NEW YORK: US states, with just a few exceptions, are not well prepared for the future threats posed by climate disruption, new analysis shows.

 

The States at Risk: America's Preparedness Report Card, authored by Climate Central and ICFI, has gathered and analyzed five major threats posed by climate change in the US: extreme heat, summer drought, wildfires, inland and coastal flooding.

 

Science has long warned of increasing extreme weather events directly linked to climate change - which affects in particular the most vulnerable populations, such as children, elderly and poor people.

 

But the States at Risk report indicates that only a handful of US states are effectively prepared for such threats, with The Climate Group States & Regions members California, New York and Connecticut leading the chart.

 

"The increase of extreme weather due to climate change poses a serious threat for the most vulnerable populations," says Libby Ferguson, States & Regions Director, The Climate Group. "State and regional governments have the moral and legal duty to protect their citizens, acting fast to mitigate the worst effects of climate disruption. and especially to prevent future threats for their population.

 

"The States at Risk report indicates that many members of our States & Regions Alliance are already taking bold steps to tackle climate change and protect their citizens, scoring on top of the leader board.

 

"This is also the result of the intense collaboration that is at the core of our Alliance, where states and regions share and compare their innovative policies: climate change is a global issue, and as such it needs a global, coordinated response."

HEAT WAVES

 

Extreme heat is "the most deadly of all climate impacts," the report states, having killed more than 1,200 Americans in the last 10 years. California is particularly exposed to this specific threat, but at the same time is the state that is the best prepared to tackle it, both today and in the future.

 

This result is even more impressive considering that the state has the biggest population exposed to heat waves, with about one million individuals over 65 and under five years old that are below the poverty line.

 

Texas is the most exposed to heat waves, but scores at the bottom of the leader board because it "has done almost nothing to prepare for its growing heat threat," says the report.

 

From a general point of view, the report finds that half of the lower 48 US states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) will experience at least a four-fold increase in the heat waves threat, and all 48 but Oregon will experience a three-fold increase. By 2050, 11 states are expected to have 50 or more heat waves per year, a number that in Florida reaches 80 days.

 

To date, Alaska is taking exceptional measure to mitigate heat waves - which are dangerously deteriorating the permafrost - but as many as 26 states have "taken limited or no action to even understand their future extreme heat risks", the report finds.

 

DROUGHT AND WILDFIRES

 

Last year's temperature record has worsened the droughts that are affecting many US states, in particular California. Such a threat is damaging farmers, citizens and even hydropower plants - with Texas, Montana and Washington to be the most affected by droughts by 2050.

 

Wildfires have hit the headlines in the last few years, having doubled since the 1970s. Once again, Texas is the state most at risk, with 18 million people potentially affected by the issue. California follows with 11 million people, but it has taken the strongest actions to prevent future issues.

 

Generally, wildfires are among the threat states are currently most prepared to tackle, but at the same time it is the issue where they are doing the least for the future.

 

INLAND AND COASTAL FLOODING

 

Inland flooding is a "considerable threat" for at least 32 states, the report indicates. It is particularly felt in California (potentially affecting 1.3 million people), Arkansas, and Florida (1.5 million people). More than half of US states have taken no action to prevent future flooding, with Arkansas particularly exposed due to its level of risk.

 

Among the states that are taking the most effective measures, the States & Regions Alliance member Connecticut is efficiently assessing its vulnerability and implementing findings into its policies.

 

"Mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects are top priorities for the state of Connecticut," says Keri Enright-Kato, Director, Office of Climate Change, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. "Through the work of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and key partners - the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation and the Governor's Council on Climate Change - the state's efforts concentrate on systematically reducing emissions from every sector of the economy while simultaneously preparing our communities and infrastructure for the impacts of rising seas and severe storms."

 

One of the most visible effects of climate change is sea level rise, which threatens many coastal cities and states. In the US, the combination of such sea rise coupled with even small hurricanes causes increasingly devastating flooding.

 

Louisiana and Florida are the states most affected by such a threat: in the former, one out of five citizens are potentially affected by it, while in Florida coastal floods can have an impact of 3.5 million people - and 4.6 million by 2050.

 

Coastal flooding is the threat that states are currently facing in the most effective way, and generally they are also quite well prepared for the future.

 

The report is a wake-up call for the vast majority of US states that are not taking decisive actions to avoid the current and future threats of climate change.

 

As The Climate Group's States & Regions Alliance shows, US states with policies that include mitigation measures today and risk assessment for the future are the ones that are best protecting their citizens - future-proofing both their safety and wellbeing.

  

April 8, 2016 - Yale Alums Help Make Connecticut a Model for Innovative Green Policymaking, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Many of the Connecticut's recent achievements in environmental policy were led by faculty, alumni and students from F&ES. During a recent panel, some of these leaders discussed why the state has become a "laboratory" for sustainable development and green policy.

 

Political gridlock in Washington, D.C. has frustrated many critical federal environmental policy initiatives in recent years. But in Connecticut, leaders boast that a spirit of innovation and bipartisan cooperation has made the state a model for how to get things done on critical energy- and sustainability-related issues.

Many of the recent achievements - from the creation of the acclaimed Connecticut Green Bank and a new institute for climate resilience to the merging of the state's environmental and energy agencies - have been led by faculty, alumni, even students, from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES).

During a panel discussion at F&ES this week, several of those leaders discussed the factors that have made Connecticut a successful "laboratory" for sustainable development and environmental policy - and opportunities to make government work better for local communities and the environment.

"A lot of the innovation, a lot of the thinking, is happening now at the state level," said Connecticut State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-Branford) '91 M.E.Sc. "And Connecticut can really lead the way in a lot of the innovation that we're seeing."

Other panelists included State Rep. James Albis '16 M.E.M. (D-East Haven), co-chair of the state's Environment Committee; Bryan Garcia '00 M.E.M., President and CEO of the Connecticut Green Bank; Robert Klee '99 M.E.Sc., '04 J.D., '05 Ph.D., Commissioner of the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP); and Catherine Smith '83 M.P.P.M., Commissioner of the state's Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

The discussion was moderated by F&ES Prof. Dan Esty '86 J.D., the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy and former DEEP commissioner. Joe MacDougald '05 M.E.M., a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, offered introductory remarks.

One key ingredient in many of the state's recent environmental successes, panelists said, was inclusion of multiple parties and, particularly in the current fiscal climate, the ability to limit the amount of public spending.

Locating outside funds is a foundational principle of the Connecticut Green Bank, which uses private capital and other funds to provide low-interest loans to projects exploring cleaner and cheaper energy technologies. And after just five years, Garcia said, the project has exceeded expectations.

"We have not only accelerated and attracted more private investment in Connecticut's clean energy economy, [but] we're looking at this fiscal year [achieving] a 10-to-1, if not 15-to-1, leverage ratio; for every dollar that comes in we get $10 to $15 of someone else's money."

The Green Bank, he said, recently completed a deal in which investor Hannon Armstrong will provide $100 million that Connecticut can use to support clean energy projects statewide. "That's an example of how the green bank movement, how smart government, can use limited public dollars to scale up clean energy deployment," Garcia said.

 

And, he predicted, it's a model that can ultimately be used to address other environmental challenges. "As a staff we had a conversation about what's the future of this kind of movement," he said. "We're really thinking it's all about sustainability: How do we treat waste? How do we deal with water? How do we deal with land use? This model can be applied to that."

Albis, a second-term state representative who will earn a master's degree from F&ES this spring, first sought a lead role on environmental issues after Hurricane Irene devastated his district in 2011.

In the aftermath of the storm, he led a shoreline preservation task force that initiated the momentum for a new climate resilience framework. The new Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, which Albis helped create through legislation, now assists municipalities plan for the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise. "It doesn't cost the state any extra money but utilizes our money in a more efficient manner and could save money down the road," he said.

The urgency to manage costs has led DEEP to consistently evaluate how it can operate more efficiently and transform its processes, said Klee, who two years ago succeeded Esty as the agency commissioner. Within the department, he said, staff members are given the space to reimagine how things can be done more efficiently, and to share their lessons with other state departments, so that they can focus on their primary job.

 

Sustainability in New Haven

 

Before the panel discussion, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp described some of the initiatives adopted by the city to be a better environmental steward, from producing its own renewable energy to the addition of bioswales to improve water management.

 

And she described the importance of key partnerships to achieve these initiatives, including with the F&ES-led Hixon Center for Urban Ecology and the Urban Resources Initiative, which creates green jobs for city residents while also maintaining public parks, planting trees and installing green infrastructure.

 

"We already share a limited space," she added. "We might as well learn to share resources, transportation options, and most importantly share responsibility for increased sustainability. We're certainly working toward that end in my Administration, and I know you're working toward that end here at Yale."

 

"We have passionate, wonderful people who come to our agency to be active protectors of the environment and do innovative energy policy," he said, "not to push paper."

When the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development examined business sectors where the state could be a national leader, Smith said, one area that stood out is green technology. "This is a place we think we can be strong and we can grow faster than the average state, or even faster than the average country," she said.

And over the past few years the agency, along with Connecticut Innovations, the state's venture capital arm, have offered support to help the sector get there. In addition to investing in 13 green tech companies since 2011, the state offers numerous programs that help new and established companies thrive, including mentoring help and assistance finding talent or partners, she said.

Kennedy, a survivor of bone cancer, says the health impacts of contamination inform the way he thinks about environmental issues. And as co-chair of the state Environment Committee he has worked, with Albis, on a series of initiatives to address such threats, including a new law banning tiny plastic "microbeads" in cosmetics and efforts to reduce toxic substances at schools and playgrounds, and to protect the state's honeybees and other pollinators.

Another area where policymakers can better protect public health, and the environment, Kennedy said, is by requiring producers and shippers to be responsible for some of the products that have become commonplace - and costly to dispose of - from mattresses to shipping materials.

"Making producers responsible for the lifecycle of those products is something that I think is a creative way to address this problem and not use additional resources," he said.

Klee, whose research at F&ES was focused on the principles of industrial ecology, said a more thoughtful management of these materials could also create new economic opportunities.