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KAY CRAMER
Liverpool, Pa.
Our leaders in Washington and around the world are concerned about the global effects of the increased concentration of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but moving policy at these levels is a long, politically-fraught process. At the local level, however, action can take place relatively quickly, tailored to the needs of the community.
For the past five years, the Commonwealth has encouraged local efforts to lower emissions and build resilience for communities through its Local Climate Action Plan (LCAP) program, currently administered by Penn State's Sustainability Institute. The goal is to determine the inefficiencies and vulnerabilities of communities and look for ways to protect them by lowering pollution, responding to emergencies, saving taxpayer money, creating jobs and conserving the beloved features of the municipality.
Why do we need local resilience plans? When we look around at our beautiful state in the autumn, it can be hard to believe that we are imperiled by the effects of climate change. But Penn State University's Erica Smithwick, Professor of Geography and Ecology, Penn State University's College of Mineral Sciences, points to three areas where Pa. is feeling its effects.
First, as the past few weeks have shown, we are increasingly subject to extreme heat and shifting seasons.
Among the many effects are heat-related illnesses and death, increased need for energy and grid resilience so people can keep cool, negative impacts on stream and river health and a mismatch between bloom time of local plants and the organisms that depend on them. Warmer seasons encourage an increase in disease-carrying ticks and mosquitos. False springs complicate the growing season for farmers and gardeners.
Second, we are experiencing more frequent incidents of extreme precipitation and flooding. In the Susquehanna Valley, flood risks are obvious along the Susquehanna River and its feeder streams.
But the risk of extreme rainfall affects people who do not live on the riverbanks. These events increase groundwater contamination, disease-carrying mosquitos and mold. They also stress infrastructure, which was not built to handle extreme precipitation and flooding.
Third, we are increasingly subject to wildfires and smoke as hot weather and drought increase. This year devastating Canadian wildfires sent smoke south of the border for weeks, increasing the severity of respiratory and cardiac illnesses and keeping people indoors. Experts project that the most devastating wildfires in the future will be here in the East, where homes and businesses are nestled in forested areas.
The economic costs of these extreme events are staggering, as are the health costs and loss of life and property. Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is important because the more we can cut emissions, the less frequent and extreme the events noted above will be.
A local climate action plan addresses carbon emissions, but can also concentrate on local concerns:
-- Saving dollars by cutting energy use and switching to more efficient technologies and buildings
-- Enhancing green spaces by planting trees and native gardens in municipal areas
-- Making local areas more walkable and bikeable
-- Providing a cooling facility to citizens without air conditioning during periods of intense heat
-- Emergency planning for communities to assist their neighbors in specific ways--food, shelter for them and their pets, medical care
-- Providing education to citizens on sustainability and how to access funds from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to make their homes more resilient and efficient
-- Addressing specific local concerns, such as increasing walkability/bikeability (Lewisburg) or improving the water quality of a local creek (Shamokin)
Any concerned citizen or municipality can begin the process of crafting a local climate action plan by contacting our regional Penn State advisor, Jenn Jones, at jsm148psu.edu, to request participation.
PSU selects students to match with the municipality and sets up a contact person to direct students to data sources.
Stakeholders within the community with varying interests and viewpoints come together to create a task force and consider resilience measures. Technical assistance can be requested from the Commonwealth.
Creating an LCAP is a multi-year process and a lot of work. At the end, though, the municipality and its community can increase resilience to extreme events and provide a path to a better, more livable home.
(Kay Cramer, who farms with her husband in southern Snyder County, is chapter leader of Susquehanna Valley Citizens Climate Lobby and a member of SV Climate Reality Project.)