Guest Opinion | Rick Cole: Why Isn’t Pasadena Planning Now for a Hotter, Drier Future?

When I was a high school student, the office of Planning for Pasadena Unified had posted in the hall a memorable five-foot long computer print-out in “old fashioned” dot matrix lettering (although at the time anything that was produced by a computer was futuristic.) It read: “To Fail to Plan is to Plan to Fail.”

Those words have stuck with me through four decades of public service. Looking back, I see how quickly time passes and how much what we do (or fail to do) today affects our future for generations to come. Looking ahead, it’s astonishing how little attention we are paying to the reality of a hotter and drier future. A combination of denial, distraction and despair is preventing us from planning now for a climate that’s already changing.

The UN Secretary-General put it bluntly: “We are on the road to climate hell and we haven’t taken our foot off the accelerator.” Scientists have long warned us that if global average temperatures rose by more than 1.5 ° centigrade, it could trigger irreversible climate tipping points, including the thawing of polar ice caps, breakdowns of major ocean circulation systems and collapse of tropical coral reef systems. We are already seeing more intense heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and flooding.

The world is going to blow by the 1.5° threshold. It’s vital that we slow and ultimately reverse the rise in global greenhouse gas emissions to avoid even greater catastrophes. Yet we also must adapt to the reality of imminent threats to our safety and comfort.

Pasadena has long enjoyed a “Mediterranean climate.” Some people erroneously say we live in a desert, but that environment lies over the mountains to our north and east. Recent studies, however, project that in the decades ahead, Pasadena’s climate could feel like Moreno Valley today.

All this should give us a sense of urgency. Yet Pasadena’s Climate Action Plan hasn’t been updated in six years. While it sets the goal of cutting our emissions in half by the end of this decade, the actions proposed are vague and aspirational (“Continue to enhance safe, reliable and seamless transit services” – “Increase municipal energy conservation efforts.”)

Without clear, measurable annual benchmarks, this is just virtue signaling. Unfortunately, Pasadena is not rigorously tracking progress. The City last issued an annual report back in 2019, five years ago!

There is no excuse for this lack of focus or urgency. There’s an old saying: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago — and TODAY!” If we’re not acting now, we’ll regret it soon!

The one bright spot is energy. Because of the tireless organizing and advocacy of the grass roots Pasadena 100 group, last year the Council unanimously endorsed a commitment to shift to 100% renewable energy sources for our electric utility.

Proclaiming the goal is far from achieving it, however. It will take a transformation of how our public utility does business. We must move aggressively not just to sign renewable energy contracts, but to promote local solar, battery storage and conservation. Partnering with customers to produce and store energy is a huge change from just selling it.

The single most cost-effective way to keep our community cool and green is to plant more trees. Our aging urban forest needs replenishment – and there are glaring disparities between neighborhoods with ample shade tree canopies compared to streets where palms and spindly street trees provide zero relief.

We also need to invest in local water supplies. At the District 2 Issue Forum on that topic in June, we outlined the actions Pasadena needs to take to capture more stormwater; treat and reuse wastewater; and transition to climate-friendly landscaping.

The biggest challenge is mobility. While electric cars don’t directly generate greenhouse gas emissions, until we have sufficient renewable energy and battery capacity, we are still warming the climate when we drive. The future of cars has to be electric, but the future for getting around can’t just be cars. In fact, Pasadena’s Climate Action Plan relies on a big shift to walking, biking and public transit. Despite the costly, over-engineered and lightly-used Union Street bikeway, we are making little progress toward those goals.

None of this should lead to despair. As Pasadena 100 showed, our community has the will to mobilize around meeting the Climate Emergency. I hope you’ll participate in this month’s District 2 Issue Forum on “How Will Pasadena Deal With a Changing Climate?” It’s the fourth in a series of participatory panel discussions on key challenges. Join us for a lively interchange with Councilmember Jason Lyon; Pasadena 100 chair Cynthia Cannady; City of LA’s Chief Heat Officer Marta Segura; and Audry Ma, Polytechnic student who received the President’s Environmental Youth Award.

The location is new – Lineage Performing Arts Center at 920 E. Mountain, next to the CVS at Lake Avenue. The date is Tuesday, August 20th from 6:30 to 8 PM. Parking is available and Lineage is served by Metro bus route 662 and Pasadena Transit route 20.

Rick Cole is District 2 Councilmember-elect, taking office in December. He previously served as Mayor of Pasadena and City Manager of three Southern California cities. He is currently the Chief Deputy Controller for the City of Los Angeles.