It's smart to take precautions against climate change. More can be done, even in the Trump era.
At night, you can hear the hooting of owls in the vineyard. The owners have deployed owls and falcons to control the pests that threaten the Kendall Jackson vineyards due to milder winters. But birds of prey aren't the only things flying above the vineyard. There are also drones, which are used to observe small differences in the color of the vines that are clues to water needs and other issues. The goal is to help the vineyard flourish despite a drier, warmer climate.
Kendall Jackson certainly has reasons to be concerned. As the New York Times reports, one study suggests that "by 2050, many regions in Europe, including much of Italy and swaths of Southern France, could become unsuitable for wine grapes" and "California production could fall by 70 percent by the century's midpoint." Given the economic importance of this multi-billion dollar industry, that's a big deal in California.
But not everyone is as vigilant as those vineyard owls, and many Americans have closed their eyes to the risks posed by climate change. Like everything else these days, that brings us to the subject of the Trump administration.
Given Trump's skepticism about climate change, and that of many key advisors, it's hard to imagine the administration taking a proactive attitude toward adaptation. (The military may turn out to be an exception; the Navy is understandably worried about the effect of rising seas on its bases.) And of course, in many parts of the U.S., state governments are in the hands of those with similar views. Blue states can continue with their own adaptation efforts, but in the rest of the country, the federal and state governments aren't likely to do much. Even in blue states, federal projects may ignore climate risks.
This should concern all of us, because trouble in any part of the country is likely to have repercussions elsewhere. This is true if only because disaster relief in red states is likely to be funded by taxes paid in blue states, given the way the tax system redistributes funds nationally. And federal projects, of course can be located anywhere. What's to be done?
In terms of the federal government, one available lever is provided by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires environmental impact statements (EISs) for large projects and shorter environmental assessments (EAs) for smaller ones. There's a good argument that the EISs and EAs must consider how climate-related risks could impact the project. There isn't any judicial precedent on this yet, but many agencies have been doing so on their own, which at least shows that it's feasible.
In terms of the private sector, a 2010 SEC guidance document requires disclosure of material risks relating to climate change. Enforcement seems spotty, but this requirement may at least put some pressure on companies to think about climate adaptation. The fact that this is a guidance rather than a formal rule may make it easier for Trump appointees to withdraw it — though there may be an argument that withdrawing the guidance would be an action significantly impacting the environment, requiring an environmental impact statement.
Beyond the legal requirements, the ultimate tools are education and persuasion. But there may be some other pressure points. Institutional investors should pay serious attention to whether companies are protecting themselves against climate impacts like sea level rise. CalPERS, the giant California pension fund, already has a written policy concerning risks but may need to be more aggressive in pressuring corporations. Interestingly, Kendall-Jackson provides third-party certification by independent assessors of its sustainability efforts — maybe there also should an organization specifically certifying a company's effort to adapt to climate risks.
Insurance companies in Europe are already quite worried about how climate change impacts their risks; U.S. companies need to start taking a similar interest and so do their regulators. The companies need to push their business customers to take climate change into account as a matter of risk mitigation. This isn't a matter of politics — there is real money on the table. If there was some certification for companies that are taking precautions against climate-related risks, insurance companies could reward them with lower rates.
Climate change adaptation may be a bit less polarizing than cutting emissions. The ancient Greeks associated the owl with wisdom and the goddess Athena. (The scientific name for an owl species actually begins with "athene"). Even today we talk about the "wise old owl." Maybe those vineyard owls can become an emblem for a wiser approach to climate resilience nationally.
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Daniel Farber | January 19, 2017
It’s smart to take precautions against climate change. More can be done, even in the Trump era. At night, you can hear the hooting of owls in the vineyard. The owners have deployed owls and falcons to control the pests that threaten the Kendall Jackson vineyards due to milder winters. But birds of prey aren’t […]
Robert L. Glicksman | January 19, 2017
Rep. Ryan Zinke, a congressman from Montana and Donald Trump’s pick for the next Secretary of the Interior, said some encouraging things in his Senate hearing on January 18. First, he acknowledged that the climate is changing and that “man has had an influence,” disavowing Trump’s notorious statement that climate change is a hoax. Second, […]
Daniel Farber | January 11, 2017
It went pretty much unheralded by the national media, but in December, Illinois adopted a major new energy law – and with strong bipartisan support. Each side had some things to celebrate. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner touted the impact of the law on utility bills. According to the governor, the law “contains a guaranteed cap […]
Robert Verchick | December 31, 2016
My, but the year 2016 has been a humdinger, a whopper, a real sockdolager. Donald Trump is measuring drapes for the White House. His allies in the Republican Party hold both chambers of Congress. At the state and local levels, Democratic influence is at historic lows. Did I mention there are more than a hundred […]
Matthew Freeman | December 21, 2016
My wife is a high school history teacher, and pretty much every year, she has at least one story to tell about a student lifting some significant chunk of text from a website and using it in a paper without attribution. The kids get caught by those nifty anti-plagiarism search engines teachers use, which are […]
Daniel Farber | December 19, 2016
Jim Cason, the GOP mayor of Coral Gables, Florida, wants us to talk about climate change: “‘We’re looking to a future where we’re going to be underwater, a great portion of South Florida,’ Cason said. ‘For all of us down here, this is really not a partisan issue. We see it. We see the octopus in the […]
Joseph Tomain | December 15, 2016
As President-elect Donald Trump continues to shape his cabinet, we are seeing plenty of indications of how agencies like the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and even the State Department will approach energy and environmental policy. Trump’s stated policy preferences and those of his nominees threaten to upend decades of progress toward […]
Rena Steinzor | December 14, 2016
A burgeoning and little-regulated private industry that specially mixes drugs at so-called compounding pharmacies poses a public-health hazard that the Trump administration is about to make a whole lot worse. An earlier version of this story appeared in The American Prospect. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate 70 to 80 percent of all federal […]
Brian Gumm | December 13, 2016
President-Elect Donald Trump has selected Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) as his Interior Secretary, and former Texas governor Rick Perry as his Energy Secretary. The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) has released statements on the picks. Robert Glicksman, CPR Board Member, on Department […]