With some degree of fanfare, Southern California’s metropolitan planning organization last week made formal recognition of the climate change crisis, and committed to a series of steps intended to mitigate or otherwise reduce greenhouse gas emissions regionally.
Paradoxically though, even as the Southern California Association of Governments’ regional council moved to adopt a resolution to promote climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience across a six-county region, it made no mention of, and did nothing to extract itself from involvement in, the State of California’s mandate for the creation of more than a million new dwelling units throughout the region, which will increase considerably Southern California’s 19 million population and exacerbate the existing crisis with regard to the generation of greenhouse gasses.
“We’ve seen, just in the past year, very real manifestations of climate change, from raging wildfires to extreme weather. This has exacted a heavy price to our health, to our economy, to the air we breathe, to a quality of life that has never faced a more serious threat,” said Southern California Association of Governments President Rex Richardson, who is Long Beach’s mayor pro tem. “Today’s action signals to our region that the time to act is now.”
The vote, taken on January 7, signals the initiation of a regional climate planning network and partnerships that will provide technical assistance and additional support to local jurisdictions for their climate action initiatives.
To counter threats to the region’s environment, which ultimately will have a devastating impact on Southern California’s economic security, public health and quality of life, the Regional Council of the Southern California Association of Governments envisions the development of a framework “to help the region plan and prepare for a changing climate as well as potential near- and long-term disruptions to Southern California, such as earthquakes, extreme weather, drought wildfires, pandemics and economic shocks.”
In 2020, California experienced a record number of dry heat days and more than 9,000 fires that burned millions of acres. It was the largest wildfire season in the state’s modern history, linked to more than 1,200 preventable deaths due to respiratory health impacts and with damages in excess of $10 billion, according to the Southern California Association of Governments, which is also referred to by its acronym SCAG.
Part of the solution is to involve a so-called accelerated electrification strategy intended to provide a “holistic and coordinated approach” to decarbonizing or electrifying passenger transit and freight vehicles to go beyond the benefits achieved through state mandates alone, the Southern California Association of Governments maintains. The plan also calls for incorporating the economic and job-creation benefits of climate action as part of an inclusive recovery strategy for Southern California.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti lauded the leadership of the Southern California Association of Governments and its commitment to address climate change, and urged the region’s political leaders to participate in a collaborative effort known as Cities Race to Zero, a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “I hope today we’ll collectively build on the great work the Southern California Association of Governments and its cities have done to commit to taking action,” Garcetti said.
Southern California Association of Governments’ executive director, Kome Ajise, said, “Climate-change mitigation and adaptation planning have become more pressing with each passing year as the Southern California Association of Governments region experiences extreme climate-related health, safety and economic impacts from intensified wildfires, flooding and mudslides from torrential rainstorms and sea level rise, and unusually high temperatures. The sustainable and adaptive solutions we’re committing to will help safeguard our region and the more than 19 million people we represent, now and into the future.”
No mention, however, was made of the Southern California Association of Governments crucial participation in facilitating the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which is mandated by State Housing Law as part of the periodic process of updating local housing elements of each jurisdiction’s general plan.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development reviews every local government’s housing element to determine whether it complies with state law and then submits written findings back to each local government. Those findings provide the basis for a mandate to local governments to facilitate the development of a fixed number of dwelling units within their respective jurisdictions over an eight-year planning cycle.
On August 22, 2019, within the context of the planning toward the sixth cycle of the regional housing needs assessment, the California Department of Housing and Community Development submitted to the Southern California Association of Governments its mandate that San Bernardino County absorb the construction of slightly more than 12 percent of the 1,341,827 units the state is calling upon the six counties the Southern California Association of Governments oversees – those of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.
Under California law, the determination of regional housing needs is conducted by a council of governments, in the case applicable to San Bernardino County, by the Southern California Association of Governments, every eight years.
Between 2021 and 2029, according to the Southern California Association of Government Board, San Bernardino County is to accommodate 162,145 more dwelling units, with Adelanto accounting for 7,198 units; Apple Valley a total of 7,523 units; Barstow 2,735; Big Bear Lake 426; Chino 8,361; Chino Hills 4,039 units overall; Colton 5,415; Fontana 22,101; Grand Terrace 808; Hesperia 5,793; Highland, 4,087; Loma Linda 2,280; Montclair 1,688; Needles 160; Ontario 24,478; Rancho Cucamonga 10,501; Redlands 4,487; Rialto 8,251; San Bernardino 8,104; Twentynine Palms a total of 2,066; Upland 6,456; Victorville 16,216; Yucaipa 4,681; and Yucca Valley, a total of 1,489.
Observers said that with 1,341,827 dwelling units in which an average of at least four people will live coming into Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, including the 162,145 slated for San Bernardino County, the efforts to reduce global warming in Southern California will prove futile.
One individual, someone intricately involved with a local San Bernardino County government, the Southern California Association of Governments and land use processes, said the Southern California Association of Government’s involvement in the effort to reduce global warming while pushing the mandate for the construction of 1,341,827 more dwelling units so another 5,367,308 people can live in Southern California is “out and out schizophrenic.”
As if to punctuate that sentiment, the Southern California Association of Governments on Monday, January 11, denied an appeal by Pasadena of its regional housing needs allocation by the state, which mandates that the city build 9,400 units of new housing by October 2029.
The State of California maintains the millions of new homes the California Department of Housing and Community Development is requiring the states’ cities to build are necessitated by the Golden State’s housing crisis.
-Mark Gutglueck