What does it take to get five county commissions plus nearly 20 cities to agree upon controversial topics like sea level rise and climate change and join the Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition?
The coalition’s future efforts will be based in strong science, with a technical advisory committee including some of the nation’s most respected researchers and local experts – and local governments realize that a regional coalition could accomplish far more than an individual city or initiative.
Established by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, the new regional coalition is a natural outgrowth, said Executive Director Sean Sullivan. “As one of our members from Clearwater told us, ‘preparing for sea level rise really is a no-brainer.’ Last September was the hottest month on record and we have another storm heading toward our state right now.”
Headed by Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long as the chair of the TBRPC, the new regional coalition is focused on both preparing for the inevitable sea level rise as well as preventing ongoing releases of carbon that fuel climate change.
“It started after Hurricane Irma when we came together as a region to recover from the storm,” she said. “We knew we needed a regional coalition for resiliency to set actionable, achievable goals with benefits including a stronger voice as a region and a way to accommodate proper planning and cultivate resiliency.”
Congressman Charlie Crist, whose Pinellas district encompasses many beach communities, attended the standing-room-only ceremony where 24 governments signed an official Memorandum of Understanding, agreeing to address the economic and environmental impacts of climate change.
“Sea level rise is totally non-partisan issue, particularly as we have another hurricane headed at our state – as if we needed to be reminded how important it is to be prepared,” Crist said. “This is about doing the right thing and protecting our environment.”
And while scientists focus on decades-long projections, local governments already are dealing with it, Long said. “We’re in the planning/discussion phases of rebuilding four local bridges that need to be replaced. The biggest dilemma facing us – how high do we build them when we’re looking at a structure that needs to last 50 to 75 years?”
Along with counties and cities, the coalition includes a remarkable group of stakeholders from local and state colleges, local governments and business leaders as well as civic and church groups concerned about leaving a livable state for their children, adds Susan Glickman, Florida director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and chair of the stakeholder partners group of the TBRRC.
The coalition’s technical advisory committee includes scientists from prestigious research universities predicting change and local leaders in climate issues, as well as planners who are the “boots on the ground” making daily decisions that impact the region’s ability to recover from bigger, stronger hurricanes in the face of a changing climate and flooding events.
There’s no easy answer to sea level rise, but Sullivan quoted President John Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address: “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”
Charter members of the TBRRC include the counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Citrus, Hernando and Manatee, plus the cities of Palmetto, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Sarasota, Clearwater, Dunedin, Gulfport, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Largo, Madeira Beach, New Port Richey, Oldsmar, Redington Beach, Safety Harbor, Seminole, South Pasadena, St. Pete Beach, Tarpon Springs and Treasure Island.
Future plans in the coming months will include workshops throughout the region, bringing people together to inform priority area and to build workgroups that will develop the Regional Resiliency Action Plan.
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