Environment

San Diego Aims for Resilience To Face Climate Crisis

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Pat Finn / Producer

Published February 16, 2021 at 2:32 PM PST

This story was published more than 3 years ago.

A seawall is constructed along the beach in Del Mar to protect homes from rising ocean levels, May 21, 2018.

Heat, flooding, drought, wildfires. San Diego, facing the four horsemen of the climate apocalypse, has realized its own climate action plan won't be enough, so the city is looking for ways to be resilient, to mitigate the most dire effects of climate change in our future.

The city of San Diego has its own Climate Action Plan for reducing greenhouse gasses which foster global warming. But, as we face debilitating temperatures, bigger wildfires, sea-level rise, flooding and persistent drought, it has become as obvious as a burned hillside that we need more armor in this fight.

The city is creating a campaign, called Climate Resilient SD, which aims to create, prioritize, distribute and find ways to pay for a series of mitigations to help cope with the unwelcome assaults.

The city's challenges are several. There are, for instance, areas where air-conditioning is unaffordable, areas which will lose their prized beaches, and urban lands that interface with wildland.

Become a KPBS sponsor

David Garrick, city hall reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune, talked with KPBS Midday Edition about Climate Resilient SD. He noted the plan that results from the campaign will be presented to the San Diego City Council by the end of the year, and city planners would like your input.

The deadline for the first survey is this Friday, February 19. Go here to participate.

Tags

Environment Climate Change

Maureen Cavanaugh

twitter

Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

What do you want to hear host Jade Hindmon talk about on Midday?

Pat Finn

Pat Finn previously served as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and KPBS Evening Edition. Finn began her career in broadcasting at KTLA and KCET in Los Angeles. In 1979 she became KPBS’ Public Information Director, then Director of Advertising and Promotion, Program Director, and Director of Broadcasting. She oversaw the station’s local and national productions, including the one-hour documentary Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar, and Child Protective Services, a one-hour look inside the San Diego County agency responsible for the welfare of at risk children. Both programs also aired on public television stations nationwide. Finn has earned honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

See stories by Pat Finn