Dear Mayor Combs and Council Members,
As you discuss the final priorities of the City for 2021, I urge you to reinstate climate action as a top city priority for this year. This is essential to addressing the climate crisis that affects us all, and continuing the city’s outstanding leadership on climate policy.
There is no doubt that we are already living with the dangerous consequences of climate change, including a five-fold increase of wildfires.[i] In 2020, wildfires burned over 4 million acres in California, with five of the largest wildfires on record, costing over $18 billion.[ii] A recent study found that wildfire smoke now accounts for half of all fine particulate pollution in the Western U.S. and that lung-damaging pollutants attributable to wildfires nearly doubled over the last decade.[iii] Menlo Park also faces severe flooding, more intense heat waves and extreme weather disruptions. We cannot put off action any longer to cut methane and carbon pollution, and transition off of fossil fuels. Please restore climate action to the City’s top priority list for this year.
We support the other proposed priorities as well, including the 2022 Housing Element, and rebuilding library and community services from service cuts driven by Covid, as highlighted in previous Menlo Together comments to City Council. In addition, I urge City Council to restore the capability to advance regional transportation projects, such as Caltrain grade separations and the Dumbarton Corridor to be prepared to take advantage of the potential new federal funding opportunities.
Thank you for your consideration.
Warm regards,
Diane Bailey
Diane Bailey, Climate Change Professional (CC-P) | Executive Director
MENLO SPARK
diane@menlospark.org | 650-281-7073
Visit us: www.MenloSpark.org & www.FossilFreeBuildings.org
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Climate Neutral for a Healthy, Prosperous Menlo Park
EV, PV & Fossil Free: Guides for Electric Cars, solar & Fossil Free Homes at: http://menlospark.org/what-we-do/
For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it. – Amanda Gorman
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[i] The five fold increase in California wildfires documented in studies is measured by the amount of acreage burned. https://www.climatesignals.org/node/10048
[ii] https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/11416/top20_acres.pdf
“An Independent Review of Scientific and Technical Information, California Council on Science and Technology” published in Oct. 2020 found that: “…federal and State firefighting expenditures exceed $3 billion per year; utility wildfire prevention and mitigation costs are approximately $5 billion per year; whereas the insured property loss- es in three out of the past four years have exceeded $10 billion per year. Evidence suggests health impacts due to wildfire smoke represent a substantial portion of the total costs to the State, and that there are impacts from the interaction of wildfire smoke and COVID-19. Yet these additional billions of dollars in costs due to wildfire smoke impacts are not consistently tracked or factored into policy planning.” https://ccst.us/wp-content/uploads/The-Costs-of-Wildfire-in-California-One-Pager.pdf
[iii] https://www.pnas.org/content/118/2/e2011048118?ct
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-13/wildfire-smoke-fine-particle-pollution-western-us-study
