Making Climate Assessments Work Learning from California and Other Subnational Climate Assessments: Proceedings of a Workshop (2019) / Chapter Skim
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5 Moving from Assessment to Action
5 Moving from Assessment to Action
Pages 26-33
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From page 26... ...
described her experience conducting a scientific assessment to inform the state's updated sea level guidance and commented on characteristics of the assessment process that can lead to better usage by policy and other decision makers. Kristin Ralff-Douglas (California Public Utilities Commission)
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From page 27... ...
's Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience.2 Beyond vulnerability assessments, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric have each used Cal-Adapt in the planning and design of specific assets to improve their system's climate resilience, and ultimately Thomas imagined Cal-Adapt being used in general rate cases approving utility investments. She noted that Cal-Adapt is being used outside the energy sector as well and pointed to several policy and planning documents that reference Cal-Adapt, including SB 3793 (which requires integration of climate risk in local hazard mitigation plans)
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From page 28... ...
recently initiated rulemaking on climate change adaptation.5 Research products from the Fourth Assessment and other state initiatives have been extremely helpful for the CPUC, and she emphasized the value of decision support tools such as Cal-Adapt and planning guidance documents such as from the Ocean Protection Council and the Climate Safe Infrastructure Planning Group established through Assembly Bill 2800.6 Nonetheless, there is much more to be learned through further research and sustained assessment activities, such as those related to direct impacts on energy supply, demand, infrastructure, and operational procedures as well as how the sector and the CPUC should respond. Assessment will continue to be needed alongside investment and regulatory actions, explained Ralff-Douglas, and new tools will have to be developed beyond the scope of existing efforts, such as new financial, legal, and contractual tools for supporting utility investments.
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FIGURE 5.1 Exceedance probability tables show the likelihood of sea level rise exceeding a given value at a certain year in the future to more effectively support decision makers. Both tables are for San Francisco, Golden Gate, under a low emission scenario (representative concentration pathway 2.6, left)
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From page 30... ...
Several California utilities have completed initial vulnerability assessments and are developing resilience plans through the DOE's Partnership for Energy Sector Resilience, and Ralff-Douglas described the need to evolve the next round of assessments to consider extreme events and to test the boundaries of system performance beyond just considering average changes. Some regulatory processes may also need to be reexamined, she concluded, because long-standing processes, like the general rate cases structure, are not well suited for long-term climate resilience planning (i.e., 3-year scope, based largely on financial prudence)
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From page 31... ...
by infrastructure practitioners -- for example, vulnerability assessments and risk forecasts -- are several steps removed from most climate science research, so significant translational work is required. Moreover, engineers need much more than climate science to adequately plan and ultimately decide on their infrastructure projects (land use and population forecasts, economics of alternative designs, life cycle costs of a particular project, the cost of including versus ignoring climate change considerations, etc.)
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PAUL A DECOTIS, WEST MONROE PARTNERS Paul DeCotis, chair of the workshop planning committee, reflected on presentations from the first day and commented that the deep history in climate science, informed state policy, and local action evident in California took decades to develop, and he thanked California for "being the de facto leader in climate change research, assessments, and academic studies in the country if not the world." He described several highlights and themes from the preceding panels, including the following: • The devastating fires of 2017 and 2018, their impact on public health and public perception of climate change, and their impact on watershed and ecosystem health; • The need for probabilistic risk management in decision making (e.g., by utilities and their regulators)
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From page 33... ...
2018a. California Coastal Commission Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance: Interpretive Guidelines for Addressing Sea Level Rise in Local Coastal Programs and Coastal Development Permits.
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