Miami-Dade studying climate change
Governments often are stereotyped as big-time procrastinators. However, when it comes to the potential impact of climate change, Miami-Dade County, Fla., is thinking ahead — way ahead. The county has created a task force of county and state officials, scientists, engineers, regional planners and a range of other experts to examine the possible consequences of global warming — some of which may be hundreds of years away — and to identify ways the county can prepare for them.
The county’s 32-member Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, which convenes monthly, held its first meeting in late October. The group plans to meet regularly for about a year and then issue recommendations on how the county should prepare for global warming, says Douglas Yoder, vice chair of the task force and assistant director of the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.
Miami-Dade officials say that, as far as they can tell, the county is the first jurisdiction in the country to formally and comprehensively consider how its infrastructure may have to be adjusted so the county can function in a warmer world. “There are no success models to emulate,” wrote County Clerk Harvey Ruvin, task force chair, in a letter to task force members. “Our efforts could well prove to be just such a guidepost for others to follow.”
Rising sea levels, more frequent and stronger hurricanes, and an increased prevalence of disease are among the many issues the task force will consider. A recent report by the South Florida Regional Planning Council forecasts a five-foot rise in sea level by 2203 if current warming patterns continue. Such a development would, among other things, submerge Miami Beach and increase saltwater intrusion into the county’s drinking-water supply.
The committee will explore the feasibility of building pumps and dikes to combat the encroachment of the ocean, Yoder says. The task force also will look at how a rise in sea level could affect water-treatment methods, he adds. As for the hurricanes, the task force will examine whether the county’s building codes need to be toughened.
The seeds for the task force were sown in the early 1990s, when, as part of a project spearheaded by the Toronto-based International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Miami-Dade County developed a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Among other things, the county began retrofitting the air-conditioning systems of its buildings and encouraging the use of e-government services so that residents would not have to travel to public facilities.
However, the county’s total greenhouse gas emissions grew by about 20 percent from 1988 to 1999 — a development that Yoder says is attributable to increases in population, electricity demand, per capita vehicle miles traveled and the use of sport utility vehicles. “It became clear that, even though we’ve had some effect, that effect is being overwhelmed by various factors,” Yoder says.
The task force also has arisen, according to Yoder, out of the county’s frustration with what he says is a lack of leadership on global warming from the federal and state levels. “I think that if it was clearly demonstrated that there were commitments across the board to really attack this problem and that they were being effective, then maybe we would have been less likely to start looking at the need to adapt,” he says.