Turning Up the Heat

“Leadership is not about the next election, it is about the next generation”

– Simon Sinek

When major decisions are made affecting the future of next generations, there is often no one there speaking on behalf of generations to come. The status quo is an intoxicating influence, and there are many powerful incumbents that are always present and vocal and don’t want to see any changes.?Honest collaboration is the foundation of real progress and I see no effective collaboration among the generations.?Previous generations have risen to the great tasks before them and we have the power to join their legacy if we so choose.

The United States is getting hotter. In the first half of 2022, California and the Southwest have experienced extreme heat waves creating dangerous health concerns in many communities. ?For example, extreme heat has fueled more than 1,500 excess emergency room visits per “heat day” in Los Angeles County.

State and local community governments are also feeling the heat. This energy is radiating from the spirited community involvement and debates concerning climate - forward thinking and how local decisions can help address climate change. In California four issues dominate local government agendas; climate concerns, a lack of housing, water, and growing homelessness, all inextricably woven into the fabric of decisions being made at local government levels.?

As reported by Emma Foehringer Merchant in Inside Climate News, on September 9, 2020 San Francisco experienced “a literal hellscape”. Wildfires in Northern California had created a blood orange blanket covering the City. On the same day in San Francisco, California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild opened a scheduled meeting with a somber observation. “It is ten o’clock in the morning and it looks like midnight,” Hochschild said, looking outside.According to Ms. Merchant, “The commission was set to discuss “reach codes”—local building code efficiency standards that exceed state requirements—for two Bay Area jurisdictions. The timing was apt: Evidence of the need for climate-friendly buildings was just outside, according to people who attended the virtual commission meeting and connected the air quality to increasingly treacherous wildfires fueled by climate change.?All urged the commission to adopt the more efficient building codes, and to go further to rule out the use of natural gas in new buildings statewide.”

This opportunity of climate forward thinking is being placed on local government. The Federal level is paralyzed by political division, and recent Supreme Court rulings have eviscerated the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency responsible for environmental issues. A major obstacle for local governments is one of perspective; how to frame and approach the intractable problems as they hear from their constituents, present and future.?State agencies and local jurisdictions tend to react to events, rather than apply forward thinking and future planning to their decisions. This is very apparent in how local cities and jurisdictions adopt and amend their local building codes.

It sometimes takes a major catastrophe and a catalytic event to move the needle. In August of 1992, category 5 Hurricane Andrew struck southern Florida with winds up to 175 miles per hour. Over 63,000 homes were destroyed leaving only level slab foundations. There was literally nothing left of the homes. Following such a devastating event, Florida adopted much more stringent building codes, although there was great pushback from the home building industry. When Hurricane Irma struck Florida 25 years later homes constructed under the new building code standards fared much better.?

The United States does not have a national building code standard. There are many model codes, some international, that can be used by states and adopted by local jurisdictions.?The State of California has its own Building Code, Title 24 establishing the minimum standards for buildings. Many cities have established more stringent Standards as fits their own goals, planning needs and location. For example, over 40 local jurisdictions in California are committed to all electric homes and have banned gas hook-ups in new construction. Since 2020, new homes are required to be net zero energy, i.e. the home must produce as much energy as it uses. This has required new homes to use solar panels for energy production.

I have attended many City Council and Planning Commission meetings over my long career. Attendance is usually sparse with the usual cast of local policy wonks and citizens aggrieved over disputes such as tree trimming issues or disagreements over the color selection of a new home. Ever so often a zinger issue turns out the local citizenry and the energy levels can be intense.?

With all of this in mind, we look to community leaders to engage with ?and make sure there is more collaboration among generations. We need to give more thought to the next generations when we see local governments making decisions. We all need to think about the legacy of our generation and what we can do right now to bring about the balance needed. My generation can do better.?

In the words of Maya Angelou.

"Do the best you can until you know better.?Then when you know better, do better."

Ben Heinrich?| [email protected]

831-915-7415 | www.theheinrichteam.com