to support overall climate change planning efforts, including both mitigation and adaptation in cities, towns, and other member agencies throughout the county.
F5
There are insufficient staff and financial resources devoted to climate change adaptation efforts across county government as well as in the cities, towns, and other agencies, and many of the existing efforts are highly dependent on grant funding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The board of supervisors should commission a feasibility study concerning the reorganization of Marin’s Flood Control and Water Conservation District. This multi- jurisdictional study should analyze broadening the district’s mission to include coastal and bayside sea level rise adaptation across the county as well as revising its governing membership to include representatives of the county and all Marin cities and towns. If the board of supervisors supports the formation of the Marin Climate Adaptation Task Force as recommended in this report, the responsibility for this study could be referred to the task force for consideration at the appropriate time.
F6
Within the county government, there is no single coordinating body focused on climate change, which could impede the ability to unify county efforts around a common strategy and plan.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Each city and town, if it does not have a full-time sustainability coordinator (or similar position), should appoint a committee or commission charged with monitoring and reporting on its climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
F7
Cross-jurisdictional collaboration and coordination will be required for successful adaptation efforts, but Marin lacks any overarching organizational or governance structure to facilitate this.
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 1
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CL1Over the lifetime of a child born in 2020, Marin County will be profoundly affected by climate change. Today’s heavily populated shoreline areas will either be inundated by rising sea levels or be shielded by large sea walls. Highways will be rerouted or reengineered. The vegetation on Mt. Tamalpais will be altered. Health systems will be stressed. Socioeconomic inequities will worsen. We can lessen the severity of those impacts through concerted efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to sequester carbon. But we cannot reverse the trend. Property owners and government officials will be facing hard choices. What losses are we willing to accept? How much are we willing to pay? What options do we really have? Nobody has all the answers, but we as a community need to aggressively, deliberatively, and cooperatively organize and plan to meet the climate threat. As first steps, this report calls for several related but independent changes in Marin’s approach to climate change. Our elected officials should establish a Marin Climate Adaptation Task Force to develop a comprehensive adaptation strategy for all of Marin. The county government should consolidate its climate efforts under a new Office of Sustainability and Resilience. The existing Marin Climate & Energy Partnership should expand its mission to support countywide adaptation planning. The county government should explore the feasibility of reorganizing Marin’s Flood Control and Water Conservation District board into a countywide body with representatives from the county and all municipalities and the added responsibility of executing public works projects required to defend against sea level rise. Each of these recommended measures would be a step in the right direction. Taken together, they would take Marin much closer to more effective management of the adaptation challenges that lie ahead. It’s the least we can do for our children.