Response to Grand Jury Report Form Town of San Anselmo Report Title: 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. Marin County jurisdictions have met their goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions goals largely due to actions at the State level, and not due to actions on the part of local governments. 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- 1 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 based GHG emissions. Marin governments need to step up local efforts to reduce and mitigate the causes of the impacts that trigger "adaptive" measures.

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 plans comprehensively identify issues, opportunities and costs. Planning must ensure that adaptation, as a rule, does not exacerbate problems.

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 but should also take into consideration droughts, wildfire, air pollution, landslides, droughts and flooding.

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.

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.

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 in part. Marin lacks any county-wide organization or governance structure to facilitate adaptation efforts. But there are local examples of regional efforts that include funding sources, such as the Ross Valley and Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority and the Ross Valley Flood Protection & Watershed Program that could be examined and considered for possibly consolidating under one larger climate mitigation and adaptation effort county-wide.