SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Wildfire smoke. Drought. Brutal heat. Floods. As Californians increasingly feel the health effects of climate change, state leaders are adopting sweeping policies they hope will fend off the worst impacts — and be replicated by other countries.
Several of them attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP28, late last year, where more than 120 countries signed a declaration acknowledging the growing health impacts of climate change and their responsibility to keep people safe.
“Leaders from around the world are coming to these climate negotiations understanding that climate change is both killing and hurting their people,” said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, who represented California in Dubai.
In August and September 2020 alone, when dozens of wildfires burned around California, as many as 3,000 older residents may have died from wildfire smoke-related causes, according to estimates from Stanford University researchers.
California has taken steps on its own to address climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions, such as banning the sale of new gas-powered cars and light trucks by 2035 and requiring utilities to provide a growing share of electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar. The policies are intended to reduce the state’s air pollution, which consistently ranks among the worst in the nation — especially in the San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles basin — and contributes to the premature deaths of thousands of Californians annually.
Regulators estimate California’s climate policies could reduce the cost of hospitalizations, asthma cases, and lost work and school days by $199 billion in 2045 alone.
“If we don’t take action, it has an impact on public health. It also has a massive economic impact,” said Liane Randolph, who chairs the California Air Resources Board and also attended the conference.
Crowfoot, Randolph, and another attend …
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Wildfire smoke. Drought. Brutal heat. Floods. As Californians increasingly feel the health effects of climate change, state leaders are adopting sweeping policies they hope will fend off the worst impacts — and be replicated by other countries.
Several of them attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP28, late last year, where more than 120 countries signed a declaration acknowledging the growing health impacts of climate change and their responsibility to keep people safe.
“Leaders from around the world are coming to these climate negotiations understanding that climate change is both killing and hurting their people,” said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, who represented California in Dubai.
In August and September 2020 alone, when dozens of wildfires burned around California, as many as 3,000 older residents may have died from wildfire smoke-related causes, according to estimates from Stanford University researchers.
California has taken steps on its own to address climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions, such as banning the sale of new gas-powered cars and light trucks by 2035 and requiring utilities to provide a growing share of electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar. The policies are intended to reduce the state’s air pollution, which consistently ranks among the worst in the nation — especially in the San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles basin — and contributes to the premature deaths of thousands of Californians annually.
Regulators estimate California’s climate policies could reduce the cost of hospitalizations, asthma cases, and lost work and school days by $199 billion in 2045 alone.
“If we don’t take action, it has an impact on public health. It also has a massive economic impact,” said Liane Randolph, who chairs the California Air Resources Board and also attended the conference.
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