By Natalie Gaber, Media Intern
The Public Policy Institute of California released its annual Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment this week, and, according to the results, Californians are becoming complacent about climate change.
The survey, which focused on climate change, air pollution, and energy policy, is timely because implementation of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is getting underway at the same time as national climate legislation is taking cues from California’s landmark law.
Although most California residents still support policies and regulations designed to reduce the state’s contribution to global warming, the majority are also in favor of opening up California’s coast to increased oil drilling. Furthermore, less Californians’ see addressing climate change as an urgent priority, and the partisan gap between supporters and resisters has widened.
The most likely explanation for this drop in support for climate change legislation is the dismal economic situation in California and the nation as a whole.
Amazingly, 1/3 of California Republicans reportedly believe that global warming will never happen, when just a year ago only ¼ felt this way. The record number of wildfires in California over the past 30 years, plus the state’s chronic water woes and loss of species, such as salmon, apparently do not qualify as side effects of global warming to many Californians.
Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that only 23% of Californians view air pollution as a big problem, compared with 34% a year ago, even though nearly twice as many (42%) Californians report asthma or respiratory problems for themselves or an immediate family member. Additionally, the South Coast Air Quality Management District reports that 5,000 people in Southern California alone die from air pollution every year, which is not surprising considering that ¾ of Californians live with dangerous levels of ozone in the air and ½ live in places where the amount of fine, asthma-inducing particulates exceed the safe level. Does this 75% of Californians who don’t see air pollution as a major issue think these health problems are caused by the failing stock market?
I completely understand that the economic slump is causing stress levels and anxiety to skyrocket as Californians struggle to pay bills and feed their families. In such dire circumstances, it’s easy to see caring about the environment as a luxury reserved for the rich.
But the consequences of doing nothing today are grave. If you think the economy is in bad shape now, just wait until 30 or 40 years from now when the devastating effects of climate change really start effecting California. We’re talking over $100 billion to replace all the property that will be destroyed by rising sea levels, plus an extra $14 billion to build seawalls and levees to hold off the water as long as possible, in addition to $2 billion per year by 2050 to pay for all the homes burnt down by wildfires (all data from the California Climate Action Team March 2009 Biennial Report).
But all this can be mitigated, if not avoided altogether, as long as we act NOW. No one is denying that the current economic situation in California and the United States is a crisis, but it is also not an excuse to bury our heads in the sand and backtrack on the incredible progress we have made in regards to addressing climate change. California has always been a leader in this fight, and it should continue to be one, regardless of the current economic situation. As California goes…
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