San Mateo County Supes Declare Climate Emergency

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution Tuesday declaring a climate emergency to highlight an urgent need for action to address the climate crisis.

San Mateo County joins over 1,000 national, international and local jurisdictions with similar declarations.

According to the Intergovernmental Plan on Climate Change, increasing greenhouse gases will cause global temperatures to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius by as early as 2030.

For San Mateo County, rising global temperatures would have a trifold effect — causing sea levels to rise up to 6 feet or more by 2100, bringing on more extreme weather events and heightening the risk of large wildfires.

"Situated between an eroding coastline and a rising bayshore, the county of San Mateo must prepare for, and slow, the effects of climate change that we are already experiencing and know are coming," said board President Carole Groom, a coauthor of the resolution.

The consequences of climate change pose risks to life, safety and critical infrastructure in San Mateo County and throughout the world, local government leaders contend. The county of San Mateo Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment — published in 2018 — indicates that more than 160,000 children under the age of 18 as well as 100,000+ older adults are vulnerable to risks posed by sea level rise.

"The climate crisis has arrived, and we must accelerate our efforts to both reduce our carbon emissions and prepare for the impacts of a rapidly warming planet," said Supervisor Dave Pine, also a coauthor of the resolution. "It is incumbent upon San Mateo County to continue to show leadership in addressing this existential challenge.

San Mateo County has already started to address climate change by coordinating with cities on climate action planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and launching a program called Climate Ready SMC to better prepare the county for a changing climate.

In 2016, the County significantly reduced emissions by launching Peninsula Clean Energy which provides clean, renewable energy at lower rates throughout the County. “Peninsula Clean Energy has been a win-win for the County, securing the environmental benefits of cleaner energy for the community while at the same time saving customers $18 million each year,” said Jan Pepper, Chief Executive Officer of Peninsula Clean Energy.

Going forward, the resolution calls for the county to create climate action plans that will achieve carbon neutrality in advance of California’s 2045 goal.