Response to Grand Jury Report Form Report Title: Grand Jury Report “Climate Change: How Will Marin Adapt?

Climate change mitigation efforts by Marin governments have been notably effective in meeting their goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Response: Agree in part. Marin County has one of the highest carbon footprints in the Bay Area.1 Marin County jurisdictions have met their goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions largely due to actions at the State level, and not due to actions on the part of local governments or any County initiatives. Although Sausalito, the County, and other jurisdictions and agencies have set impressive goals for reducing Greenhouse gas emissions, achieving those goals in the timeline necessary is a daunting task that must remain central to climate action countywide. ‘Adaptation’ efforts must start with strong ‘Mitigation’ – implementing effective steps to reduce the causes of the impacts of Climate Change that then require the ‘adaptive’ measures. State vehicle fuel efficiency, renewable portfolio standards, Title 24 energy efficiency standards, and waste reduction standards have led to local GHG reductions. However, the Marin climate action plans do not yet address consumption-based GHG emissions. Marin governments need to step up local efforts to reduce and mitigate the causes of the impacts that trigger “adaptive” measures – and with our Transportation emissions as the highest category and impact by far.

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. Response: Agree in part. Adaptation planning is essential, but the County should have a comprehensive approach to address climate change that integrates mitigation, adaptation, and resilience planning. An integrated response to climate change will ensure that the plans comprehensively identify issues, opportunities and costs. Planning must ensure that adaptation, as a rule, does not limit the focus and acceleration needed for mitigation and thus end up exacerbating and extending the adaptation problems and costs.

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. Response: Agree in part. As noted in the report, sea level rise planning should include mitigation, adaptation and also resilience. The County should not over-emphasize sea level rise planning and must also take into consideration droughts, wildfire, air pollution, landslides, and flooding. Jones, C. M, & Kammen, D. M. (2015). A Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Inventory of San Francisco Bay Area Neighborhoods, Cities and Counties: Prioritizing Climate Action for Different Locations. UC Berkeley. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2sn7m83z 2 DocuSign Envelope ID: E5CAF1BF-81C2-43ED-839E-BE546DAD6C0B

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. Response: Agree. As noted above, the efforts should be comprehensive across mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.

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. Response: Agree. Adaptation is very expensive and, without largescale state and federal funding to supplement local efforts, smaller jurisdictions may simply not be in a position to design and implement adaptation projects/programs in the timeframe necessary for addressing the imposing climate challenge. Unfortunately, this is also exacerbated by the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cross-jurisdictional collaboration and coordination will be required for successful adaptation efforts, but Marin lacks any overarching organizational or governance structure to facilitate this. Response: Agree. Marin lacks any county-wide organization or governance structure to facilitate adaptation efforts. In addition, Marin needs an overarching organization and governance structure to facilitate, scale, and accelerate mitigation and resilience efforts as well.